Globe 5.80 Transat: Atlantic rowers race Origami as a pair

British friends Dean Frost and Lee McCarthy rowed across the Atlantic together in 2021. On 31 October 2026 they set off to cross it again, this time under sail, as the first two-handed crew in the history of the Globe 5.80 Transat.

Their 5.8 metre plywood yacht, Origami, left Lagos in Portugal alongside five solo boats on the 600 nautical mile qualifier to Lanzarote. The Atlantic leg to Antigua follows from 14 November.

Origami, a white Globe 5.80 with an orange stripe and sail number 47, sailing with crew aboard off Lagos — Origami off Lagos, Portugal, on 31 October 2026, the first two-handed entry in Globe 5.80 Transat history. | Photo: G580T 2026

Forty-one days in a rowing boat

Dean and Lee have known each other since school. In December 2021 they rowed the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, 3,000 unsupported miles from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua, billed by its organisers as the world's toughest row. Their four-man crew, Elijah's Star, also included Philip Bigland and Kevin Watkins, and raised money for Action Medical Research. Dean was skipper.

He told Action the plan was to stick with your mates and get there in 37 days. They stuck together, but the crossing took longer. They reached Antigua on 22 January 2022 in 41 days, 2 hours and 51 minutes, 17th in the fleet, according to the Torbay Weekly. Dean says the row followed an earlier shared challenge, the Marathon des Sables.

Two careers, one small cockpit

Dean grew up in Lancashire and now lives on the River Dart at Stoke Gabriel in Devon. Four years in the Navy were followed by a career in engineering, and he is managing director of Clade Engineering in Leeds. He came to sailing in his early thirties and holds RYA qualifications up to Yachtmaster Coastal, plus Powerboat Level 2. In 2023 he passed Ocean Master shore-based theory with Peter Woodall during an extended celestial navigation course. He has sailed across the Atlantic twice, on a Beneteau 40.7 and as crew on a Volvo 65 in 2023.

Lee, Mac to his mates, served 33 years as a British Army officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He has sailed on and off since his teens and qualified as an Army skipper so he could get young soldiers out on the water. Retired now, he still sails with the REME sailing association and has a solid inshore and offshore record.

Origami sailing under mainsail and jib with self-steering gear and solar panels on her transom — Origami (47) heads out from Lagos for the 600 nautical mile qualifier to Lanzarote, 31 October 2026. | Photo: G580T 2026

Why two-handed?

Dean originally entered Origami as a solo boat. The move to a two-handed crew came this year, and we understand safety was behind the decision. According to the race, the Globe 5.80 was designed to be sailed two-handed, but until now nobody had made a major crossing in one that way.

The second crewman adds weight. The race puts the extra food and water alone at about 130 kg compared with the solo boats, a real burden on a 19 footer. Dean and Mac still mean to put up a good show against the single-handers and to blaze a trail for two-handed 5.80s.

Origami's transatlantic record

Peter Kenyon built hull 47 from a CNC kit and raced her in the first Transat in 2021. Keri Harris then sailed her to second in the 2024 Transat, in a corrected time of 22 days, 9 hours and 55 minutes, before taking her around the world in the inaugural Mini Globe Race. Harris finished third overall in 190 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds, and is Race Director this year. This is Origami's third transatlantic race.