Page 47 - Mark Chews Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats Sept 17 2020

To take us to the halfway point of the countdown we have a seriously glamorous a famous racing yacht from the USA owned by Huey Long. It was a fight to the finish
boat! We once had the privilege of seeing her very close up, racing against her as as ASTOR lost that day by only 57 seconds. It still stands as one of the most exciting
the only two Classics at the 2016 Hamilton Island Race week. She’s Another Fife… finishes in Sydney to Hobart Race history. Warner also raced her in the 1963 Trans
the first schooner on the list, and a multiple Sydney Hobart line honours winner. Pac race (where she finished 4th on corrected time) and a Trans-Tasman race. She
Some would say she should be higher up the list, but the Scottish build, entitling remained in the USA between 1964-1987 owned by Wm. Adolph, based at the
her to the Fife Dragon, and her long term residence in the USA, count against her Marina del Rey in California. Used as family yacht, Dr. Adolph and his four sons sailed
in relation to “Australian Importance.” ASTOR extensively throughout Hawaii, Mexico and California.
Her keel was laid at Fairlie in 1922 and she was launched the following year. She In 1987 Richard, Lani & Mariah Straman of Newport Beach, acquired the boat and
was ordered by Dr. McCormick- A Surgeon living in Sydney, Australia. He had owned in 1990 began gradually restoring her with a thorough programme that covered the
another Fife designed boat that was built in Australia and over the years he had entire structure, fit out and rig. Once completed in the mid 1996 ASTOR was again
become a friend of William Fife and decided to have a very special boat built at their in superb condition and is considered to be one of the finest examples of an existing
Fife yard. Listed in "Fast and Bonnie" by May Fife McCallum, ASTOR was originally Fife yacht. ASTOR is now used for cruising in 2006, and has spent considerable time
named "ADA" and is design number 704. 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.
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 than 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. In her early years she was used primarily as a day
sailor by Sir MacCormick himself and a crew. He had a wonderful home on Sydney
Harbour that had its own slip to haul her out of the water. During his ownership he
was known to travel extensively while slipping ASTOR during his absence. It is
reported that once she was up for a period of 10-12 years. He enjoyed her as a
family yacht until the Japanese entered Sydney Harbour. It was at that time that he
sold the house and yacht to the Stewart Family.

Little is known of the period between 1942-1959 when she was owned by the Stewart
Family who changed the sail plan to a Bermudan rig in 1953.

We do know that she was a family yacht and made a yearly adventure down the
coast 60 miles south for a family vacation presumably to Jarvis Bay.
In 1959 Peter Warner also from Sydney bought her. Although his tenure was, as
owner, was the shortest, Mr. Warner made her famous. He says that he admired her
in Sydney Harbour, thinking that with those lines she must be fast. The Warner family
was an active yacht racing family and participated in the Sydney to Hobart race
many times. He set about fitting her for racing, as she had not raced previously in
her history. A young man at this time he and his young crew raced and won Line
Honours 3 times. In 1962, she raced and lost after being 8 hours ahead to "ONDINE”-

CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 47