A group of four Spanish boat builders planned a trip to Lanzarote to surprise the Globe 5.80 Transat entrants before their Atlantic crossing, only to find out the start was moved forward before their landing time on Wednesday (17 November), a day earlier than previously scheduled.

Just as they decided to delay the start of the first leg in Lagos, Portigal to greet competitor and Irish solo sailor Jim Schofield on arrival, the participating boats and race director agreed to delay the start for another three hours to meet the group of Spanish builders and show them the finished boats in race condition.

The spirit of the 5.80 family runs deep and delayed starts to meet fellow builders and sailors — now part of the race history — may well become a tradition, race organisers suggest.

The Leg 1 late starters, Schofield and class founder Don McIntyre, did not dilly dally this time — crossing the start line in first and second position right on the gun, leaving the youngster in their wake: Michal Krysta unusually under-canvassed, Peter Kenyon full-on with the A5 up and Etienne Messikommer closing the line in relaxed mode.

Michal Krysta, above, and Etienne Messikommer — the leaders of the first leg — sailed the shorter course west of Fuerteventura | Credit: Eli Van den Broek/Ocean Frontiers OGR

Immediately after the start, the 5.80 fleet divided in two decisive options on both side of Fuerteventura, with Michal and Etienne — the leaders of the first leg — sailing the shorter course west while Jim, Don and Peter chose the east side of the island to towards stronger winds along the west coast of Africa.

Today (Friday 19 November) it looked like the western option paid off, with Etienne and Michal sneaking in the lead of the fleet once again. But with the wind dying slowly, this is far from over and could well drag on until the skippers catch the trade winds further south.

In any case, time is not an issue for the Globe Transat fleet as the 5.80 sailors packed food, books and music for over a month, relishing the prospect of being alone at sea for a long while.

As class founder Don McIntyre said before the start: “The Globe 5.80 has the best price/fun/time on the water ratio of any ocean racing class!”

Due to a weak weather forecast for the scheduled start on November 18th, the Race Director and the five remaining entrants of the inaugural Globe 5.80 Transat including Irish solo sailor Jim Schofield have agreed to move the start date forward to Wednesday, 17 November at 10:00 am UTC.

“The guys look very organized and are very eager to finally set off across the Atlantic. “said Race Director Lutz Kohne, “ With days of forecast calm weather approaching, all agreed we must leave RUBICON MARINA as soon as possible to get south and hopefully reach the Trades much sooner.”

“It’s a testament of the sailors’ will to get going, the boat’s design, and the technical choices made” said competitor and Race Founder Don McIntyre, “The boats and crews resisted well to the testing conditions of the first leg, needed no repairs and little preparation so let's go!”

The 3000nm 2nd leg will leave from Rubicon Marina in Lanzarote to Antigua, Caribbean one day early. The five entrants and the organising team pictured above

With a daily average between 120 to 140 nautical miles with the right conditions, the sailors expect a crossing time between 3 to 4 weeks, arriving in the Caribbean with time to spare before Christmas on the sandy beaches of Antigua.

25 year old Swiss entrant Severin Hummer

25-year-old Swiss entrant Severin Hummer, youngest in the fleet, has decided not to continue with the 3000 nm second leg, after building his 5.80 in one year and valiantly completing the qualifier from Lagos to Lanzarote, his first real solo ocean passage.

“I love my 5.80 and she sails well” said Severin Hummer “but at the moment a 3000 mile passage feels a little daunting so I will sit this one out and follow my gut feeling.”

Jim Schofield: “it’s a two-part experience in my bucket list: build the boat first, and then cross an ocean on it”. 

Etienne, the first leg winner, is a long-distance sailor having cruised the Pacific single-handed over three years but not a racer; Michal is an extreme sport athlete, making up the lack of offshore mileage with his competitor instinct and experience; and Peter, an enthusiast who sailed a classic wooden boat around the UK, surprised everyone by sticking with the two leaders despite his lack of mileage on the 580.

"Boats and Sailors in excellent shape after their 600NM qualifier with no repairs needed"

“I really enjoyed the qualifier”, Peter said at the conference. ”First time ocean racing, first time on the boat for any length of time, a really enjoyable process. The next leg should be 6 times as much fun!”

Offshore and ocean racers with a lot of miles under the keel, experienced solo-sailors Jim and Don haven’t had a chance to measure up against the youngsters yet, due to their late start from Lagos.

In the end, however, all are in for the experience. As Jim puts it: “it’s a two-part experience in my bucket list: build the boat first, and then cross an ocean on it”. 

The six solo sailors entered in the first edition of the Globe 5.80 Transat as launched by Don McIntyre (who is racing) arrived in Lanzarote at the end of the first stage from Lagos, the Swiss Etienne Messikommer won.

The second stage bound for Antigua starts on November 18.

With a late starter, Jim Schofield from Ireland, arriving safely in Marina Rubicon Lanzarote on November 10, all entrants of this eventful inaugural qualifier are gathered in Lanzarote (Spain), including Class Globe 5.80 Class founder Don McIntyre.

All are celebrating the start of an adventure that began just over a year ago, as they each started building their plywood epoxy kit 5.8mtr Mini ocean racers. All in different countries, but with a shared dream to make the Globe Transat.

All skippers and yachts in Lanzarote, now preparing for the Nov. 18th start of the second 3000 nm leg to Antigua.

N° 88, the swiss entry Numbatou from Etienne Messikommer won the first leg, completing the 600 nautical miles qualifier in 4 days, 20 hours and 55 minutes after a constant battle with the elements, and the Czech entry Menawan from Michal Krysta.

The 600 nm qualifier leg was won by Numbatou, from Swiss entry Etienne Messikommer.

Many skippers themselves wondered how the boat would perform due to the little time at sea, with only Numbatou and Menawan clocking offshore miles between Les Sables d’Olonnes and Lagos in Portugal before the start.

The Czech entry Michal Krysta (Hull 07: Menawan) here pushing to the finish line with it all up! a few hours behind first place

The boat, however, behaved splendidly, the Globe 580 Transat Race Director Lutz Kohne puts it: “With all experiencing a mix of conditions and gusts to 35 knots and above with swells of 3-4 meters, these amateur home build boats just proved their seaworthiness and fun factor.”

Don McIntyre sailed his TREKKA through the biggest storm and probably learnt the most about this new experimental design. After spending a night running under bare poles steered by wind vane at 5-8kts, getting plenty of sleep below, conditions continued to build the next day climaxing in 45-55kts with 5mtrs seas for five hours before rapidly abating.

TREKKA arrives Lanzarote after sailing through 45-55kt storm with 5mtr seas.

“She is simply an amazing boat that feels bigger than she is,” said Don McIntyre” you have to sail her like a small displacement boat sitting IN the water, NOT on top, and reduce sail to go faster! She will surf in swells, can take you around the world and look after me in that storm.”

Most experienced surfing surges of 12-14kts with Michal clocking up to 16 knots and regularly posting 24-hour distance above 130 miles but could not work out how to use his wind vane .

Michal recalls: “Due to issues with the pilot and wind vane, I have spent up to 70 hours at the helm with winds of 40 knots going down big walls of water in the 5.80 reaching a personal best of 16 knots of boat speed!”

The Czech entry Michal Krysta (Hull 07: Menawan) here pushing to the finish line with it all up! A few hours behind first place.

Other entrants have not helmed that much, praising the efficiency of their South Atlantic wind vane, such as Etienne: I am very pleased with the boat and the self-steering gear; in particular, I barely touched the helm. The ship is small and nimble, so I felt like a washing machine in the crossed, confused seas of the early days, but never in danger. She behaves like a bigger boat, and I have learned to push her to max speed to gain momentum and control in the big seas.

Third, Peter Kenyon had less time on the boat than Etienne and Michal on the podium but kept in touch throughout the race. “It was quite an eventful inaugural trip! From my best moment was dolphins waking me up from my nap in the cockpit to the worst, finding water in the aft compartment and not knowing where it had come from…” After finding the water ingress came from fittings in the cockpit that we constantly awash with waves, Peter has only praises for the design: “the boat is the biggest surprise of those testing 600 miles, she feels solid, really safe and confidence-inspiring.”

Severin Hummer (Nº98: Shrimp, Switzerland) at 25 is the youngest entrant and took a few days to settle into this solo challenge and then come to terms with how best to handle the boat. The wind vane was challenging, so used an electric autopilot. Full of passion and determined he is happy for the wind vane advice now given by other entrants and looking forward to the next leg.

The UK entry Peter Kenyon (Hull 47: Origami) came 3rd.

3,000 nm to Antigua

Leg two is already in everyone’s mind a week before the start, while the boat design and home-built construction satisfied entrants and organizers alike; some valuable lessons were learned from leg one, with tweaks and mods being planned.

It is mainly improving storage on board with more places to store small items below and placing deck fittings and blocks to simplify manoeuvres. The big question is weight distribution and loading. Many put heavy items at the mast position and above the keel, but some may now move weights further aft.

When asked about Leg 2, Race Director Lutz Kohne mentioned, “Sleep, mental strength and the right tweak of wind vane and mainsail will be the key elements to be competitive for the race starting November 18.”

The gallant 5.80 skippers have a week to work on their boats, stock-up food and rest, but they are already established as trailblazers by the 150 other Globe 5.80 builders worldwide, all watching and learning. They are making history in this new trend of home-built, one-design racing, all true legends within the fast-growing Class Globe 5.80 family!

The farewell PRESS CONFERENCE for the Globe 5.80 Transat with all skippers is set for 1100hrs UTC on Monday 15th NOV at Rubicon Marina Lanzarote. Covered live on Facebook at the Globe 580 Transat page www.Globe580Transat.com 

McIntyre Adventure Globe 5.80 Transat First Leg Top 3, left to right: Peter, Michal and Etienne.  Photo: Aïda Valceanu

The inaugural McIntyre Adventure Globe 5.80 Transat course