The Boat Plans

Every great project begins with a first step, and for my Class Globe 5.80 build, that meant ordering the boat plans. The process itself took a bit of time, which I was prepared for, given how busy things are with the ongoing Mini Globe Race—Jane, who handles the orders, has her hands full with the influx of interest from this exciting round-the-world regatta. After placing the order, it was then up to Janusz, the designer, to ship the plans all the way from Poland by mail. In total, from the moment I placed the order to when the plans arrived at my door, it took about four weeks.

Along with the plans, I was also officially assigned serial number 248, which makes this build feel even more real and connected to the growing community of Class Globe 5.80 sailors around the world.

When the plans finally arrived, they came in a sturdy binder containing several A2 and A4 pages of detailed drawings and specifications. However, don’t expect step-by-step instructions—there’s no direct guide for how to build the boat. Instead, it's recommended to follow the blogs of other builders who have gone through the process, learning from their experience. Hopefully, this blog will also serve as a helpful resource for anyone looking to build their own Class Globe 5.80 in the future.

As soon as I received the boat plans, I made a digital backup copy. This is a good idea to avoid wear and tear on the original pages, allowing you to easily check the plans from a tablet or smartphone while working on the build. The tricky part is digitizing the larger A2 pages. I used a smartphone app called FineReader, which converts photos into PDFs. While it's not a perfect solution (some of the smaller details can get lost due to the resolution), it’s still a convenient way to have a backup at hand without risking damage to the original plans.

Now that the plans are here, it's time to dive in and begin the journey of turning them into a real blue water yacht!