Countdown to Historic McIntyre Mini Globe Race

  • 15 Ocean ready ALMA Globe 5.80 plywood, self-built, one design 19ft Mini yachts are ready to race solo, west about around the world unsupported in the 2025 MGR.
  •  Historic world first event six years in the planning, celebrates 75th Anniversary of John Guzzwell’s 1955 circumnavigation onboard his self-built 20ft TREKKA.
  •  The third edition of the 2024 Globe 580 Transat race serves as a qualifying race to the MGR starting Dec. 28th 2024. 12 men and women sail from Marina de Lagos, Portugal, to Marina Rubicon Lanzarote, then 3000 miles across the Atlantic to Antigua National Sailing Academy in the Caribbean before taking on the world!
  •  Open access to Starlink and all forms of satellite communication and tracking allow live event coverage.
  •  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.

The Route

The route for the 2025 McIntyre Mini Globe Race. Credit: MGR2025
The route for the 2025 McIntyre Mini Globe Race. Credit: MGR2025

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.

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.
The ALMA Globe 5.80 is a tight-knit family, with builders supporting each other and race competitors helping one another.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.

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