Dear readers,
Imagine sailing alone across the Atlantic in a boat you built yourself. This boat measures just 5.80 metres and is made of plywood. Last week, when I went to the Transatlantic race of the Class Globe 5.80 I found it really difficult to understand.
Sure, space on a boat is limited - that's normal. But 5.80 metres? That's the length of a 4-person canoe, a luxury saloon or two and a half times the length of an Optimist. I think that's very little space to live, sleep and eat alone on for 30 days while travelling over 3,000 nautical miles - in conditions with metre-high waves and winds in excess of 25 knots, of course.
What is even more remarkable is that all the boats in the Globe 5.80 class are self-built. I wouldn't claim to have two left hands, but I wouldn't trust myself to build an entire boat from scratch. From the solid wood frame and plywood side planking to laminating, painting and moulding the lead keel bomb - everything is done by myself. What craftsmanship is required for this.
According to the father of the boat class, round-the-world sailor and adventurer Don McIntyre, it doesn't take that much. "Anyone can do it," he told me in conversation. A little experience and simple tools would be enough. Hard to believe, I think. But is that even safe? I would be worried that every cut, every incorrectly drilled hole would jeopardise the safety of the boat.
Here too, McIntyre took away my worries. To ensure that the construction would be forgiving of such construction errors, it was planned with a safety factor of four. This means that the wall thicknesses, frames and connections are four times as stable as would be required for an ocean-going cruiser. "It's like a survival capsule that travels 100, 120 nautical miles a day," says McIntyre - and he should know, as he took part in the first of three Globe 5.80 Transat races in 2021.
However, I was still not completely convinced. But when it came to the costs, I finally gave up my inner resistance. The seaworthy minis are said to cost between 35,000 and 50,000 euros ready to sail. The DIY concept and the lack of high-tech on board make the comparatively low costs for an offshore racer possible.
A safe, seaworthy boat that you can build yourself and that can be financed without sponsors or a large budget? It sounds too good to be true. But the Globe 5.80 Transat shows that this concept actually works. A total of twelve sailors are on their way to the Caribbean with their Minis.
The German Christian Sauer is also taking part. Shortly before his departure from Lanzarote, he gave me a Insight into the fascination of mini self-assembly. He spent three and a half years tinkering with his "Argo", and it was only finished a few days before the launch. The boat was barely in the water, he sailed 550 nautical miles from Lagos in Portugal to Lanzarote - a leg that not only served as a qualification for the Transat race, but was also the boat's baptism of fire, which it successfully mastered.
That impressed me and I realised how my initial doubts gradually turned into admiration. What Christian Sauer and the other sailors have achieved with their self-build and the ocean crossing requires courage and perseverance.
Yes, the boat remains small, but it is ultimately designed for single-handed sailing. So the small size brings certain advantages in terms of control and handling. And can you get to know your boat better than when you have held every screw and every piece of wood in your own hands? I don't think so.
I am now certain that instead of restrictions and safety concerns, the Globe 5.80 concept primarily harbours potential. After all, it opens up the field of offshore sailing to a new target group that wants to sail the world's oceans in racing mode without large budgets and sponsors.
It speaks to a type of person who is full of courage and confidence; who dares to do something and tests boundaries. That's how I would describe the fleet sailing across the Atlantic just north of Cape Verde. And isn't it precisely these qualities that should be emphasised more often outside of sailing?
How perspectives change when you deal with a topic more intensively.
Have a nice weekend and stay curious!
Fabian Boerger
YACHT editor
P.S.: We will continue to follow the Globe 5.80 fleet on its journey across the Atlantic in the coming weeks and report on yacht.de!
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