Dean Frost and Lee McCarthy lead the Globe 5.80 Transat on Origami after a wet, bumpy first night out of Lagos. At 9am on Sunday 15 November NZ time (20:00 UTC Saturday), 20 hours after the start, the two-hander was 2.9 nautical miles ahead of Inimini and Flow, with the fleet about 70 miles south-west of the marina and very light winds forecast ahead.
The boats left in pelting rain, beat out into the dark and crossed the busy shipping lanes into a lumpy sea. Bruce Payne had his A5 go over the side of Meraki in the night and had to drag it back aboard. All five boats were making progress on the tracker, and both Bruce and Viivi Moisio report all is well on board.
Globe 5.80 Transat 2026: miles made good towards Antigua
Nautical miles gained on the 3,532 nm tracker course from Lagos, from the start (1:01pm Saturday 14 Nov NZT, 00:01 UTC) to Sun 15 Nov 9am NZT (20:00 UTC Sat). Four-hourly tracker positions; times are New Zealand time.
Source: Globe 5.80 Transat live tracker (YB Tracking).
Who is leading the Globe 5.80 Transat?
The tracker at 9am Sunday NZ time (20:00 UTC Saturday), with miles made good towards Antigua since leaving Marina de Lagos and the gap to the leader:
1. Origami, Dean Frost and Lee McCarthy (UK): 73.5 nm made good
2. Inimini, Matthew Freestone (UK): 70.6 nm, 2.9 nm behind
3. Flow, Viivi Moisio (Finland): 70.5 nm, 3.0 nm behind
4. Capucinette, Katherine Urpani (Malta): 67.9 nm, 5.6 nm behind
5. Meraki, Bruce Payne (Australia): 55.7 nm, 17.8 nm behind
Inimini and Flow are separated by a tenth of a mile and were within a few hundred metres of each other on the water. Origami has also sailed the furthest, 78.3 nm over the ground, against 70.8 nm for Capucinette and 59.0 nm for Meraki.
How did the first night go?
Origami averaged 3.7 knots made good towards Antigua over the first 20 hours, and Inimini and Flow about 3.5 knots. She took the lead in the first four hours and has stretched it slowly since, from about a mile at 9pm Saturday NZ time to 2.9 nm by morning. Katherine Urpani, who led after the first hour on Saturday afternoon, made the biggest gain in the four hours to 9am, 15.5 nm towards Antigua. Inimini made good 14.8 nm, Origami 13.8 nm and Flow 13.4 nm.
Meraki lost ground through the night, and Bruce explained why.
Bruce Payne hauls his A5 back aboard
In his first video update from sea, filmed about ten and a half hours in, Bruce described a challenging night. Meraki went out through the harbour entrance in pelting rain, and he got reasonably wet, as did the other skippers.
He reached the start of the shipping lane flying his A5 with two reefs in the main. Then the A5's furler came adrift from the bowsprit and a large piece of sail went over the port side. The only way to recover it was to lower the whole lot, keep it out of the water and haul it into the cockpit, which he did before stowing it in the forepeak.
The furler itself is still out on the bowsprit. Bruce said it was too lumpy, bouncy and choppy to go forward for it and he would wait for the sea to settle. The race passed on his check-in message, which called the episode type 2 fun and said all was well on board. He also noted that his track so far was almost identical to the one he sailed on the cancelled qualifier.
Viivi Moisio pinches herself
On Flow, Viivi recorded her first update on the second night. She said the midnight start was a tricky one: dark, upwind, and then a heavy rain squall that made it harder still. It was a pretty uncomfortable night, she said, spent keeping the boat moving in the right direction and remembering to eat and drink.
Crossing the main shipping lane again on Saturday was the hard part, because sailing upwind left her little room to manoeuvre around the traffic. Once she was clear of it she felt better, and she called it a rough start but said everything was good on board.
She also described herself as a bit emotional and in need of a pinch to believe she was really out there, on a home-built plywood boat, heading for the Canaries and then Antigua. She thanked her followers for their messages, which she said had made her smile.
Katherine Urpani's page marked the start with photos of the fleet slipping out under navigation lights, and a sailing feature on her campaign noted her more than 30 years working at sea and seven Atlantic crossings. Matthew Freestone has not posted since leaving the pontoon.
What is the weather forecast for the Globe 5.80 Transat?
Light to begin with, then a headwind. This is our reading of the free ECMWF and GFS models on PredictWind, taken at midday on Sunday NZ time, at points along the fleet's likely track.
Sunday 9pm NZ time (08:00 UTC Sunday). Barely any breeze. At 35.6°N 10.0°W both models give 4 to 5 knots from the west.
Monday 9am NZ time (20:00 UTC Sunday). Close to a flat calm. At 35.0°N 10.6°W, ECMWF has just 1 knot and GFS 3 knots. A band of light air runs down the coast of Portugal and Morocco, with 15 to 25 knots well to the north-west around a low near the Azores.
Tuesday 9am NZ time (20:00 UTC Monday). A south-westerly fills in, almost on the nose. At 33.6°N 11.9°W the models give 8 to 9 knots from the south-west, and further north at 37.2°N 11.4°W both have 17 to 18 knots from the south-south-west. The further south the boats are by then, the lighter it should be.
Wednesday 9am NZ time (20:00 UTC Tuesday). Light and uncertain. At 32.2°N 13.1°W both models give 6 to 7 knots, but ECMWF has it from the north-west and GFS from the south-west.
Thursday 9am NZ time (20:00 UTC Wednesday). Still light where the fleet should be, 3 to 6 knots near 30.6°N 14.5°W. Behind them, both models have a much stronger system off northern Portugal, with 14 to 18 knots at 37.2°N 11.4°W and 30 knots or more further north.
These are forecast average wind speeds at fixed positions, and what each boat meets will depend on where it is when each system arrives. On our reading the boats face a light patch first and then some windward work, while the system building behind them gives every skipper a reason to keep heading south.
What happens next?
The trackers report every four hours. The next few days may test the skippers' patience more than their sail handling, and Bruce has a furler to recover from the end of his bowsprit as soon as the sea allows.
For the start and the race background, read our start-day report and our midnight start preview.
Meet the skippers
Read our profiles of Dean Frost, Lee McCarthy and Origami, Matthew Freestone and Inimini, Viivi Moisio and Flow, Katherine Urpani and Capucinette, and Bruce Payne and Meraki. The Globe 5.80 Transat is a sister race to the Golden Globe Race, which Go Boating follows every day.
