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Adina

Vessel numberHV000824

Designer Percy Coverdale

Builder Percy Coverdale

Date1932

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 9.75 m × 8.84 m × 1.4 m, 7 tonnes (32 ft × 29 ft × 4.6 ft, 6.89 tons)

DescriptionAdina is a 32 ft racing sloop built in 1932 in Hobart Tasmania. It was built by respected Tasmanian boat builder Percy Coverdale at his Battery Point boatyard. Adina’s carvel planked hull is constructed of king billy pine on Tasmanian oak frames, its cockpit and raised decks celery top pine, and its doghouse and hatches are made of huon pine. It was built with oiled canvas tacked over its decks, as a sealing method. Adina was among the first Bermudan rigged sloops to be widely raced on Sydney Harbour. Following the completion of its construction at Battery Point, Adina was transported by coastal steamer to Sydney and rigged at the Halvorsens yard in Neutral Bay. The vessel was further surveyed by prominent Naval Architect Alan Payne at a boatshed in Crystal Bay Newport.

Adina was built for Joseph Dick Borrowman, and raced initially as part of the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club. A Sydney Morning Herald article from 11 December 1933 notes Adina winning in an A2 division race ‘…by 3 minutes 21s from Sampan, with Maluka (HV000240) 61 seconds later’. Adina remained in the Borrowman family until 1946 as a race and recreational craft in Sydney Harbour and Pittwater. During World War Two, Adina was painted in combat colours and used by the RAAF to train pilots in navigation. The vessel had the number 26 and a circle painted on its side so that it could be identified as a local vessel by Allied submarines and Harbor patrol.

During the 1950s and 60s, Adina transferred in ownership through a number of prominent Sydney yachting figures. In 1953 Norm Brooker bought Adina, then known as Seawind, and sailed the vessel at the Middle Harbour and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Clubs. Seawind competed in the Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s first ocean race from Middle Harbour to Broken Bay placing third across the line. In 1962, Seawind was bought by experienced Norwegian skipper and former Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Sverre Berg, remaining in his ownership until 1968.

In 1984 Seawind, then known as Maskee, was bought by Lindsay Buckmaster, who restored the vessel extensively and changed its name back to Adina. Buckmaster re-caulked the vessel above the waterline, lengthened its bowsprit and added a new cockpit and interior fit out. He further added new rigging and stanchions, a stainless steel pulpit, fixed port lights, topside paint, a laminated tiller and a new aft hatch. The majority of these elements remained in good condition when the vessel transferred to its current owners in 2001. Under this ownership, Adina’s stem line has been replaced, the new stem piece laminated and built to the same strength as the original stem piece. As of 2021, the yacht is back in Tasmania and Adina’s intended use is to run historical tours around Battery Point in Tasmania where the vessel was built.

SignificanceAdina is a 32 ft racing sloop built in 1932 in Hobart Tasmania for a Sydney owner. It was constructed by well-known Tasmanian boat builder Percy Coverdale, then transported to Sydney and rigged at the Halvorsen yard in Neutral Bay. The vessel was further surveyed by prominent Naval Architect Alan Payne at a boatshed in Crystal Bay Newport. During World War Two Adina was painted in combat colours and used by the RAAF to train pilots in navigation. Over the years, Adina raced under the burgees of Sydney Amateur, Middle Harbour and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Clubs. It competed in Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s first ocean race to Broken Bay placing third across the line. In 1962, Adina – then known as Seawind - was owned by experienced Norwegian skipper and former Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Sverre Berg, remaining in his ownership until 1968.