The Nancy Blackett is a 28ft Hillyard cruising yacht that famous children’s author Arthur Ransome bought second-hand in 1934.
In fact, she was quite new, having been built in 1931, but in her young life had already borne two names when Ransome renamed her after a character in his children’s novels.
The story of how she came to be rescued by Mike Rines, who restored her and finally sold her to the Nancy Blackett Trust, is astonishing – perhaps the most remarkable aspect of it is that he lived only doors away from Ransome’s home at the time he owned the Nancy B, yet knew little about the author and nothing about his connection with the boat.
Nancy Blackett story and pictures
http://www.solarnavigator.net/arthur_ransomes_nancy_blackett.htm
Nancy Blackett Trust website:
Swallows & Amazons enthusiasts pages for more material about Ransome’s boats, both in real life and in his novels
http://coastweather.com/html/sanda.html
If you can add to this story, please email me at gmatkin@gmail.com .
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