Skip to main content
ASTOR at the sailpast of veteran Sydney to Hobart yachts before the start of the 60th anniversa…
Astor
ASTOR at the sailpast of veteran Sydney to Hobart yachts before the start of the 60th anniversa…
ASTOR at the sailpast of veteran Sydney to Hobart yachts before the start of the 60th anniversary event in 2004.
ANMM

Astor

Vessel numberHV000036
Sail Number88
Builder (Scottish, 1890 - 1944)
Date1924
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 22.25 m x 26.21 m x 17.07 m x 4.72 m x 3.2 m, 59.04 tonnes (73 ft x 86 ft x 56.01 ft x 15.49 ft x 10.5 ft, 58.1 tons)
Registered Dimensions: 26.78Tons
Engine dimensions: 103 Kilowatts, 4 No. (138.12 Horsepower)
DescriptionWhen ASTOR was launched in 1924 and christened ADA.The carvel planked hull was 73 feet long on deck and about 86 feet overall including the bowsprit. Sir Alex MacCormick was a very experiendced yachstman. He had purchased the racing cutter THELMA, a Walter Reeks design, in the mid-1890s and won many races with it, then later comissioned MORNA, a Fife designed crusing yawl built in 1913 by Morrison and Sinclair at Long Nose Point, Sydney. ADA was his third and final yacht.

Sir Alex MacCormick had a thriving medical practice in Sydney, but often returned to the UK . In 1928 he sailed ADA out to Sydney via the Panama Canal with only a small crew. It was an uneventful voyage other then sitting out one gale as they avoided a cyclone off Fiji, and on arrival in Sydney they remarked how well the ADA performed at sea in all conditions.

ADA then became the flagship for the RPEYC and along with BONA (later BOOMERANG) the two schooners shared the envy and admiration of yachtsmen on the harbour.

After World War II ADA was sold to Bill Stuart, who changed the sailplan to a Bermudan rig in 1953. He entered the boat in a number of inshore yacht races where it was successful, winning the Duke of Gloucester Cup, Gascoigne Cup, Revonah Cup and Norn Cup.

Stuart then sold it to Peter Warner who owned the yacht from 1960 to 1965. He renamed it ASTOR after the brand of his household appliance company and skippered it in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. ASTOR won line honours on three occasions in 1961, 1963 and 1964. ASTOR also raced in the 1961 Trans Tasman race from New Zealand to Australia, and the 1963 Trans-Pacific race from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

The yacht was sold to an American buyer in 1965, and changed hands again in the USA in 1987. New owners in 1990 gradually restored the boat with a thorough programme that covered the entire structure, fitout and rig. Once completed in the mid 1996 ASTOR was again in superb condition and is considered to be one of the finest examples of an existing Fife yacht.

ASTOR is now used for cruising in 2006, and has spent considerable time amongst the many Pacific Island groups. On two occasions ASTOR has again returned to Sydney Harbour, using it as a base to spend the summer period.
SignificanceASTOR is a wooden yacht that was built in 1924. It is a William Fife III designed and built schooner that has had a long association with Sydney. The schooner was originally called ADA and was commissioned by Sir Alex MacCormick, a Sydney surgeon who was prominent in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and then the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club. It has taken part in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race winning line honours on more than one occasion. ASTOR has been restored and is in excellent condition.

FREYA on the Solent in the Admirals Cup
Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd
1963
ZITANIA in 2018 on the Murray River in SA.
c1890
HURRICA V undergoing sailing trials in November 2008
WM Ford Boatbuilders
1924
JULIE BURGESS under full sail in Bass Strait
Captain H R Burgess
1937
CULWULLA on the Harbour
Logan Bros
1901
WILDFLOWER at the public jetty in Albany
C Blunt
1889
MARIS at Lord Howe Island in 2013
Alan Payne
1958
Andrew McAuley's kayak
Paul Hewitson
2006
HOANA under sail on Sydney Harbour early in its racing life.
J Hayes & Sons
1925
PHALAROPE in 2007, fitted out for cruising offshore as a capable small vessel.
W Holmes Boat Builder
1930
OIMARA sailing off Maggie in North Queensland during 2005
EA Jack
1903
ANITRA V on Sydney Harbour
Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd
1956