Building a Class Globe 5.80 for a Solo Transatlantic Race
One small boat, built by hand, sailed solo across the Atlantic.
From a pile of plywood to open ocean. One builder. One boat.
Stage 2 of 11: Kit · Next: Frames
- 01Workspace
- 02Kit
- 03Frames
- 04Strongback
- 05Planking
- 06Glass & fair
- 07Flip
- 08Keel
- 09Rig & systems
- 10Sea trials
- 11To Lagos
Every step, logged
Making the leap
The CNC kit that turns a pile of plywood into a boat. Flat-pack furniture, only this one has to float. Assembly time: two years. Test drive: the Atlantic.
3 min read →Why I'm building a Globe 5.80 sailboat
One person, one CNC kit, and a plan to sail a 5.8-metre plywood boat across the Atlantic.
4 min read →A Class Globe 5.80
A 5.80-metre plywood ocean racer, cut from a CNC kit and built by hand, frame by frame. Small enough to build in a tent; strong enough to cross an ocean alone.
Built from plywood
Okoume marine plywood over solid timber frames, sheathed in epoxy and glass. No carbon, no exotic materials: the class bans them.
Built to survive
Three watertight compartments, a crash box in the bow, and buoyancy foam fore and aft so the hull stays afloat even if holed.
Small, simple, seaworthy
Designed by Janusz Maderski for one person to build and one person to sail across an ocean. A 12.5 m² main, 7.6 m² jib and 25 m² gennaker.
McIntyre Globe 5.80 Transat 2028
A celebration of the original 1977 Mini Transat: small, simple boats sailed single-handed across the Atlantic. A qualifying leg from Portugal to the Canary Islands, then roughly 3,000 nautical miles of open ocean to the Caribbean.
Before the start, each skipper must also complete a long solo qualifying passage in their own boat, steering by windvane alone.