Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on November 11, 2005 at 10:26:12 from 213.38.124.194 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: Well? Re: Arthur Ransome and S&A in Wikipedia posted by John Nichols on November 09, 2005 at 15:27:49:
First, are we sure that "Amazon" had a steel centreplate, rather than a wooden centreboard?
Next, are we sure that "Amazon" did not have buoyancy tanks?
I respectfully suggest that the actual condition of "Mavis" may not the best evidence for the dinghy that AR was envisaging when he began to write "Coots in the North".
This may seem a radical proposition, but the world was changing and the world of the stories changes with it. By the post-War era, sailing dinghies had changed; even simple clinker lugsail dinghies were often equipped with bouyancy tanks. Capsizing whilst racing was no longer considered a disgrace.