A test transatlantic race for the ClassGlobe 5.80
Don McIntyre - founder of the Golden Globe Race euros has launched a new offshore racing class in 2020, the ClassGlobe 5.80, which brings together 18-foot "home-built" sailboats This class of amateur sailors offers the possibility for a starting sum of 300 euros, to buy the plans of this small sailboat to build it by his own means.
Six competitors set out to tackle the first test "transatlantic race", a 3,600-mile course between Lagos (Portugal) and Antigua (Caribbean) after a stopover in Lanzarote in the Canaries. Among the sailors, the founder and adventurer McIntyre, who should finish on the podium.
26 days to cross the Atlantic
The Swiss sailor Etienne Messikommer won this first edition of the Adventure Globe 5.80 2021 with a time of 26 days, 7 hours and 48 minutes at sea. In comparison, their cousins in Mini 6.50 had crossed the Atlantic (2 stages combined) in 20 days for the best.
This race will be held every two years, until the ultimate goal, the Mini Globe Race 2024, a round-the-world race with stopovers, which already has 14 registrants out of the 30 open places.
With this first inaugural race, Don McIntyre has taken the challenge of offering an affordable offshore racing class, with boats that are tough enough to cross the Atlantic, in amateur construction. During the race, a speed record of 16.9 knots was set and the best distance achieved in 24 hours was 158 miles.
