Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster 2025

McIntyre Mini Globe Race report, 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca news, Charleston Race Week

by David Schmidt 8 Apr 15:59 BST April 8, 2025
ALMA Class Globe 580 one design Yachts are building in 37 countries with nearly 100 active builders. After the third running of the Globe 580 Transat Race and now start of McIntyre Mini Globe Race imminent, interest in this unique class is growing rapidly © World’s Toughest Row / MGR2025

As global financial markets melt faster than spring snowpack in the American West, I find myself daydreaming more and more of simply setting sail. Given the drubbing that Wall Street is suffering as I write these words, it's fair to say that the LOA of my dream boat is shrinking in accordance with my now-humbled portfolio. And considering the new tariff-fueled world order (ahem), the brave singlehanded skippers competing in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race are suddenly looking smarter and smarter.

Granted, they're racing around the world aboard ALMA Globe 580s whose LOA measures a mere 19 feet, stem to stern, but they're are actually out there, fulfilling their dreams, rather than hitting refresh on their favorite stock-market app.

As longtime readers of this publication know, I've got a soft spot a nautical mile wide and deep for sailors who commit to their dreams, be it an Olympic campaign, attempting to win a world championship title, or engaging in a solo circumnavigation. The McIntyre Mini Globe Race falls solidly in this latter category.

The race's first leg began off Antigua and took the fleet of 15 singlehanded skippers across 1,200 nautical miles of brine to a finishing line off of Panama's east coast. From there, the fleet transitioned 62 miles overland (by truck) to the Pacific Ocean, where racing resumed last Tuesday (March 25).

"The Panama transfer was a logistical triumph that tested everyone's nerves and capabilities," said Don McIntyre, the race's director, in an official event communication. "Now the real test begins—crossing the largest ocean on Earth in the smallest yachts, with no support."

Leg Two is a beast: 7,200 nautical miles, alone, aboard a homebuilt 19-footer, all the way to Fiji.

Of the McIntyre Mini Globe Race's five legs, Leg 2 is the longest, however it is broken into smaller bites, with some rests along the way. First, the fleet will take on the 4,800-mile passage from Panama to the Marquesas Islands, where they will enjoy an eight-day pit stop, before hoisting sailing again, this time for a 500 nautical mile "sprint" to Tahiti.

Then, after resting their bones for seven days, the fleet will sail 1,500 nautical miles to Pangai, Tonga (with an eight-day stopover), before making the final 500 nautical mile passage to Fiji.

If this sounds a bit unconventional to have multiple pitstops along a single leg, you're not alone in your thinking, however the important part to focus on isn't NOR semantics but rather the 7,200 nautical miles that these skippers will sail aboard boats that are much smaller than the square footage of my home office.

As of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time), the fleet was largely to the south and west of the Galapagos Islands.

Swiss-flagged skipper Renaud Stitelmann, sailing aboard Capucinette, was in the pole position and sailing at 3.4 knots, followed by Australian-flagged skipper Daniel Turner, sailing aboard Immortal Game at 3.1 knots, and Spanish-flagged skipper Pilar Pasanau, sailing aboard her Peter Punk also at 3.1 knots.

North American interests in the race are being represented by Joshua Kali (USA), who is sailing aboard Skookum some 345 nautical miles astern of Stitelmann's Capucinette.

The fleet is making progress, albeit slowly, however a glance at the tracker reveals a heck of a lot of blue between their bows and their first stop of the marathon leg in the Marquesas.

While I understand that the McIntyre Mini Globe Race isn't for everyone (case-in-point: I'm sitting in my relatively spacious office, armed with a great cup of AeroPress-brewed coffee, in a comfy office chair, working on a desk that's both level and stationary), these skippers are out there engaging in the adventure of a lifetime.

Sure, their vessel's reel off daily mileage tallies that an IMOCA 60 or an Ultim trimaran could polish off in less than two hours, but McIntyre Mini Globe Race skippers are doing these miles for a miniscule fraction of the cost of a circumnavigation aboard these much larger and faster steeds.

Call it a case of doing more with less, but—given the tariff-induced harikari that's roiling the global financial markets—these skippers are inspiration that great adventures don't have to require vast war chests to finance.

(N.B., anyone seeking further inspiration along these lines is highly encouraged to read "My Old Man and the Sea" by David and Daniel Hays. Just be warned: the book is a page-turner, and it cost me sleep last week as it's a hard one to put down.)

Meanwhile, in Olympic class sailing news, the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca recently wrapped up on the waters off of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and saw racing unfurl in ten classes.

Emma Wilson (GBR) was crowned the overall winner of the regatta after posting 12 impressive bullets in the Women's iQFOiL windsurfing event. While Wilson delivered a dominant performance, Great Britain emerged as the country to beat, collecting top honors in the 470 Mixed event (Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris), the 49erFX event (Freya Black and Saskia Tidey), the ILCA 7 evet (Michael Beckett), and the Nacra 17 event (John Gimson and Anna Burnet).

For North American fans, the four best results posted by athletes from this continent were Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid's (USA) sixth place finish in the 49er class; Andrew Mollerus and Trevor Bornath's (USA) eight-place finish in the 49er class; Paris Henken and Helena Scutt's (USA) eight-place finish in the 49erFX, and Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance's (CAN) ninth-place finish in the 49erFX.

Finally, for anyone who is seeking diversion from the financial morass, Charleston Race Week (April 10-13) will be unfurling on Charleston's historic water later this week. The annual spring event will feature racing in J/70s, Melges 24s, J/105s, VX Ones, J/24s, J/22s, and Melges 32s.

Sail-World tips our hat to the teams that competed at the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca regatta, and we wish all teams competing in Charleston good luck.

As for the brave skippers competing in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race, we have a candle lit for their safe passage, and we thank them for their inspiration. Global 401Ks might be looking more like 201Ks at the moment, but these bold souls are a great reminder that one doesn't need an Ultim trimaran, or even a tricked-out 40-footer, to realize their offshore dreams.

May the four winds blow you safely home.

David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor

Related Articles

Project FEAR turns southwards
Charity circumnavigation progress report from the Shetland Islands Last month I didn't even know that Muckle Flugga existed. Yet today, the very name of the island brought tears of emotion to my eyes, as I heard Jazz Turner scream it out in victory, in a video she took when passing the lighthouse. Posted on 22 Jun
Sailing and the summer solstice
Celebrating sailing and the longest day of the year If you love long evenings and early mornings, this is one of the best times of the whole year, as the summer solstice (Friday, June 20) and the entire rich expanse of summer are about to burst into bloom. Posted on 17 Jun
Video Review: The Amazing Cure 55
Composite Construction meets Cruising Convenience It was two years ago at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show that I talked to Dave Biggar about his ideas and plans for the Cure 55. At the 2025 show I got to step on board the yacht and see how his ideas became reality. Posted on 17 Jun
The Big Bash
Every summer the tournament rolls into town. A short format of the game. Fun and excitement abound. Every summer the tournament rolls into town. Local and international players. A short format of the game, run over a relatively compact six-week season. Posted on 15 Jun
The oldest video footage of Kiel Week
A look back into our video archive at the Kieler Woche of the 60s and early 70s In our series of articles looking back in time through our video archive, we visit Germany. Kiel Week is been a crucial event on the world circuit, and here we look back at the Kieler Woche of the 60s and early 70s. Posted on 15 Jun
Jazz Turner's fundraising target is smashed
Already £30k raised for Sailability, so it's time to up the ante Jazz Turner has now passed the northern-most tip of Ireland and is on her way to the Shetland Islands, and at the same time her fundraising total of £30,000 has been smashed! Posted on 15 Jun
Nick Olson on PredictWind's newest features
Nick Olson discusses PredictWind's newest features PredictWind has long been a leader in presenting high-quality marine forecasts. Nick Olson discusses the company's newest features. Posted on 12 Jun
The X-Yachts Gold Cup Experience
A celebration of sailing, of X-Yachts and, most importantly of all, people Having just returned from Haderslev, Denmark - which is the home of X-Yachts and played host to the X-Yachts Gold Cup 2025 - I was left wondering if this was a racing event, a rally or a social celebration amongst close friends. Posted on 10 Jun
Jazz Turner is now nearing Ireland
Fundraising circumnavigation almost hits the £30k target after just 8 days afloat As at the 10th June Jazz is 8 days out from Brighton, and starting to near Ireland. Jazz had hoped to be further along than this, but the winds have been forcing her to stay close-hauled ever since she started. Posted on 10 Jun
The evolving world of sailing fabrics
The sport of sailing is evolving, and the clothing we wear is changing with it The sport of sailing is evolving, and the clothing we wear is changing with it. We see features such as impact protection becoming more commonplace, but there is a more subtle change happening with the fabric of the garments themselves. Posted on 4 Jun
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERP&BCrewsaver 2021 Safetyline FOOTER