Sail in 'Swallow' - all Arthur Ransome fans welcome


In April 2010, one of the dinghies used in the 1974 film of Swallows and Amazons was sold at auction. A group of dedicated fans had worked hard in the preceding month to raise awareness and their numbers grew to 83, each one donating to the appeal.

Having secured this unique vintage boat, we now wish to maintain her so that Ransome fans from around the UK can sail in her, experiencing sailing "just like in the books". This is no museum exhibit! The first sailing event was in April 2011, and many more are planned. There was a tour of the country in 2011, visiting 10 counties and getting over 300 people afloat. Some years we keep Swallow at her spiritual home, the Lake District, and every weekend crews can take to the water.     

Unfortunately, ill health of our founding members, and a leak in the hull, meant that there was no sailing in 2022-2023, and The Arthur Ransome Society was asked to take over organisation and logistics. We apologise for the delay in getting you afloat. Future enquiries should go to arthur-ransome.org/sail 

If you would like to become a part of this project, and have a chance to sail in the Swallow, please get in touch to discuss where you'd like to get afloat. We welcome everyone; young or old, even if you can't sail.

We are still looking for donations to the project in order to pay for re-varnishing, so please consider if you are able to help financially or by donating your time. Our thanks go out to everyone who has donated already.

If you wish to be kept informed of progress and news, please email the word "subscribe" to info@sailransome.org and we will send a newsletter once or twice a year. Or find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSwallowFromTheFilm

 Please note that our Swallow is not the original Swallow dinghy owned by Arthur Ransome, as that was lost many years ago. The boat you can sail today is the dinghy used in the 1974 film. Different boats were used in the 2016 film.