The ClassGlobe 5.80 has been initiated by Don McIntyre who recently ran the Golden Globe Race. Working together with designer Janusz Maderski they have created a yacht to be built from a Plywood structure and covered with a layer of fibreglass. Their design returns to the basic principles of a simple, strong, safe and affordable ocean-going mini racer. It’s geared towards the home builder, who should be able to construct it using simple tools and with little experience. I guess we will put this to the test.

Builders buy a set of plans for 300 Euro’s from the ClassGlobe website, sign an Licence to build the yacht and away they go. In order to take part in future events builders are required to adhere to class standards for safety, consistency of build quality and yacht capability. The aim is to produce true sailor versus sailor racing rather budget versus budget of many modern high tech classes.

Future events include a Transat (Europe to the Caribbean) in November 2021, a AZAB (Europe to the Azores and back) in 2022 and a full Round the World Race in 2024. And in the mean time plenty of coastal and near off-shore fun to be had.

www.classglobe580.com

The option choose for this project was to go with a CNC kit. This mean all the wood for the structure of the frames and the hull planking are pre cut by a computer. There is 25 sheets of marine plywood (Okume 9mm) and 11 boards 22mm thick massive wood for the reinforcement of each frame. This is like a very big IKEA piece of furniture.

The construction of the Class Globe HULL 88 is going to happened (already started) in Zurich, Switzerland. You can follow the building process on the blog on this website and FaceBook ot INstagram.

WHO I AM

My name is Etienne, I just turn 33 recently. As you might have notice the picture in the title banner is not very actual .Since then I did grew a little older. Only this is being capture on my first day sailing ever. So I though this could be a nice reminder from where it all started.

I was born in front of the lac of Geneva, le lac leman as we called here from where I’m. Bit it is only quite lately, when I was around 21 years old, that I discovered the pleasure of sliding on it only with the power of the wind. This day is for ever marked in my memories. I remember being so amazed by the fact that our little catamaran was blasting at high speed over the water only by trimming this little piece of with cloth. Astonishing. Since then this intense sensation never disappear from my head and I went on into a quest for more wind and bigger waves.

In 2015 I went to New-Zealand, the country of the long white cloud, but as well the one surrounded by ocean and strong winds. Not a bad place to discover the world of sailing. I ended up shearing sheep in the mountains, but this is an other story.

Anyway after a couple of passage as a deck hand in the southern ocean between the tropics and New-Zealand. I knew deep inside me this is what I wanted to do. Set sails and cross the sevens seas. I ended up buying an old Steel yacht in Wellington, did a 6months major refit to the old girl. And spent the last 4 years sailing on her between New-Zealand, the Fiji, French-Polynesia, Tonga, Wallis&Futuna, Vanuatu, New-Caledonia to finally cruising all the east coast of Australia to end up in Tasmania.

The covid situation with all the complications it implicated and the impossibility to plan any future adventures down here. Plus the deep will to start a new project, a new adventure on a different type of boat, convince me to sale my trustful “SOUNDSGOOD” and to fly back to Europe to start this 580 project. And here I’m.

PAST adventure

In 2017 for my 29th birthday i bought a yacht. It was in New-Zealand, in the small town of Porirua. I had almost no experience in sailing but I knew deep inside me that this is what I wanted to do. Her name was SOUNDSGOOD, a 34ft steel yacht based on the design from Denis Ganley. She as been my trustful partner since day one and all along the 13’000 Nautical miles we did together. It was clearly a learning by doing adventure. merci.