"This is going to be my longest solo voyage so far. I'm a bit thrilled but very excited,"
Jakub Ziemkiewicz has told Afloat.ie as he makes final preparations in Lanzarote for this Saturday's start of the 2025 Mini Globe Race and Globe 580 Transat.
The Cork Harbour solo sailor has now named the boat he built himself at his home in Aghada in East Cork as 'Bibi of Cork' and is one of 12 entrants from nine countries.
"The leg from Lagos in Portugal to Lanzarote (a qualifier for the Globe) was quite entertaining," he writes. "The first two days were quite windy with big waves. Second night I felt like a disco club a lot of lightning around me, bit scary but entertaining. On day 3, I saw three waterspouts.
"Before the Canary Islands, there was lots of traffic and often no wind, so I had no sleep for 48 hours. The boat was performing well, and no damage so far. I'm probably the heaviest boat in the fleet, so I'm thinking about how to reduce my stocks. I'm racing against some very experienced sailors, and I am doing this for the first time in my life. I think I did ok and hope to improve my skills with every leg."
Jakub finished ninth in the 600-mile Transat qualifier from Lagos in Portugal to Lanzarote.
More entrants are expected to join the 580 fleet when it reaches Antigua from Lanzarote. 15 are listed to then start the 28,000-nautical mile race around the world from there on Sunday, February 23. The race course is west about via Panama and with several stops along the route until due back in Antigua on Friday, March 23, 2026.
The start of the Transat leg to Antigua this Saturday is at 2 p.m. local time in Lanzarote.
