The boats of some unusual Atlantic crossers can be admired in Antigua's marina these days: the first four solo skippers of the Transat Class Globe 5.80 have reached their destination on the Caribbean island, with only one still on the way. Over 3,000 nautical miles lie in the wake of the small fleet of 5.80 metre short self-built boats, at the head of which it was not clear for a long time who would be the first to cross the finish line.
In the end, it was Swiss sailor Etienne Messikommer who reached English Harbour in the south of the island on his brightly coloured "Numbatou" before anyone else on Monday evening. It took the 33-year-old 26 days and just under 8 hours to cover 3184 nautical miles from Lanzarote to Antigua.
He was followed shortly afterwards, on the night of 14 December, by the Czech Michal Krysta ("Menawan"). Messikommer and Krysta had trained together in preparation for the Transat and ultimately sailed a close race.
The Swiss was the favourite for this special regatta. He had already won the first leg from Portugal to Lanzarote. On 1 November, the small fleet launched in the harbour city of Lagos where they had prepared their boats for the Atlantic crossing. The six of them sailed a kind of Qualification cruise to Lanzarote. Here, only the Swiss Severin Hummer (Interview YACHT 25/2021) decided that he did not want to tackle the actual Atlantic crossing and brought his boat back to the mainland. The remaining five sailors set sail for the Caribbean on 17 November.
The organiser of this first Globe 5.80 transat was also among them: Don McIntyre crossed the Atlantic on "Trekka", the construction number 1 of the new boat class. He crossed the finish line in third place on Wednesday 15 December, followed by Briton Peter Kenyon ("Origami"). Irishman Jon Schofield alone still has over 700 nautical miles to go.
Don McIntyre, Australian circumnavigator and initiator of various ocean adventures, was also the one who developed this type of boat together with Polish designer Janusz Maderski. For one and a half years, they have been offering the do-it-yourself plans for the plywood construction, which are intended to provide an inexpensive introduction to building a small, seaworthy boat for 300 euros. In Germany, the hull is made by Georg Lützelberger from Paderborn. most advanced (YACHT 4/2021). He plans to launch the boat in summer 2022.
According to McInytre, well over a hundred ambitious self-builders worldwide have tackled the project. It remains to be seen how many actually want to race their tiny boat later on. There are even plans to sail around the world in 2024. Etienne Messikommer and his fellow campaigners have now shown that some of them will at least make it across the Atlantic.
