Antiques Roadshow expert in tears over huge value of boat pals vowed to save
Antiques Roadshow expert Rupert Mass broke down in tears as he delivered a staggering valuation of a sail boat.
During a previously aired episode of the BBC soap, Rupert was tasked with evaluating the sail boat prop from his favourite childhood film Swallows and Amazons, which which dates back to about 1930 when the book was originally published.
Rupert said: "I’m sitting on a boat and not just any boat, but the boat from the Swallows and Amazons movie released in 1974, which I saw aged 14.” The expert asked the owner how he came to open the boat, which is named Swallow.
The guest answered: “After the film, it was stored in a boatyard on the Thames and 35 years later, they decided to downsize and move so all the boats they were storing came up for auction. And the author of the book Arthur Ransome got to hear of this and a few of us decided we had to try and buy Swallow.”
The guest explained he and his friends saved the boat (BBC)“So, my colleague Magnus started crowdfunding basically and there were about 85 of us who chipped in to buy her," he added. “The group of us paid £5,500 or just under and our objective is to keep her in the public domain to take people out sailing.
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“I like to think [she was made] in about 1930 when the book was published. So that would be a nice coincidence.” Clearly impressed with the 90-year-old boat's condition, the expert said: “And she’s not overly restored or spruced up. She’s in this lovely workaday condition.”
“So you can just take her out any time you want?” Rupert asked, to which the owner replied: “That’s right and we take lots of people out. In the book, she was a rough-and-ready farmer’s boat, so we don’t want to over-restore her.”
On closer inspection of the boat, the Antiques Roadshow expert admitted he was surprised to come across this style of boat. He said: “She’s got these lovely mahogany clinker-built planks here and I think they’re elm, these ribs, which are bent, aren’t they around the shape of the boat?
Rupert was thrilled to evaluate the boat (BBC)“They’re steam-bent and then clenched with these copper rivets. She’s just gorgeous. I’ve got to value her. Surprisingly, there are quite a few boats of this kind of vintage still around, really.”
“And if one comes up, you’d think it might be worth around £2,000, £3,000, or something like that." But, Rupert revealed the boat in question could fetch a much higher value at auction.
He said: "The association of that iconic film, it’s just so powerful. It is to me and I think to a generation of sailors. And so, without hesitation, I’m going to put £20,000 to £30,000 on it." The owner replied: “Well, I’m glad we crowdfunded and bought her because that’s incredible," before revealing he would still continue to take her out on the water.
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