Sunbeam RYS (1874)

Sunbeam, a British luxury yacht launched in 1874, became famous when Annie Brassey, the wife of its owner Thomas Brassey, published a book describing their adventures during a world cruise. The book, titled A Voyage in the Sunbeam, our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months, became a best seller and was translated into many languages.

Sunbeam was built for Thomas Brassey by Bowdler & Chaffer of Seacombe, from a design by St Clare Byrne. She was a three-masted topsail-yard schooner, iron framed and with teak skin. Length 159 ft, beam 27.5 ft, weight 532 tons. The sail area was 9,000 square yards. The yacht had an auxiliary compound steam engine of 70 hp that developed a top speed of just over 10 knots. The bunkers could hold eighty tons of coal and although primarily a sailing vessel, she could steam for approximately 20 days without refuelling. When not in steam, the funnel would be lowered and the propeller feathered to reduce drag. Unlike many of the luxury yachts of the time, Sunbeam had been designed for long distance and deep sea journeys. The accommodation for the owners and their guests, however, was far from Spartan, with rooms fashioned in a typical Victorian drawing-room style.

The name Sunbeam came from the nickname they had given to their daughter - Constantine Alberta Brassey - who had died in 1873 from scarlet fever.

Annie Brassey had previously written, and privately printed, travel stories for her friends and family. After returning from their 1876-77 world cruise in Sunbeam, she wrote a book about their adventures and published this with Longmans & Co. It was titled: “A Voyage in the Sunbeam, our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months” and became a best seller, later translated for sales overseas with equal success. Their journey had started at Chatham on 1 July 1876 with a complement of 43 including their four children, friends, servants and crew. They headed for Rio de Janeiro via Madeira, Tenerife, and Cape Verde. From there to Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Punta Arenas, rescuing the crew from a sinking ship on the way. Once through the Straits of Magellan they headed north to Lota in Chile. Leaving Valparaiso on 31 October, they made a brief stop at the small island of Hao Harpe before visiting Tahiti, and a week later headed for Hawaii, then Japan, Hong Kong, Canton, Macao and Singapore. From there to Sri Lanka, Aden and, via the Suez Canal, to Alexandria before heading to Malta, Gibraltar and Portugal, arriving back home in Hastings on 26 May 1877 having travelled some 36,000 miles.

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