Amazon

Introduction

Amazon is the sailing dinghy belonging to Nancy and Peggy Blackett, the Amazon Pirates. She plays an important but arguably secondary role to Swallow in Swallows and Amazons and Swallowdale. Unlike Swallow, she continues to appear in later books in the Swallows and Amazons series.  

Description

Ransome says that Amazon is "a fine little ship, with varnished pine planking" (Swallows and Amazons, Chapter 11). She is much newer than Swallow and is the same length, that is between 13' and 14' long. She has a single mast and her lugsail is white.

Unlike Swallow, but in common with most dinghies, Amazon has a centre-board, which sits in a substantial case aft of her mast. Later in the series, in Missee Lee, Ransome tells us that this case tends to leak. It also means that Amazon was not particularly roomy inside, at least compared to Swallow: this statement may also mean that she had a narrower beam than Swallow, although this is not explicitly stated.

In Swallowdale, Ransome makes it clear that Amazon is not as "stiff" as Swallow. She performs better in light winds and can take advantage of her lifting centre-board when running downwind. But stronger gusts are more likely to overwhelm her. 

Ownership

Amazon belonged to Nancy and Peggy Blackett, the Amazon Pirates, who keep her in the boathouse at Beckfoot, their family home. In Swallows and Amazons, Peggy explains that Amazon had been a gift to them from their uncle, Jim Turner, the previous summer. 

Amazon appears in
Swallows and Amazons, Swallowdale, Pigeon Post, Missee Lee, The Picts and the Martyrs.

Factual Inspiration

As described in Ransome's biography, and in our page on his sailing career, in 1928 Ransome and Ernest Altounyan bought two dinghies, Swallow and Mavis, for Ernest's family to use whilst staying at Bank Ground Farm, on the north-east shore of Coniston Water. It is clear that Ransome used Swallow as her fictional namesake in Swallows and Amazons. Most commentators agree that he also used Mavis, renamed as Amazon. Assuming he did so, he made some slight alterations to Mavis's internal design when drawing illustrations of Amazon. These principally relate to a reduction in the number of thwarts in the fictional boat. 

What Happened to the Real Amazon?

The Altounyan family continue to own Mavis to this day. She was kept on Coniston by them for many years. By the late 1980's she was in very poor condition. An appeal organised by Christina Hardyment led both to her restoration, and to the formation of The Arthur Ransome Society.

After her restoration, the Altounyan family placed her on permanent loan in Windermere Steamboat Museum. This museum itself closed for restoration in 2006. Mavis is currently on public display at the Ruskin Museum, Coniston.

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