SELF-BUILT RACER
Adam Waugh is building a Class Globe 5.80 to race across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Katy Stickland reports
The Class Globe 5.80 would not be described by some sailors as the ideal boat to race around the world. At just 5.8m (19ft) long and 2.27m (7ft 5in) wide, the boat is a far cry from the 40ft-plus multihulls and monohulls that most skippers would gravitate towards for offshore adventures.putting stringers on, to the planking, putting the hull boards on and the fairing, which was definitely my least favourite part. I’ve spent as much time behind a computer screen, looking at other builders’ blogs, speaking to other builders and researching various techniques, as I have actually building the boat,” he said.
But the idea of ocean sailing in small boats is nothing new. In the 1950s, John Guzzwell proved that sub-21ft boats were capable of circumnavigating the world. Inspired by the likes of Harry Pidgeons and Joshua Slocum, Guzzwell spent £50 on a set of Jack Laurent Giles plans for a 6.27m (20ft 6in) yawl.
A carpenter, he built Trekka, using only hand tools, launching the boat in August 1954.
His first long solo voyage on Trekka was to Hawaii, via San Francisco, in September 1955; he continued sailing for another four years, covering 33,000 miles. Guzzwell’s subsequent book, Trekka Around the World, is seen by many as one of the greatest small boat stories of all time, and details the build of the boat, cruising in company with Miles and Beryl Smeeton, crossing the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, transiting the Panama Canal and sailing back to Victoria, British Columbia, via Hawaii in 1959.
Home build
Now Adam Waugh, 59, is hoping to follow – partially–in Trekka’s wake.
The RYA Cruising Instructor and Yachtmaster Offshore is currently building his Class Globe 5.80 in a barn near to his Northumberland home ahead of the 2025 Mini Globe Race.
It’s the first boat he has ever built, and he began construction in February 2022 after buying the plans for €300.
A year later, and the boat’s hull has been turned and he is in the process of fitting the interior.
The build has been delayed due to a house move and Adam’s recovery from an appendicitis, but the former amateur jockey is hopeful he’ll have his Class Globe 5.80 on the water for sea trials out of his home port of Amble by mid summer.
“Pretty much every step has been a learning curve from the frame building toAdam, who has put his Sigma 36 up for sale to fund his adventure, said learning how to us
