We look after Nancy Blackett, the favourite yacht of "Swallows and Amazons" author Arthur Ransome.
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See ‘Riddle of the Sands’ and ‘Swallows and Amazons’ at the Woodbridge Maritime Film Festival

Classic films Riddle of the Sands (1979) and Swallows and Amazons (1974) are both showing at this weekend’s Maritime Film Festival in Woodbridge, with introductory talks by the former’s producer Drummond Challis and the Nancy Blackett Blackett Trust’s President Peter Willis. Nine unmissable boat-related films are being shown over the Festival’s three days, which is […]

Brian Hammett Talk bookings now open with speaker Julia Jones

We’re delighted to announce that the speaker for the first Brian Hammett Memorial Talk is to be Julia Jones, and bookings are now open. Julia is a well-known local author and sailor – she is the present owner of Ransome’s Peter Duck. Her talk is entitled “Racundra, Peter Duck, Avola: unwilling to accept a final […]

Catch up with Peter Willis’ interview on BBC Radio Suffolk

The Nancy Blackett Trust’s Chairman Peter Willis was interviewed by afternoon presenter Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk on January 10th. Topics covered included Peter’s recent receipt of the RYA Lifetime Commitment Award, how Arthur Ransome acquired Nancy Blackett, the origins of the Nancy Blackett Trust, the upcoming Woodbridge Maritime Film Festival and Brian Hammett Memorial […]

Nancy Blackett on BBC Radio Suffolk this Friday

The Nancy Blackett Trust will be featured on BBC Radio Suffolk this Friday (January 10th). President Peter Willis will be the guest on presenter Lesley Dolphin’s sofa between 3pm and 4pm. If you are outside of Radio Suffolk’s broadcast area you will be able to listen live on the internet via the BBC Sounds website. […]

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Brian Hammett Memorial Talk

Details and bookings are here.

Arthur Ransome’s East Coast

  • Download the Arthur Ransome Walking Trail Map (pdf)
  • See the Selina King Exhibition at Pin Mill

    • Get involved

  • Join the Nancy Blackett Trust
  • Sail on Nancy Blackett
  • Volunteer with the Nancy Blackett Trust

    • Welcome

    You can visit and sail the Nancy Blackett, once owned by “Swallows and Amazons” author Arthur Ransome and the star of his novel “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea”, the seventh book of his “Swallows and Amazons” series, and probably his best sailing novel.

    Nancy Blackett, lightly disguised in the book as the Goblin, was named after the “Amazon” pirate girl character who featured in “Swallows and Amazons”.

    Nancy Blackett was Arthur Ransome’s favourite yacht and is now owned by the Nancy Blackett Trust, preserving her as a living part of the Arthur Ransome heritage. Each year many Ransome fans enjoy the experience of sailing her, and many more visit her at maritime events.

    Explore our website to find out more about Nancy Blackett’s history, how you can sail her, how you can help support her, and the mission and work of the Nancy Blackett Trust.

    You can keep updated with e-mail alerts by clicking here.

    Nancy Blackett passes Pin Mill, June 2017.
    Photo: Bill Wallace-King.