We were honoured to launch a rather famous boat recently. This 35-foot-long cutter, Selina King was built in 1938 for the well known children's author Arthur Ransome by Harry King & Sons of Pin Mill.
Selina King was then laid up for the war in Robinson’s yard at Oulton Broad, so when the Admiralty issued a sudden unexplained appeal for small boats, Mr Ransome offered Selina. Still, she was rejected due to her tiny engine, useful only in calm waters, so no good at Dunkirk.
Mr Ransome sold the boat in 1946, and in 1963 she was taken to Bermuda and remained in that part of the world until her current owner Martin Pollard purchased her in 2011. He then worked on her in Bermuda for five years before she was shipped to Southampton and taken to a boatyard in Chichester, where renovation continued for a further five years.
Martin contacted local boatyard Harry King & Sons Ltd last year to enquire about building Selina a new mast, spreaders and boom and renewing the rig. After several phone conversations, the owner liked the idea of bringing Selina back to where she was built and completing his long-term project where Selina first started life. Her owner and his family plan to have her afloat next spring.
