A FAMOUS YACHT

Hokitika Guardian, 20 October 1930, Page 7

A FAMOUS YACHT

SUNBEAM TO BE BROKEN UP. LONDON, September 4. Old ships with a history always possess an interest, even for people whoso acquaintance with the sea is limited to a sail on a calm summer afternoon. Holiday-makers at Portsmouth and Falmouth annually visit by hundreds the stately Victory and the graceful Gutty Sark.

Th c , difference in the outline and fitment of these craft is as wide as the business on which each was formerly employed with so much distinction: 'Yet both possess a special attraction for the public, who rejoice that they have been preserved so long. They represent typos of a day that is past, and as such are valuable. Other vessels with similar claims to fame are to he found in various roadsteads round the country, and many for sentimental reasons would have been pleased if the steam yacht Sunbeam, now on her way to a shipbreakers’ yard at Morecambe, had- been added to the number. Built 55 years ago, she has enjoyed a more remarkable career than any boat of her class. She first became known when Lady Brnssey, wife of the original owner, recorded the events of a world-wide tour in a hook which had a, great vogue _“The. Voyage of the Sunbeam.” It was read by thousands, and always with profit. For a privately-owned yacht of 500 tons to make such an extended cruise was in itself an unusual event, and when it was supplemented bv the charming story Lady Brassev told, the fame of the Sunbeam was'established. Since 1876 she has visited many waters, and it was after a trip to Iceland and Canada twenty years ago that Mr Horace J. Hutchison gave us “A Saga of the Sunbeam.” Lately Sir Walter Runciman has been her owner, and it is by bis orders that she' is now to be broken up.