Globe 5.80 Transat: ex-SAS soldier Bruce Payne sails Meraki

Tasmanian Bruce Payne spent 25 years in the Australian Army, some of them with the SAS, and only took up sailing in his fifties. On 31 October 2026, aged 62, he started his first ever race, the Globe 5.80 Transat, aboard Meraki, a 5.8 metre plywood yacht that already has a documentary of its own.

The six-boat fleet first sails 600 nautical miles from Lagos in Portugal to Lanzarote to qualify, and the crossing to Antigua starts on 14 November. Bruce is using it to qualify for the 2029 Mini Globe Race.

Meraki heeled under mainsail and jib off Lagos, with a lifebuoy and solar panel on her stern — Meraki, the yacht from the documentary of the same name, heads for Lanzarote on 31 October 2026. | Photo: G580T 2026

Soldier, paddler, then sailor

Home is Ulverstone, on Tasmania's north-west coast. Bruce served in the Australian Army, including the Special Air Service Regiment, until he retired in 2006, and has also worked in the private sector in high-risk environments.

He was crossing open water long before he owned a boat. His entrant profile records a 1993 sea kayak crossing of Torres Strait, from Weipa to Papua New Guinea, and a paddle across Bass Strait the following year.

He says he has always been inspired by small teams and capabilities that achieve results out of proportion to their size, and the idea of racing tiny boats across oceans fits that perfectly.

From charter boats to a Hanse 46

He learned on bareboat charters, then bought a Hanse 46 and cruised the Mediterranean between 2015 and 2020, from Italy across to the Aegean. Before this race he sailed Meraki solo from the UK to Portugal, a useful shakedown for boat and skipper.

Meraki motoring through the marina at Lagos, Portugal, past the raised lifting footbridge — Meraki leaves Marina de Lagos before the Globe 5.80 Transat qualifier start, 31 October 2026. | Photo: G580T 2026

Meraki, the boat from the film

Keith Oliver built hull 178 in a purpose-built tent in his back garden. Work started in April 2022 and ran until October 2023, just weeks before that year's Transat, Practical Boat Owner reported. Oliver, who called himself a weekend sailor, then raced her across the Atlantic and finished third in 34 days, 22 hours and 30 minutes.

Robert Edmonds turned the build and the crossing into a feature documentary, Meraki, which the race credits with introducing many sailors to the class. Bruce bought the boat from Oliver, and this will be her second Atlantic crossing.

What comes after Antigua?

He is looking forward to meeting the other entrants and to racing for the first time in his life. The hard decision, he says, is what to do after the finish: wait for the 2029 Mini Globe Race, or sail home to Australia under his own arrangements.