The Swampscott Dory is a type of dory.

Durning the middle of the 1800's the villages along the coast of Massachusetts built dories designed to be launched off the beach. There were three general areas where these boats were built giving name to the style of the dory generally built there, The Cape Ann Dory, the Swampscott Dory and Glouster Dory. Dories were generally built by the fisherman themselves in the off season and later by more organized boatyards. The "Lowell boatyard" was one of the last in this area and is now run as a museum. However there are still some other manufacturers of dories of this design, just not in the old locations.

The Swampscott Dory is a derivation of the Banks Dory. The Swampscott dories were built with more rounded sides and a slightly less overhang in the bow and stern than a banks dory. Banks Dories were often stowed on deck of the fishing vessel where as a beach dory doesn't have this limitation. So the slab sides and easy to remove thwarts of a Banks dory while being both seaworthy also made them cheaper to build and easier to stack.

Swampscott Dories are generally from 14 to 18 ft in length, the longer boat being rowed by two oarsmen. The bottoms are flat but narrow, an almost round bottom. The flat bit allowing them to sit on a sandy beach.

Eventually the Swampscott Dory development turned this boat into a recreational sailboat as well, known as the Clipper Dory, and then the Alpha dory. These inexpensive sailboats were raced along the coast of Massachusetts during the early part of the 1900's. The sail rig was typically a Leg of Mutton and small jib on a unstayed mast.

Swampscott Dories are still used by some recreational fisherman who prefer to row vs motor and some boaters looking for a small but sea worthy craft. They have been judged to be the aristocrats of the dory boats. see John Gardner's Dory Book.

External links

Swampscott Dory Photos

"Swampscott Dory History"

"Swampscott Dory Photos"