The start gun was fired by a member of the National Sailing Academy, which is the official host of the MGR.

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Eric is one of fifteen qualified solo sailors from eight countries attempting to race their 19ft/5.8m home-made plywood ALMA Globe 580 yachts, 26,000 nautical miles around the globe.

The MGR is a nod to John Guzzwell who sailed his 21ft timber home-built yacht Trekka solo around the world in 1955.

It was the first “mini” to achieve the feat.

Eric, however, nearly didn’t get to the start line.

He ran into tough conditions on his journey to Antigua, taking 26 days instead of the planned fortnight.

“Eric only arrived [on Wednesday 19 February] after battling rough seas and wind on the nose sailing, which is very uncomfortable,” his wife Brenda told News Of The Area.

“What should have taken about fourteen days in reasonable conditions took him 26 days of hard slog.

“He ran out of all comfort foods like chocolates and snacks.”

He made it safely however, and Mrs Marsh was very excited to see him arrive.

“Considering what he had endured he looked remarkably well and of course looking forward to a good feed.”

This meant he had only three days to prepare for the start of the race.

Minor repairs were needed, but the adventurous yachtsman had no hesitation in taking off again.

Eric had nothing but praise for his tough little yacht, Sunbear, and was looking forward to sailing downwind for a change.

“He bounced back, eager to start.”

All fifteen sailors worked hard to make the start line.

One previously commanded an English Aircraft carrier, another swam the length of the UK and rowed the Atlantic, while another has run across the Sahara desert.

From Antigua, the MGR fleet sails directly to Panama, but instead of transiting the canal they will be trucked across to the Pacific side.

Then they sail across the Pacific for Fiji arriving in mid-June for a three-week stopover before continuing the race across the top of Australia and then deep south to the Southern Ocean bound for Cape Town in South Africa.

After an extended Christmas break beside Table Mountain, it is up and across the South Atlantic to Recife in Brazil for the final stopover before heading home to Antigua.

The race is expected to take one year with the first boats expected back in March 2026.

The fleet can be followed on MGR Facebook and YouTube.

By Andrea FERRARI