An interview with Katie McCabe, 14, after she broke the record for youngest GB solo sail

We caught up with Katie McCabe, 14, from Topsham, just after she broke the record for youngest solo sail around Great Britain.

She set out from Topsham on Wednesday 30 June, passing Exmouth just before 12pm, and returned to the Exe Estuary today, Saturday 21 August, at around 4.30pm.

Katie told Nub News: "It was really nice to see everyone [waving in Exmouth and Topsham], but it was a bit embarrassing!

"I'm sad we finished. I'd definitely do it again. I'd like to go across the Channel next, on my own, and I'd like to go across [the Bay of] Biscay maybe next year, and eventually work up to crossing the Atlantic one day."

The journey

Her seven-week, 52-day journey took her anticlockwise around Great Britain, first along the south coast towards Dover, then up to Suffolk, Grimsby, past Aberdeen, through the Caledonian Canal, down to Wales and Cornwall, and finally back to Devon.

Katie continued: "We saw dolphins, and had a couple of minke whales on the east coast, and I enjoyed the night trips. We had phosphorescence in the water the other day.

"We were stuck in Conwy for a week because of bad weather, which was frustrating.

"The hardest part was coming into marinas, because they give you a random berth number and you have to try and find it.

"[I only felt seasick once] the other day coming from Milford Haven to Newlyn, across the Bristol Channel.

"[I navigated] shipping lanes, canals and locks for the first time, and the first time I put a spinnaker up was in Loch Ness!""

Her yacht, Falanda

She sailed her 70-year-old wooden 26-foot Morgan Giles yacht named 'Falanda' singlehandedly, with her father David following behind in his own vessel for insurance purposes.

Katie said: "I bought Falanda in 2019, in September. She'd been out of the water in a boatyard for 10 years - we had to replace a couple of boards on the hull, replace the cockpit coamings, and all the varnish.

"Last year we went to the Scillies and back, from here, which is 400 miles in total. I did that alone [in Falanda] with Dad following me, without electronics - it's great until the fog comes in!"

Proud parents

Her father David said, laughing: "I'm fairly proud of her I guess! No, she's done well, with all the planning and everything.

"I just stood back and made sure everything was roughly safe, and that was it.

"We had our PLBs [Personal Locator Beacons], and using the AIS [Automatic Identification System] I could track Katie - even though she's very young, she was also very safe."

Katie's mother Hazel said: "I'm incredibly proud, I think it's amazing.

"It hasn't quite sunk in yet - I've been following her on a day-to-day basis, it's all a bit overwhelming!

"I think she's done brilliantly, absolutely amazing."

Fundraising

Katie has raised more than £10,000 for environment conservation charity Sea Shepherd UK so far, and will also donate further funds raised to another charity called Lonely Whale.

Katie added: "I've been sailing all my life, and I've seen loads and loads of plastic in the water, and lots of dead fish.

"I wanted to raise awareness for a charity to get people thinking about where their plastic was going.

"Basically, Sea Shepherd UK had everything that I wanted in a charity.

"Sea Shepherd UK gets 'ghost nets' out of the water and stops illegal fishing. Lonely Whale gets ocean-bound plastics and they convince big companies to use them in their products.

"Lots of people have given me money for the trip, some of which I haven't spent, so I'm going to give that to Lonely Whale."

If you would like to donate, please click here to go to her JustGiving page.

The previous holder of the record for youngest solo sail around Great Britain was Timothy Long, who completed his 11-week journey in October 2020 at just 15 years of age and raised more than £14,000 for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.

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