We preserve the Nancy Blackett, the favourite yacht of "Swallows and Amazons" author Arthur Ransome, and celebrate Arthur Ransome's East Coast stories.

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Nancy Blackett’s dispatch from Yerseke

In the latest update from Nancy Blackett, Barry Goldbourne writes… On a sunny Wednesday we got underway early from lovely Zierikzee in an easterly force 4 wind. We motored backwards under the Zeelandbrug, letting the flood-tide take us slowly through, before heading to Yerseke for the seafood. With the mainsail reduced in F6 squalls, having […]

Nancy Blackett’s penultimate Dutch week so far…

Nancy Blackett’s penultimate week in Holland got off to a leisurely start, writes crewman Barry Goldbourne… Our new crew took over a great-looking Nancy Blackett at midday on Saturday, spending a leisurely afternoon in Middelburg after a 5.00am start to arrive in Holland. In the evening we had a lovely meal with the crew of […]

Nancy Blackett in “Country Life”: We Did Mean to Go to Sea

You can now read the Nancy Blackett feature article from Country Life magazine (July 12th, 2017) by: clicking on the images below – each one opens in a new tab or window, then click again on that image to view at full size. opening a single PDF of the article via this link. [slb_exclude][/slb_exclude]

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Arthur Ransome’s East Coast

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    • 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 at Woolverstone, May 2009.
    Credit: I. Jacobson.