In the video below 5.80 Skipper Keith Oliver (GBR) takes us on a little tour aboard his MERAKI, which he finished with great skill and in a short amount of time. He launched Meraki just before the qualifier sail from Lagos to Lanzarote and is now crossing the Atlantic on the boat!
Countdown to Historic McIntyre Mini Globe Race
The ALMA Globe 5.80 class is a tight-knit family, with builders supporting each other and race competitors helping one another. Here Hull 100 and 99 just removed from a 40ft container in Lagos. Left to Right: Daniel Turner (AUS/05/Immortal Game),Mike Blenkinsop,( AUS/Delja99),Dan Turk (CAD/20/Little Bea) & John Blenkinsop( AUS/Delja100). Credit: Christine Elizabeth Turner.
This historic world first event was six years in the planning and celebrates the 75th Anniversary of John Guzzwell’s 1955 circumnavigation onboard his self-built 20ft TREKKA.
The McIntyre MGR is one of three unique around the world events organised by Australian adventurer Don McIntyre and Ocean Frontiers Pty Ltd. Others include the solo 2018 and 2022 Golden Globe Race from Les Sables d’Olonne and the 2023 crewed Ocean Globe Race celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first Whitbread race.
In just two weeks, on 28 December 2024, a fleet of ALMA Globe 5.80 19ft /5.8mtr plywood home-built yachts, will set off from Marina de Lagos, Portugal, for the third Class Globe 5.80 Transat Race. After their ‘warm-up’ leg to Marina Rubicon Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, the fleet will depart bound for Antigua on 11 January. This transatlantic 3600 miles race serves as a qualifier for one of the most audacious solo around-the-world races yet conceived, the McIntyre Mini Globe Race.
Sailing in the footsteps of John Guzzwell and Trekka the first mini yacht to solo circumnavigate in 1955-1959, the course is west-about from the Antigua National Sailing Academy via Panama, Tahiti, Fiji, the Torres Strait, the Cape of Good Hope and Recife, including a number of other ports along the way. The longest legs may take up to 60 days at sea. The McIntyre MGR starts from Antigua on 23 February 2025 and finishes there in March 2026 a 13-month epic over 28,000 miles that will test the sailors and their tiny yachts to the limit and beyond.
“When I first explain to people what is about to happen with the MGR, most shake their head and say impossible, or simply stare in disbelief, so I know this adventure is going to create waves and big stories on and off the water. This is not a Vendee Globe sprint that is certain, but it is an achievable and affordable adventure for special sailors that is set to inspire and amaze many. The entire 15 yacht fleet is worth less than one foil of an IMOCA! yet these ALMA Globe 5.80 yachts are truly capable and proven safe ocean voyagers, specially conceived and designed to race solo around the world just like an IMOCA!” ~ DON MCINTYRE, EVENT ORGANISER.
“All entrants must meet strict entry qualifications, and the safety equipment specifications are exhaustive and worlds best practice with each boat assigned its own individual 24hr a day safety manager to monitor daily progress and manage international logistics.”
Don McIntyre, onboard Trekka, arrived in Lanzarote. Then 28 days and 3,000 miles later, he finished 3rd at the National Sailing Academy in Antigua, completed his 2021 Globe 580 Transat Race. Trekka will now compete in the 2025 MGR with her new owner, Ertan Beskardes. Crédit : CG580 / Etienne Messikommer.
The McIntyre MGR promises to be a spectacular event for those following. Like all of Don McIntyre‘s unique human adventure races, including the Golden Globe Race and the Ocean Globe Race. The Mini Globe Race will be well-documented, with weekly written and recorded voice reports and daily updates and LIVE Tracker reviews on the MGR Facebook Page, YouTube, Instagram and MGR website, plus, progress of the fleet can be followed on the MGR Yellow Brick YB 24hr tracker.
While the MGR is still looking for a tile sponsor, the Class Globe 580 one design yacht established in 2020, with over 235 participants in 35 countries around the world has secured a unique sponsor for the next five years. In future the 580 will be known as the ALMA Globe 5.80. ALMA was Founded in 2007 by a very discreet and generous philanthropist, whose goal is to support those worthy Humans who are usually brilliant in their fields but not well known by the masses. Rings a bell? Like Don McIntyre!
“The way Don McIntyre is making sailing more accessible to the common Human is something we find very special and inspiring. With mental health now mentioned on a regular basis in the press and social media, we actually feel your races are really making a difference in the wellbeing of the Humans that participate in your events .” ~ ALMA REPRESENTATIVE.
Over the years, ALMA has made a significant difference in the lives of musicians, artists, solo sailors, disabled athletes and even a big wave rider who has now ridden the biggest wave ever, on a bodyboard, in the infamous Nazaré wave, in Portugal. ALMA also supports Theatre and Cinema, and they are proud to be weeks away from launching a movie about Teenage Suicide, made almost entirely by teenagers, including the script, original soundtrack and main characters.
ALMA stands for excellence and the urgent need to reconnect Humanity with Nature…..Clothing. Cosmetics. Nutrition. Launching 2025.
“I am truly excited to have ALMA onboard helping to promote the ALMA Globe 5.80 Class, as there is no doubt in my mind that this simple, strong, build it yourself adventure yacht is becoming a classic in its own right and adventure makes good people and inspires many!!” DON MCINTYRE, ALMA Globe 5.80 CLASS FOUNDER & EVENT ORGANISER
Jasmine Harrison ( UK / 88 Numbatou) a long distance swimming record holder and a solo Atlantic rowing veteran bought the winning ALMA Globe 580 from the first 2021 Globe 580 Transat, did a refit , learnt to sail and is now ready to sail herself around the world!
The 13 men and two women in the McIntyre MGR represent nine countries, Australia 5, United Kingdom 3, and one each from Germany, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States of America. Four of the Australians have shipped their boats to the start in containers and one is sailing down from the USA. All others have either trucked their boats or are sailing to the start. Neils Kamphuis from the Netherlands is entered in the Globe 580 Transat only. These men and women young and old all have inspiring and interesting back stories and no two are the same.
Dan Turk sailed his “Little Bea” 3600 miles solo across the North Atlantic from Nova Scotia Canada to Portugal for the start and is now ready in Lagos.
12 Skippers and their teams have already arrived in LAGOS, the Portuguese home of the ALMA Globe 5.80’s since 2021. Father and son team Mike & John Blenkinsop, hull 99 and 100 built two identical ALMA Globe 5.80’s both shipped in a 40ft container from Queensland Australia, while Dan Turk sailed his “Little Bea” 3600 miles solo across the North Atlantic from Nova Scotia Canada to Portugal for the start and is now ready in Lagos. Teams must assemble in the marina no later than Dec. 17th and more than a few Xmas parties are scheduled prior to the Dec 28 start.
“It is a huge honour to host the start of the Globe 580 Transat on their way to the start of the McIntyre Mini Globe Race in Antigua. Lagos was the home port of the Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century and our Marina is the perfect stop for any sailor, either enjoying short or long-distance sailing adventures. Good luck to all the competitors!” ~ MARTINHO FORTUNATO, MARINA DE LAGOS MANAGER
The Race from Lagos to Lanzarote is a 550-mile qualifier for the Globe 580 Transat after an eight day stopover. This is a tradition going back to the original 1977 Mini Transat started in the UK by Bob Salmon and a great way to settle the fleet before the 3000-mile race across the Atlantic to the Antigua National Sailing Academy
“Marina Rubicon is pleased to host the Atlantic stop for the GLOBE 580 Transat. Since the beginning of this race in 2021, and again in 2023 we have been supporting the event and the 580 Class. It’s really good to see the development of both. We are very pleased that Don McIntyre chose Marina Rubicon and all our team to be part of this very unique event. Marina Rubicon wishes good luck to the entire fleet and in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race and hopes to see every starter, arriving safely in Lanzarote.” ~ RAFAEL LASSO, MARINA RUBICON MANAGER
Of the 12 entrants in the 2024 Class Globe 5.80 Transat, Niels Kamphuis (NL/ 163 Biggest Monkey) is the only one competing in the Transat only, not the MGR2025. This is his second attempt, he had to withdraw from the 2023 Transat Race due to work commitments.
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