Around the world in a 19ft boat

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.

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.