Richard Turrill McMullen
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Richard Turrill McMullen (1830–1891) was a British yachtsman known as a pioneer of small sail boat cruising.


Sailing ''Leo''

In 1850, at age 20, McMullen decided to teach himself sailing and commissioned the construction of a 20-foot half-decked 3-ton cutter, ''Leo''. At this time coastal and ocean sailing was considered to be only possible with large vessels and a professional crew. To attempt to sail in the open waters around the British Isles in a small vessel handled by an amateur was so dangerous that to attempt to do so was considered extremely reckless. McMullen's first cruise began at Greenwich and proceeded some twenty miles down the Thames as far as
Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...
with a Thames waterman in charge. After this very short cruise he declared that ''"This was the only apprenticeship I served."'' His second cruise nearly ended in disaster as he collided with a collier off Charlton and the boat almost capsized. He then sailed out to the
Nore The Nore is a long sandbank, bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades int ...
, this being the point where the Thames is deemed to end and the North Sea begins. In this cruise he again collided with another vessel at 5am, which brought the sleeping crew angrily up to separate the two vessels. This was such a frightening experience that it was a full year before McMullen had recovered enough to contemplate another voyage. Between 1850 and 1857 McMullen sailed ''Leo'' gradually further and further afield with the aim of eventually reaching
Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
off the Cornish coast. As he was approaching
Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...
he encountered a severe storm but managed to make harbor and safety in Weymouth. At this time no-one was sailing small vessels in this manner and as McMullen sheltered for three days in Weymouth harbor he and Leo were the subject of much interest and attention from the people of the town, and he commented that, ''"For three days the Leo was the Lion of Weymouth. Being moored close to the quay, we were under close inspection of a greater or less number of people."'' The Penzance harbor book has an entry on 10 August 1855: ''"The Leo, 3 tons, of London, McMullen master and owner, 6d.;"'', McMullen goes on to explain, ''"which sum was not demanded of me, but was paid by the quaymaster, and entered for curiosity."'' Sailing on the open sea in extremely violent storms McMullen was the first person to realize that a small vessel could survive such difficult conditions if it stayed in open water and rode out the storm rather than trying to make for port where the dangers were actually highest, even for much larger vessels.


Sailing ''Sirius'' and ''Orion''

In 1861 McMullen had a second vessel built, the ''Sirius''. McMullen was so pleased with the handling qualities of ''Leo'', and ''Sirius was built along similar lines, but larger at 11 tons and with a round stern, something no other yachts had at that time. In 1863 McMullen and two other crew sailed around the British Isles, first touching at
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
after nine days open sailing from
Greenhithe Greenhithe may refer to: *Greenhithe, Kent Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Gree ...
, ''Sirius'' then sailed over the north of Scotland through the
Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth (, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corruption of the Old Nors ...
, down the
Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...
through the East Irish Sea, around Land's End and back to the Thames. A total track of 2,640 miles logged covered in 28 days. Whilst at the Island of Skye he describes his visit thus, ''"June 28th 1863, 9:15am. Sailed through Hoan Island Sound; 11pm rounded Cape Wrath. June 30th 10:30am anchored in Loch Staffin,
Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...
, and, with a boy of sixteen as a guide, ascended 1,500ft to the famous Rock of Quiraing, accompanied most of the way up and down by a crowd of good natured little urchins in tatters who could not speak a word of English."'' In 1865 McMullen had another vessel constructed, ''Orion'', which was lengthened in 1873 and rigged as a yawl thus finally making 19.5 tons. During a cruise to
Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
he fell out with the two crew he was recommended to help him manage the vessel. McMullen commented that on the voyage they were lazy and always complaining about the rigors of life at sea. After ''Orion'' made port in France they both abandoned him. When McMullen subsequently heard that they were boasting in the town that they had left him in the lurch, he decided to sail ''Orion'' back to England single-handed, which he did with some difficulty. The title of his second book refers to this incident in parentheses.


Last voyages

McMullen began also sailing a smaller vessel single-handed, the ''Procyon'', a 7-ton vessel he had built in 1867 and lengthened in 1870. In 1887 McMullen sailed ''Orion'' around Britain and Ireland in 22 days. His last voyage was in 1891 where he died at sea aged 61. McMullen set sail in the 6-ton lugger ''Perseus'' solo bound for France after calling in at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
to post a letter on 13 July. On 15 July his vessel was boarded by some French fishermen and McMullen was found dead of a heart attack in the cockpit of the vessel with his hand still on the tiller. He was brought ashore at Beuzeval in France and buried there.


Legacy

The yachting exploits of McMullen are considered important as previously sailing was either classed as racing or luxury cruising, both of which required big yachts, professional crews, and therefore large sums of money. As the middle-class in Victorian Britain grew, it looked for ways in which to enjoy the proceeds of their efforts and the concept of
leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...
expanded rapidly through the population from the mid-19th century onwards. A significant interest in travel and adventure evolved and at the time McMullen was doing his experimental cruises in ''Leo'', the "Golden Age" of
mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
was also beginning, led by British adventurers such as
Alfred Wills Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865. Early life Wills was the second son of W ...
. It is in this setting that McMullen is widely regarded as the pioneer of this new phenomenon of adventurous leisure pursuits with particular regard to small boat sail cruising. Rather than luxury and competition, the interest was rather in the coast and the sea, and an
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
learning the considerable technical skills required to competently skipper a small boat in coastal sailing, especially in very challenging weather conditions, which in itself required considerable bravery to master as well as skill. The pleasure and satisfaction derived in achieving this was augmented by the fact that such a pursuit could take the crew to previously difficult to visit coastal areas of Britain, Europe and the Mediterranean, often an important aspect of pleasure cruising for Victorian adventurers.Anil Taneja, World of Sports: Outdoors p.255


References

* Evans, Jeremy, ''Sailing (eyewitness companion)''. * Taneja, Anil, ''World of Sports: outdoor''. * McMullen, Richard T. ''Down Channel''. London, Horace Cox, 1893 * McMullen, Richard T. ''Down Channel and Orion (or how I came to sail Alone in a 19-Ton Yacht)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:McMullen, Richard Turrill 19th-century British sailors 1830 births 1891 deaths