The race started in patchy, drifting conditions, unusual for the waters around Marina Rubicon, which are renowned for excellent sailing conditions that attract many Olympic sailing classes for training camps away from the European and UK winter. Eventually, the wind picked up! Credit: Nils Jannichsen

Imagine?  Four years of planning, building, then preparing and training while all the time dreaming about sailing your own home-built plywood 19ft – 5.8mtr yacht 3000 miles solo across the Atlantic! Now It’s Time! That day arrives! 12 sailors just set off doing just that!

Marina Rubicon has hosted all three McIntyre Globe 580 Transats since 2021 and anticipates an even larger fleet of ALMA Globe 580 yachts in the next 2026 edition, including the inaugural TWO-HANDED CLASS. This will be the first ever two-handed MINI Race across the Atlantic, generating strong interest with the fleet limited to 20 entrants. Credit: Rob Havill / G580Transat / MGR2025

Marina Rubicon has hosted all three McIntyre Globe 580 Transats since 2021 and anticipates an even larger fleet of ALMA Globe 580 yachts in the next 2026 edition, including the inaugural TWO-HANDED CLASS. This will be the first ever two-handed MINI Race across the Atlantic, generating strong interest with the fleet limited to 20 entrants. Credit: Rob Havill / G580Transat / MGR2025The race started in patchy, drifting conditions, unusual for the waters around Marina Rubicon, which are renowned for excellent sailing conditions that attract many Olympic sailing classes for training camps away from the European and UK winter. Eventually, the wind picked up! Credit: Nils JannichsenThe adventure began on Dec. 28th 2024 sailing from Marina de Lagos Portugal 600 miles to Rubicon Marina in Lanzarote, Canary Islands as the first qualifying voyage to enter the Globe 580 Transat. A week of final preparations, parties and fun made a buzz of activity in the days leading up to start which dawned as a clear blue-sky day. A light easterly wind suggested a windward start. The close bond between all entrants on this grand adventure was obvious as last hugs were shared between this special family of sailors. Together they are entering the unknown. In a world where most are wrapped in cotton wool and discouraged from expressing their true self, seeking out challenge, this voyage is real. It’s a genuine adventure that surely has risks they willingly accept , yet they have worked hard to minimise and mitigate those risks.

Keri Harris, left, on board ORIGAMI 47 with the original builder, Peter Kenyon, who raced in the first 2021, 580 TRANSAT and produced an epic YouTube film about his experience. Keri is one of three sailors, including Pilar and Jasmine, who bought rather than built their boats.Credit: JJ / G580Transat / MGR2025

On Saturday 11th January at 1400hrs the start gun fired on the third edition of the McIntyre Globe 580 Transat, a true adventure sailing one-design “Mighty Mini’s” that stands out in the crowd from the usual slick ocean racing fleets. Sailed by an eclectic group of adventurous romantic sailors, these passionate men and women of all ages and from all walks of life have one thing in common. They are all chasing dreams. They let nothing get in the way, selling houses, giving up careers and leaving loved ones behind, not just for a month, but for most, nearly 18 months!! WHY? Well after the Atlantic crossing to Antigua, all but one are continuing solo around the world!!!

Twelve passionate, crazy sailors in “Mighty Minis” about to set sail with Don McIntyre, 580 Founder (back center left), and Rafael Lasso, Rubicon Marina manager (back center right).Credit: Aïda Valceanu

“It is impossible to describe the emotion as they left the marina…they just wanted to go and they are all a very close brotherhood now, all looking after and watching out for each other …it’s amazing! I have never seen it so intense and happy in all the events we run. I really think building their boats and setting out on such a long-held dream is increasing the fire in their belly. They all know that it is just the start and that the big one, the dream, the MGR is just over the horizon.”

DON MCINTYRE, ALMA Globe 5.80 CLASS FOUNDER & EVENT ORGANISER

Pilar Pasanau (57), sailing “Peter Punk,” is on her 5th Solo Transatlantic, having raced Class Mini 650’s for nearly 10 years and raced on many other larger yachts. As a ship captain on commercial vessels, she dreams of and has entered the McIntyre Mini Globe Race. However, she is running out of money and desperately needs a sponsor to continue her journey after reaching ANTIGUA. Her next dream? The Golden Globe Race! Credit: Etienne Messikommer / G580Transat / MGR2025

Winds were very fluky at the start, dropping to nothing on the 10-minute gun, then fluffy and frustrating with some caught too far from the line with no wind on the gun! Niels Kamphuis (45, NL, #163 Biggest Monkey ) drifted onto the start marker buoy while Renaud Stitelmann (60, CH, #28 Capucinette) was first across the line to pick up breeze and away. Slowly the wind returned, and all shot off toward the south at great speed under asymmetric Spinnakers. Last across the line 40 minutes after the start was long distance swimmer and solo Atlantic rower Jasmine Harrison (25, UK, #88 Numbatou). Sadly, she was caught inshore far from the line with no wind.

Colourful paint jobs distinguish the ALMA Globe 580 one-design yachts. Christian Sauer (44, Germany) in the Xmas Tree Boat “ARGO” and professional sailing instructor Adam Waugh (UK) sailing “Little Wren” are two of the best. Credit: Rob Havill / G580Transat / MGR2025

Hull 163 BIGGEST MONKEY with 46-year-old Niels Kamphuis, the only TRANSAT entrant not continuing on to the McIntyre MGR. He aims to win just the TRANSAT! Credit: Aïda Valceanu

Jasmine Harrison (25, UK, #26 NUMBATOU), a solo transatlantic rower and long-distance ocean swimmer, now a new solo sailor, had a slow, frustrating start with no wind but is now well on her way. Credit: Aïda Valceanu

They are bound for the National Sailing Academy in Antigua, the host port for the finish of the McIntyre Globe 580 Transat and the start of the McIntyre Mini Globe Race.  Four other sailors are joining the MGR in Antigua expanding the fleet to 15.  The 580 Transat is a qualifier for entrants planning to sail in the MGR which starts on February 23rd, 2025.

“Popeye” Mike Blenkinsop from the Gold Coast, Australia, sailing Delja99 (Hull 99), will turn 70 just before arriving in ANTIGUA. He’s then off around the world in the McIntyre MGR, chasing his son John, who will be sailing Delja100 (hull number 100). Note the two Popeye anchors tattooed on his arms just weeks before the start, ‘to give extra strength,’ as Mike says. Credit: Rob Havill / G580Transat / MGR2025

ORIGAMI out front and in the lead 240 miles from the start making a 126 mile day in the last 24 hours. Most of the fleet has made 122-100 mile day!

Keri Harris (56, UK, #47 Origami), a retired navy officer and lifetime ultra-competitive dinghy sailor, crossed the line 35 minutes after the leaders, set the A3, and quickly started catching up. By the next day, he was leading the leaderboard, hungry for a win not only in the TRANSAT but also in the MGR. To save weight and maximize performance, he sleeps on a 1 cm thick yoga mat, focusing intensely on both his boat and his personal preparation. Credit: Rob Havill / G580Transat / MGR2025