Posted by Rob Boden on March 12, 2010 at 09:56:40 user humyar.
In Reply to: Re: posted by Magnus on March 11, 2010 at 21:41:58:
There aren't many good drawings of Swallow in the books: it features in SA, SD and PD. There are also one or two Clifford Webb drawings, and some limited textual description. Geraint did raise the idea of a replica Swallow being built by TARS, possibly the turning point in the society's history, but there are practical difficulties such as storage, usage, insurance etc etc.
At least the film boat doesn't have a centreboard housing, though whether there are lead pigs under the bottom boards and/or some sort of keel instead isn't clear. The seating arrangement with thwarts and side benches looks right. It's not painted, I suppose a new owner could do this if they really wanted to.
But at 12' 6" long it's 18" short of the 14' mentionned twice - see Mike Weir's article in All Things Ransome. Nor does she have the rubbing strake at the bottom of the top plank that Mike talks of - but this isn't clear from the drawings, it could just be the top plank is left unpainted. The film boat also seems to have a strange looking arrangement to mount the mast between the second and a third thwart - was this added to give Roger somewhere to sit while filming? In Peter Duck ch 2, there is clearly just one forward thwart with the mast mounted through it, and Roger sitting on this. The rudder is not shaped like the drawings which show a more curved top rather than the squareish design on the film boat.
It is odd if they had the boat built especially for the film that they didn't go for a 14' hull. Maybe they felt this would be too big for children to handle (?!). Otherwise it is probably as good a replica as you could buy, and I feel with its history it would be a great boat to own! If you're bidding, remember to allow for a good quality trailer. It would go well with my suggestion of replica Swallow tents and camping gear.