Racundra’s First Cruise

Edited and compiled by Brian Hammett, this is Arthur Ransome’s account of Racundra’s maiden voyage, which took place in August and September 1922. The cruise took him from Riga in Latvia to Helsingfors (Helsinki) in Finland, via the Moon Sound and Reval (Tallinn) in Estonia and back.His first book on sailing, it was also the first of his titles that achieved such high levels of success. This eBook uses the original text from the 1923 edition in its entirety – with the original maps and photographs – and includes an excellent introduction by Brian Hammett containing a treasure trove of writings, essays and photographs. Ransome’s first attempts at Baltic sailing, in his two previous boats, Slug and Kittiwake, are also explained in detail using his writings and illustrations. The life of Ransome’s beloved Racundra is chronicled to its conclusion and there is an explanation of how he came to write the book. The original illustrations are enhanced by the inclusion of present day photographs of the same locations.