Keri Harris has been “sailing since I could walk” and hopes his race experience and his ability to calculate strategy, will help him take the crown in the 2025 Mini Globe Race.

The British sailor “ran away to sea” at the age of 16 to work on the barquentine Our Svanen in Canadian waters.

“Boating, in its many forms, has been a lifelong and very autodidact passion: it started with gunk-holing and day boating in the family Drascombe Longboat,” he told PBO.

“I always wanted to race though, and was fortunate to join a very polished offshore team on my return to England, on the Swan 371, King of Hearts, based on the Hamble and skippered by the late Mike Northover. I learned a lot from Mike and was given a lot of responsibility at 17, whether as bowman or navigator.”

Around this time, he began a lifelong love affair with the National 12 class racing dinghies.

He then joined the Royal Navy and went to university to study naval architecture.

“British Universities (BUSA) and the Navy gave me some fantastic opportunities to hone my racing skills and become a half-decent team racer, while also moving into the front end of an International 14 with David Maclean and an International 470 with Rooster-founder, Steve Cockerill in a pitch for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.”

He did his first trans-Atlantic race – from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro – in 1993 with the Royal Navy Sailing Team.

Since then, he has raced dinghies out of his home base of Salcombe in Devon, as well as sailing with his three children.

“They are adults now but we enjoyed many seasons campaigning in National 12s, RS200s, Larks and the 4000 class. I like to think I have been able to pass onto them my love of sailing – but nowadays I mostly sail on my own in France,” he said.

Why enter the Mini Globe Race?

Keri Harris: Modern communications and air travel have shrunk our perception of the world and I want to see for myself how vast it still is in reality.

Also, I had some involvement with the Open 6.50 Mini-Transat class but, as a captain, my naval career was monopolising my time.

Bob Salmon’s initial concept of the Mini-Transat really appealed to me but the costs of competing today have placed it out of reach for many – especially with the advent of foils.

The same is true of the Open 40 and other classes.

So I was ready to give my support to anyone who came up with a challenging, entry-level ocean race that would not demand high-end sponsorship – and Don McIntyre’s Globe 5.80 fitted the bill perfectly.

When the Mini Globe Race 2025 was first announced in 2020, I was among the first to buy boat plans, and had just invested a lot of time rebuilding a larger yacht for the OSTAR.

Boatbuilding is another of my passions, so I was eager to build and race my own boat.

Are you looking to win or just complete the race?

Keri Harris: I am looking to win, and then use my Mini Globe Race experience to enter other events in the future.

I know the 5.80 will have its detractors in World Sailing (too small; low tech; only one significant Cape) but anyone who completes the race will have a significant achievement under their belt.

I am intrigued to see the wider sailing community’s reaction once we are underway.

It will be hard to hold their interest for the duration of the Mini Globe Race, when even a Vendée Globe Race seems long in modern terms – but there is a certain romance to our plywood globetrotters.

How are you preparing yourself for the race?

Keri Harris: I recently founded a yoga centre in Vietnam, so my first step was to spend a month there to try and improve flexibility.

I can hike out hard, racing my Laser all day but I think my ligaments have tightened over the years making them more prone to injury, and the great Bernard Moitessier was a staunch advocate for daily yoga exercise when he competed in the 1968 Golden Globe Race.

Don’t get me wrong; I am no yogi. Mindfulness and meditation are probably not my scene – but my partner in Vietnam is brilliant at helping her students regain good, strong posture.

Let’s hope it works, although I am equally worried about losing aerobic fitness during the race.

During our stopovers, I think I shall be hyperactive and eager to hire a bicycle to thrash around on, (once upkeep on Origami has been taken care of).

In terms of mental preparation, I am rereading all the great sailing classics to absorb as much imparted wisdom as possible but don’t really have time to worry much about the risks I shall face during the race.

Admin is not my forté, and there is a lot of it in our circumnavigation preparations to keep me busy!

You bought Origami from Peter Kenyon, who built the boat using a CNC kit for the first-ever Class Globe 5.80 Transat in 2021. How are you preparing the boat?

Keri Harris: It is true, I do not have the accolade of building my own boat, which I do envy among my competitors.

In fact, after I bought my boat plans I moved to Hawaii for three years, for my last assignment in the Royal Navy (clearly a tough gig).

While living in Kailua, I was nearly evicted for doing up a carbon International 14 on my lanai (porch).

I then restored an International Soling which really tested my neighbours’ patience, so I figured that building a Globe 5.80 on-site would have been the final straw – and the material costs in Hawaii would have been astronomical.

I was on a flight in Vietnam when Peter put Origami on the market so, between taxiing and landing, I had decided to buy her.

Peter had put together two really good videos: his 2021 race and a subsequent walk around and an explanation of his boat and inventory.

It gave me enough confidence to buy Origami ‘unseen’, although it took a few days to convince Peter I was not an online Asian fraudster; especially when I needed his bank details for the deposit!

Peter built Origami superbly and he put some real ingenuity into making deck gear but, once I began sailing her, I wanted to make significant changes to the layout.

I am exclusively using Harken fittings, which I know from experience will withstand a year’s continuous, hard use.

In an ideal world, I would have designed and developed my own servo-pendulum steering system too – but time is not on my side.

I am sure the South Atlantic system ( designed for Globe 5.80 class) that I have is up to the job but, like most windvanes, it is heavier than I believe it needs to be.

Carbon is outlawed in the class rules but I am sure I could have designed something significantly lighter.

What storm tactics do you plan to use?

Keri Harris: As you know, this depends on the scale of wind and waves and the course intended, as well as proximity to land.

So far as possible, I want to keep the boat moving and only use a warp and/or drogue if absolutely necessary.

Drogues or warps?

Keri Harris: The Notice of Race stipulates that boats are fitted with drogues and warps, so I should have either at my disposal.

Their selection will depend on the scenario and duration of the storm.

I have been pondering using a warp on the leeward quarter in a following sea to compensate for the Globe 5.80’s tendency (in my opinion) to round up and broach early in quartering seas.

I think there will be merit in creating an offset pivot at the transom using a towed warp to assist the relatively small rudder.

Unfortunately, I have not yet encountered conditions suitable to test my hypothesis.

Have you practised those storm tactics?

Keri Harris: Not yet – but I have spent quite a lot of time with the boat on her side.

In a 19-foot boat, even 25 knots of wind can feel like a storm.

On the upside, the boat inspires confidence with her sturdiness and watertight subdivision.

Are you confident you will make the start?

Keri Harris: I am, but mainly because I have roped in a very effective manager, Sid Wareham, who was my Soling crew in Hawaii.

We are very different in temperament: I veer towards procrastinating perfectionist, while Sid just ‘gets stuff done’.

To reassure you, my approach changes entirely once I am onboard and at sea.

Priorities are easy to identify and I have the skills and resilience to cope with most scenarios.

Meanwhile, I try to avoid becoming bogged down in admin…

What self-steering set up are you planning to use?

Keri Harris: I am using the South Atlantic servo-pendulum system which was specifically developed for the class, and which is relatively inexpensive.

It needs careful maintenance but it has a good reputation for working well.

What antifouling will you be using?

Keri Harris: Epoxy Copper Coat.

The refit I am undertaking now includes raising the antifouled waterline to above the main chine to address the laden waterline and splash zone which will be prone to fouling during the race.

I don’t want to spend too much time playing shark bait in the warmer oceans…

Routing is forbidden. How are you preparing to sail the best route?

Keri Harris: We are already looking at weather patterns this year which correspond with my likely position in 2025.

At the same time, I am studying Admiralty Routing Charts and mapping out my observations on an inflatable globe, which I intend to carry with me.

I have a Single Side Band (SSB) receiver and an app to decode HF weather fax, and depending on the Iridium subscription, it will also be possible to use PredictWind or a similar forecasting page.

Personally, I like the simple HF faxed synoptic chart, on which I can base my own forecasting and routing but there seems to be a slow decline in available weather services on HF (Short Wave) radio.

How will you cope with sailing solo for so long?

Keri Harris: Any parent will tell you that Sudocream has magical powers, so I think I shall carry some – just in case.

Otherwise, I think there will be plenty to keep me busy in the round, whether helming, maintaining or repairing the boat and her rig.

Any spare time I have will likely be spent resting, or becoming well-read using my Kindle.

There is so much great literature I want to catch up on.

How will you prepare for the challenges alone at sea?

Keri Harris: I am quite at ease with my own company but will clearly miss my nearest and dearest during the long legs offshore.

Ultimately we are social beings and it takes time to adapt to solitude.

Notably, we are slower at problem-solving alone; it is amazing how much more productive we can be when there is someone else to bounce ideas off and collaborate with.

It is also a bit dispiriting when you witness moments of intense beauty at sea but you have nobody with whom to share them; or your fears.

Origami is not fast enough to sidestep powerful weather systems easily, so there will be days of anxiety following the initial signs of an approaching storm.

Waiting is the worst bit when you are alone.

The Mini Globe Race is a celebration of John Guzwell and Trekka. What words of wisdom from Guzwell will you be following?

Keri Harris: In his early fifties and a year into his second marriage, John’s wife Dorothy posed the hypothetical question, ‘What would you do, John, if someone told you that you only have six months to live?’ I think John’s wisdom and experience is encapsulated in his answer:

‘I think I would get on the boat and spend the rest of my time in the South Pacific.’

Who could wish for more?

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