The sailing yarn Racundra's First Cruise was first published in 1923 and marked Ransome's return to non-journalistic and non-political writing. Racundra was built in 1921-22 in Riga, Latvia, after Ransome's adventures in Russia. The cruise referred to in the title was from Riga, across the Baltic, to Helsingfors and back again. The crew were Ransome himself, the Cook (Evgenia Shelepina), and the "Ancient Mariner", Carl Sehmel, (the model for Peter Duck). The book is considered a classic of sailing literature. Arthur Ransome sold Racundra in 1925.