Nancy Blackett and Ragged Robin in the Parade of Sail on 4th June 2017. Photo: Keith White.

Nancy Blackett and Ragged Robin in the Parade of Sail on 4th June 2017. Photo: Keith White.

The original Lottie Blossom (now Ragged Robin III), owned by Arthur Ransome from 1951-52, is now for sale.

A 6-ton, centre-cockpit Hillyard yacht, Ragged Robin is cutter-rigged, and has been restored and equipped by her current owners, Ted and Diana Evans. Originally commissioned by Arthur Ransome in 1951 from David Hillyard (who also built Nancy Blackett), she is in excellent condition and ready to sail, her current owners only reluctantly wishing to sell her due to their age and infirmity.

Ransome’s wife, Evgenia, named her after a character from one of their cherished books “The Luck of the Bodkins” by P. G. Wodehouse. They had misgivings about some aspects of her design, and sold her on to Sir George Mallinson in November 1952, on condition that her name was changed from Lottie Blossom, and so she became Ragged Robin III.

Of her many subsequent owners, one was another author (Anthony Rushworth-Lund), who wrote an account of his family’s voyage in her to and from the Mediterranean in his book “By Way of the Golden Isles “, published in 1963 by Chapman and Hall.

Thirty years later, Peter St. John Howe sailed Ragged Robin single-handedly for over 1,000 miles. Writing in the Hillyard Owners Association Newsletter, he said: “Ragged Robin was a splendid partner but this was to be our last voyage together. I had no doubt that her first owner, Arthur Ransome, who had inspired my love of sailing, would have approved of our time together not least our 1000 miles sailed single-handed between September 1991 and July 1992”.

Having been sailed extensively in recent years in British and European coastal waters and inland waterways, Ragged Robin still offers the splendid qualities of a Hillyard centre cockpit vessel: safety at sea and luxurious accommodation for living, sleeping and entertaining. She is practically unchanged from Arthur Ransome’s day, apart from a new engine, new sails and the addition of discreet sheet winches.

Ragged Robin III is for sale at £15,000 O.N.O. and is ready to sail, with a full inventory. She is currently lying in the Tide Mill Harbour in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Enquiries should be directed to Ted and Diana Evans by e-mail: tedevans1936@gmail.com

Further information

Header Photo: Peter Willis.