The 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race was the first ever sailing race around the world. Nine started and only one finished. Robin Knox-Johnston, onboard his 32ft ketch SUHAILI, became the first person ever to circumnavigate solo and non-stop. Man had also just landed on the moon. The 1969 Apollo moon landing guidance computer ran at 1.024 MHz with just 4 KB RAM and 72 KB storage. Today iPhones run near 4 GHz with 8 GB RAM and hundreds of gigabytes, making them millions of times more powerful, yet Apollo still had a backup sextant! Just in case!

In 2015, Australian adventurer Don McIntyre announced the Golden Globe Race was back for its 50th Anniversary in 2018. It was a simple idea. Sail like it’s 1968 in old-fashioned yachts without computers, GPS, electric clocks, or satellite phones, and only HF SSB radios for communication. There would be no satellite weather and music had to be on cassette tapes. Sextants with paper charts and towing logs would keep you safe! Modern tech was banned. It was retro, an original idea and a huge success. The ultimate human adventure with real stories and drama. But McIntyre paid a heavy price. There was no satellite media so no sponsors took the title. Even so, followers around the world grew rapidly.

 The third edition of the McIntyre GGR in 2022 saw only three finishers from 18 starters. Again, there was plenty of drama and real adventure. South African Kirsten Neuschäfer became the first ever woman to win any yacht race around the world. Still no satellite media and still no title sponsor. McIntyre resisted satellites once again to keep with the 1968 ethos of complete sailor isolation and sextants.

Then came the 2025 McIntyre Mini Globe Race, a 28,000-mile solo race around the world in 19ft/5.8m plywood ALMA Globe 580 home-built minis. 15 sailors started and 11 finished. All but one sailed with Mini Starlink, reporting live all the way around the world. For the entire race, McIntyre asked, “How could we create a one-way WINDOW in the 2026 GGR without computers?” He tried a system for the 2023 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race, but it was not right. For GGR, computers and iPhones are banned and no online connections are allowed. No current hardware or software anywhere in the world could do what GGR needed. Unless he built his own!!

 The ethos of the GGR is simple. No computers, no satellite comms for communication to anyone except GGR, and total sailor isolation. You cannot use satellites or Starlink for 24-hour LIVES without computers. So McIntyre decided to build a unique control system, hardware and new management software from the ground up with the help of TriPeak AB in Switzerland. The design brief: no onboard computers, no way to download anything, no way to speak with anyone, yet still do LIVE streaming video and show skipper biometrics, like heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure, LIVE to the world for eight months!

He did it, and the prototyping and software are now complete. It’s ready to go. It just needs the hardware production budget in a race against time. The GGR starts in 131 days! The program budget is Euro 240,000 and GGR still has no title sponsor and fewer sponsors for this edition than the first!! The final GO/NO GO decision on this LIVE will be made in the next two weeks.
             “This is truly exciting. We went right back to developing our own circuit boards. No one has ever streamed LIVE 24/7 for an around-the-world yacht race and the GGR is no ordinary race! With this new equipment and software, we can do it and still maintain the ethos of the GGR, like it’s 1968, which we protect fiercely. That is the only reason we can do it. This opportunity will generate a huge number of views and inspire a whole new group of followers. That is the reason we continue to support our three unique around-the-world races. It’s a bit late for sponsors, but this is a game changer for sure and we are open to offers!! The 240,000 budget for this LIVE is supported by entrants themselves, and Jane and I fund the rest. The war and world economy have not helped. Sponsor revenue is down 70% on the last 2022 GGR. But there is a big opportunity here for someone!”   

 Don McIntyre,  GGR Founder and Organiser.

This new system allows a GGR sailor to press a couple of buttons on a control panel to start Starlink and one of three onboard cameras, which then starts transmitting live images to GGR headquarters. It’s that simple. Still isolated, still totally alone and not communicating with anyone, and we have their heart rate too! Followers watching will hear them and the sounds of wind and waves in storms or calms, LIVE. The cockpit camera has night vision without lights, down below has auto-tracking of the sailor, and then there is a hand-held action camera.

 GGR then directs the LIVE action to GGR YouTube. Up to four incoming GGR entrant streams can be received at the same time. Participating entrants — not all will, as it is voluntary — will be scheduled on the LIVE YouTube WINDOW at publicised times, allowing followers to tune in to their sailor. If an entrant wants their own 24/7 live streaming for eight months, that is a dedicated GGR entrant window. If there is BREAKING NEWS, or an incident onboard, it immediately overrides the scheduled programming for all to see.

 A YES/NO survey for a GGR LIVE WINDOW on social media brought stunning results, best summed up by one comment: “I would give up my job to go home and watch GGR LIVE 24/7!!!” Keep your fingers crossed! Don is waiting by the phone for sponsor calls!

The Golden Age of sailing continues with the fourth edition of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. A fully reviewed Notice of Race, an increased following, new approved designs and a limit of seven boats of the same type will make the GGR 2026 even more interesting. The Golden Globe remains totally unique in the world of sailing and stands alone as the longest, loneliest, slowest, most daring challenge for an individual in any sport.