Editing Arthur Ransome (section)

==Sailing==

After the sale of ''Racundra'' in 1925 (in Coles' ownership she became ''Annette II''), Ransome went on (in addition to the occasional charter, loan or trial sail) to own five further cruising yachts. His next yacht was the Hillyard-built ''[[Nancy Blackett (cutter)|Nancy Blackett]]'', which he owned from 1935 to 1938. She was originally named ''Spindrift'' when launched in 1931.<ref name=Evans>[http://ted.evans.uwclub.net/On%20AR%20and%20Hillyards.pdf Ted Evans article "On AR and Hillyards" at ted.evans.uwclub.net]</ref>

After this came ''Selina King'', a 35&nbsp;ft 12&nbsp;ton cutter with a canoe stern, designed by [[Frederick Shepherd]] and built at Harry Kings Yard in Pin Mill in 1938.<ref>[http://classicyachtinfo.com/yachts/selina-king/ ''Selina King'' at classicyachtinfo.com]</ref> She was laid up during the war and (on medical advice) they sold her in 1946.<ref name=Evans/>

After the war, he commissioned a ketch from [[John Laurent Giles|Laurent Giles]], again built in Pin Mill by Harry King: ''Peter Duck''. He owned her from 1947 to 1949; her design was the basis for a class of which over 40 were built.<ref name=Evans/><ref>[http://www.classicboat.co.uk/articles/peter-duck-class-sailing-yacht/ Article about ''Peter Duck'' at classicboat.co.uk]</ref>

In July, 1951, he saw ''Norvad'', a Hillyard five-and-a-half ton centre-cockpit yacht. With Evgenia, he had a trial sail in ''Norvad'' the following month in a hard offshore wind. They decided to get one, which he had decided should bear the name ''Lottie Blossom'', and put in an order for that year's Boat Show model. With a list of things they wanted done to modify the boat below decks from the standard production model, the boat was launched on 1 April 1952. Ransome's health problems delayed their first sail to 15 April.<ref name=Evans/><ref name=CHCreRA>{{Cite web |url=http://www.conservancy.co.uk/assets/assets/hn10_ransome.pdf |title=Article about ''Lottie Blossom'' at Chichester Harbour Conservancy conservancy.co.uk |access-date=30 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813071850/http://www.conservancy.co.uk/assets/assets/hn10_ransome.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
 
In December 1952, he sold ''Lottie Blossom'' to [[Mallinson baronets|Sir William Paul Mallinson]] on condition that he (Ransome) retained the name.<ref name=Evans/>

''Lottie Blossom II'' followed early the next year, using the same design of hull, but with aft cockpit and tiller steering. They had two very happy seasons in her, sailing her comfortably on their own, including two voyages to [[Cherbourg]]. The second voyage, in 1954, at the age of 70, was to be Ransome's last long passage.<ref name=Evans/><ref name=CHCreRA/>