When Katie met Murdoch
The youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate Great Britain single-handed and an octogenarian undertaking a similar feat in the opposite direction were due to complete their journeys on the same weekend at opposite ends of the country.
Murdoch McGregor, aged 82, met up with 14-year-old Katie McCabe and her family in Scotland on 30 July, saying it was “a privilege” and a “totally special day.”
At the time of going to press, both Katie and Murdoch were due to complete their circumnavigations on the weekend of 21-22 August.
Murdoch, who had travelled clockwise on his Hunter Horizon 232, Artemis, was returning to his home port of Alloa on the upper river Forth, on 22 August, from where he departed on 5 June. His route included the north coast of Scotland although a back injury scuppered his plan to round the Orkneys too.
Katie’s homecoming to the River Exe on 21 August, seven weeks after setting off on 30 June, marked the culmination of an anticlockwise voyage in her 26ft Morgan Giles, Falanda.
The ISCA academy pupil, who sailed her own boat but was required for insurance purposes to sail ahead of her dad, David, in his 33ft yawl, is expected to take the mantle of being the youngest person to sail solo around Britain from Timothy Long – who has been very supportive of the challenge. Katie’s mum, Hazel, and younger brother Reuben met up with them during the adventure.
Murdoch said: “As I was making my way around the UK in a clockwise direction I was aware that doing exactly the same thing but in the opposite direction was a 14-year-old girl from Devon.”
When Murdoch’s wife spotted that Hazel had made a donation on his JustGiving page, telling him to keep an eye open for Katie, he did just that and they arranged to meet in Oban. Murdoch said: “We had food and chatted and found that our love of the sea and of long-distance voyaging was exactly the same.”
He added: “Katie McCabe is a very special young sailor... watch this space, I certainly will! Privileged to know her.”
Forth Cruising Club member Murdoch, who was 72 when he bought his first yacht, undertook the challenge for a “truly amazing sailing adventure” and to raise funds and awareness for the charity Mental Health UK: justgiving. com/fundraising/murdochmcgregor1 in memory of his late brother, Jim.
Katie grew up on boats, then found her project boat, Falanda, in 2019 and restored her with the help of David, who is a wooden-boat builder (PBO October, 2020).
Last summer, Katie sailed Falanda from the River Exe to the Isles of Scilly and back, around 400 miles, with her family sailing nearby in the yawl Amaryllis.
Katie has “loved every minute” of her round-Britain adventure which saw her sail up the east coast into Scotland, through the Caledonian Canal, down the west coast, past the Isle of Man, Wales, around Land’s End, and back to the Exe, and ‘didn’t want to stop”..
Sharing her adventures on the Falanda Sailing Facebook page, Katie was impressed by Murdoch’s endeavours. She said: “Solo sailing is a challenge in itself, but to sail around at 82, and on a tiny 23 foot boat – wow!”
Katie’s popular posts have included a discussion on
The Guinness World Record team – at PBO’s request – has created a title of ‘Oldest person to circumnavigate Great Britain by sailing’ for Murdoch to apply for… Watch this space!
food: “We basically live off baked beans! Tins are good, because they live forever, and are really easy to heat.
“In fact, they are so easy that we are left with practically no dishes – except maybe a spoon if you want to be fancy. Dad has his special method of lighting the hob, and whacking the entire tin on the heat. After 20 seconds or so, you give it a good shake, and then put the other end of the tin on the heat for another 20 seconds, and so on, for another two minutes-ish. Then, after opening the tin, you are ready to eat!
“If, by the time I return to school, I really haven’t learnt anything new, I can at least tell my teachers, my dad has taught me how to cook beans!”
Facebook follower Gary Mackley-Smith responded: “You can tell the school that you have learnt resilience, survival, how to handle stress, how to sail through rough conditions, how to tie knots, how to chart a journey, how to fix things when they break, and how to cook beans.”
Katie has smashed her £6,000 target by raising more than £10,000 so far for marine wildlife conservation charity Sea Shepherd UK. She is also raising the profile of Lonely Whale, a charity that encourages big businesses to use recycled plastic in their products. justgiving. com/fundraising/ falanda-roundbritain