The Swallow and the Amazon - The boats Quiz

Answer: Standing Lug

First some sail definitions...

The four sides of a fore and aft rigged sail are:

Luff - the side closest to the mast

Leech - the side furthest from the mast (also spelled leach)

Foot - the bottom side, attached to the boom (if there is one)

Head - the top side, attached to the gaff or yard. A three sided sail doesn't have a head.



The four corners are:

Tack - between the foot and the luff

Throat - between the luff and the head. A three sided sail doesn't have a throat.

Peak - between the head and the leech.

Clew - between the leech and the foot



These rigs were all common choices on small sailing dinghies because of their simplicity and the short spars which could be easily handled and stowed inside the boat.


A balanced lug sail is a four sided sail with the halyard fastened to the gaff a few feet away from the throat and the boom attached to the mast by a rope or ring a few feet back from the tack, so there is a roughly parallel strip of sail before the mast.


A standing lug sail is a four sided sail with the halyard fastened to the gaff a few feet away from the throat and the boom or tack attached to the mast (with jaws or a gooseneck) so there is a triangular area of sail in front of the mast.



A gunter rig has the gaff almost vertical, so that it appears to be almost triangular, and the gaff and boom are attached to the mast.



A sprit sail has its luff attached to the mast and held out with a spar (sprit) from the peak to a rope strop on the mast. Thames Barges (like the "Welcome" from the "Coot Club") have a sprit sail as do Optimists - a popular minimalist sailing dinghy.



So a quick glance at the book illustrations - or a careful read of the passage where John rigs Swallow for the first time - will immediately identify the rig as a standing lug.



While not as "efficient" sailing upwind as a modern rig, I expect John could rig Swallow by himself and be sailing before two people would even have the mast stepped in a modern sailing dinghy!

Answer: 13' 9"

She is described as "between thirteen and fourteen feet long." in "Swallows and Amazons" and twice as "fourteen feet" in "Swallowdale".


13' 9" is therefore a compromise.

Answer: clinker

She is referred to as "clinker built" in the books (clincher or clencher are alternative spellings.) Lapstrake is the more common term in the Americas.


This method of construction has been used for centuries, although labour intensive it's ideal where wood and labour are cheap, and metal, waterproof glue and GRP are expensive or non-existent. It's relatively easy to build and repair and very tough. The Vikings used it extensively.



The alternative was carvel built, where the planks are laid flush to each other. While this gave better sailing characteristics carvel boats weren't as robust and were more difficult to build

Answer: Swallow was built for shallow estuary sailing

While clinker built boats should not be let to completely dry out (otherwise the wood shrinks and the boat leaks) leaving it in the ice all winter is NOT a good idea.


Swallow was not an easy boat to row as Roger and Titty find out on their trip to Cormorant Island.



Swallow was designed with a full length keel and never had a centerboard. She was originally built for estuary sailing, where grounding on the shifting shoals would be common.

Answer: Mast , boom end, middle

Mother quizzes Roger on this...


Reef points are the little tails of string you see dangling on the sails of older boats. You tie the one at the mast first, then pull the new foot of the sail tight with the boom end one and then tie the middle ones down starting from the mast.


Any other order and you wouldn't be able to get a nice taught foot with the tack close to the mast and you might well tear a cotton sail or at least rip the reef points out. You should of course untie them in reverse order.

Answer: 6 - A mummy pig and five little piggies

She had "six pigs of lead, five little ones and a big one." under her floorboards. A mummy pig and five little piggys!


Duffers or no, sending four children out in a boat with no buoyancy, no life jackets and 100lb plus of lead makes me wonder about maternal instincts - especially when you consider that Roger can barely swim!

Answer: Brown

Cotton sails were often "tanned" to protect them from rot and sunshine. The red or brown colour was to hide the ugly copper colour resulting from the proofing.


Dacron or Mylar sails can be any colour and Kevlar yellow is now popular!

Answer: Pine

"The Amazon was a fine little ship, with varnished pine planking." Pine was commonly used for the planking (or strakes) of small boats, with small amounts of oak used for the ribs.


Mahogany would make an excellent choice but would have been rather expensive and teak was usually used unvarnished for floor boards or deck planking on yachts, where it weathers to a nice non-slip grey finish.

Answer: He cleated the mainsheet down

John didn't take a reef in (partly because Nancy hadn't) and as a result Swallow was overpowered.


He was running before the wind and each gust caused Swallow to turn away from the mainsail. To maintain his course he had to steer to windward, which resulted in him "running by the lee" i.e. with the mainsail on the windward side of the boat.


John knew this was risky because of the danger of an uncontrolled gybe, but he hung on hoping he could get away with it - because Nancy and Peggy were watching. The gybe happened with disastrous results - from which John learned some valuable life lessons!

He didn't cleat the mainsheet down though.

Answer: She had a fixed keel

Swallow had a lull length keel some six inches in depth that allowed her to point quite well to windward. When the Swallows are night sailing she is described as being able to tack between south-east and south-west i.e about 90 degrees, which is quite satisfactory.



Twin bilge keels are a modern invention, unsuitable for a clinker built boat


Leeboards, which are two pivoting boards mounted on the sides of the boat, are common on Dutch boats - read "We Didn't Mean to Go To Sea" and Thames Barges like the Welcome from "Coot Club" but not Swallow.