Here's some info from <a href="http://www.swampscott.org/dory.htm"> your town's website </a>:
<img src="http://www.swampscott.org/dory2.jpg">
<i>The aristocrats of their class, Swampscott Dories were the most highly refined variant of the dory ever made. Originally built for inshore fishing and lobstering along the coast of Massachusetts, their speed, ease of handling and seaworthiness soon made them popular as recreational boats. Developed when wide clear pine boards were cheap and plentiful, the Swampscott Dory has only four strakes (planks) to a side, saving labor and permitting rapid construction</i>
From John Gardner's <i>Building Classic Small Craft</i>:
<i>"These Swampscott boats are the aristocrats of the dory clan, and are not to be confused with their clumsier, more crudely built cousins, the heavy slabsided working dories of the Grand Banks fishermen. . . . The true Swampscott dory . . . is essentially a round-bottom boat, yet with enough flat in its relatively narrow board bottom to sit upright on the beach when it grounds out. For a boat that is to be beached frequently, this is an especially desirable feature, particularly as it permits a double bottom, the outer layer of which is easily renewed when it wears thin from dragging over rocks." </i>
