Pot Noodles and no TV: girl, 14, becomes youngest sailor to go around Britain
A SCHOOLGIRL has become the youngest solo sailor to navigate Britain, fuelled largely by Pot Noodles.
Katie Mccabe, 14, arrived at her home town of Devon on Saturday evening after a 1,600 nautical mile anticlockwise voyage.
She came home to torrential rain and a large crowd along Topsham Quay.
She beat the previous record holder Timothy Long, who completed the trip aged 15. After arriving, Katie said: “I am overwhelmed.” Asked what she was looking forward to doing next, she simply said: “Sailing.”
Following close behind her has been David, her boatbuilder father, who had to stay within a five-mile range of his daughter for insurance reasons.
Katie set sail in her 26ft bull-hulled wooden boat called Falanda on June 30 and completed her voyage in seven weeks. She had no TV and meals were fairly basic, with pasta or Pot Noodles being cooked on a single-ring stove.
Her grandparents Clive and Chris Parnell said: “She had only sailed 400 miles solo before this. We are so proud. She had some night sails, which are very tricky in the dark.”
As Katie set off from Plymouth on the last leg of her adventure, she said: “I am looking forward to standing up and stretching out. I have really enjoyed it although you are in a constant state of tiredness. I was invaded by a swarm of hoverflies out at sea at one point. There was a big trip from south of Oban to Conwy in Wales which was 170 miles and took 32 hours. And around the Mull of Kintyre we had a three-metre swell for five to six hours.”
She wanted to complete the voyage in time for the start of her school term, but joked: “I might carry on and go around again.”
Katie has so far raised more than £10,000 for the Sea Shepherd UK charity,
‘I am looking forward to standing and stretching out. I really enjoyed it although you are constantly tired’
which targets illegal fishing and clears the oceans of ghost nets.
Timothy, who completed the journey in 11 weeks in October last year, also had to deal with the perils of the sea. During his trip he tackled large waves and galeforce wind, sometimes sailing for 24 hours straight.