Astra pounding through the waves

Designed and built by Camper & Nicholsons at Gosport in 1928, Astra was a beautiful Bermudian-rigged composite cutter of 91 tons gross (83 net) and measured 115 feet in length with a 20 foot beam. Originally built for Sir A. Mortimer Singer, the naturalised British son of the inventor of the sewing machine, she was owned for most of the 1930s by Mr. Hugh Paul who enjoyed much success with her during the so-called 'golden years' before the death of King George V after the 1935 season.