Sixteen men and two women from 12 countries have set out on a 400-day solo circumnavigation in 19-foot sailboats in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race.
Class Globe 580 one-design plywood boats — many of them home built — started the first race around the world for mini sailboats in February. According to event producer, McIntyre Adventures, there are more 80 more of these boats actively in construction and 160 more in the planning stage in more than 28 countries. They are following in the footsteps of John Guzzwell’s 1955 world first solo voyage in his 20-foot home-built Trekka.
“In an age where technology and ($20.7 million) can send a solo sailor around the world in 40 days, a fleet of courageous mini sailors is about to show it can be done for less than ($52,000) over many days,” race organizers said in a statement.
The sailors entered in the race hail from 12 countries and the plywood boats are built according to plans to be identical. Before the main event, they were required to complete a 3,600-mile qualifying race across the Atlantic that began Dec. 28, 2024, from Marina de Lagos in Portugal. The fleet continued to Marina Rubicon in Lanzarote, Canary Islands and concluded at the National Sailing Academy in Antigua.
Class Globe 580 boats are built from plywood on timber frames and coated in fiberglass epoxy. They are designed to fit in a 20-foot shipping container and were conceived by Australian Don McIntyre. He came up with the idea during a 2010 adventure sailing 4,000 miles across the Pacific in an open-timber whale boat with little food or water and no charts. McIntyre recreated William Bligh’s Mutiny on the Bounty journey. McIntyre is the organizer of the Golden Globe Race and the McIntyre Ocean Globe that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Whitbread crewed race. He built and raced a Class Globe 580 named Trekka solo across the Atlantic in 2021.
Collaborating with Polish designer Janusz Maderski, McIntyre launched the one-design class in 2019 offering construction plans for about $300. Sailors also can order a pre-cut plywood kit from an online community.
The race is planned to begin and end at the Antigua Sailing Academy with the first leg taking the sailors to Shelter Bay Marina, Panama. The boats will then be transported over land to the Pacific Ocean. The second leg starts March 23 and will cover 6,500 miles to Vuda Marina in Fiji with mandatory stops in the Marquesas, Tahiti and Tonga. Each stop will require an eight-day minimum stay.
The third leg will cover 10,000 miles to Cape Town, South Africa with stops in Darwin, Mauritius and Durban. Because of expected tough weather and the Agulhas current, 10 days of pit stops are allowed. The final leg of the 7,000 miles will start on Dec. 22, with stops in St. Helena and Recife, Brazil, before the final run back to Antigua that is expected to take place in late March 2026.
To be eligible for the McIntyre Mini Globe, the sailors who entered had to undergo survival and medical training, comprehensive health checks and stress tests. Safety equipment standards adhere to high levels; restrictions include the prohibition of electronic wind instruments and logs, limited 200-amp battery and 200-watt solar panel capacity and only electric outboard motors. Hydro-generators and desalinators are not permitted. Sailors can make unpenalized stops, but the race clock will continue to run and YB3 satellite trackers provide 24-hour monitoring for all competitors on the MGR website. Entrants sail independently and are responsible for their voyage plan, logistics and safety management that is overseen by individually appointed safety managers.