1976 20' Astra Cuddy

[rucrazy]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the site, and am enjoying exploring it. I have just purchased a 1976 20' Astra (for $100-- trailer included) I haven't found much info on the web about it-- at least until I found this site.

I have found the parts section, but I am looking for a 'boot' (the current boot has a slit in it). Would love to hear any design stories about this boat (probably not built from the 'trash bin'-- but I would love a story so very cool!).

Many thanks,

John

[James Cochran]

John,
What a deal! A hundred bucks can barely fill your gas tank these days
The Astra was a based off an older model cuddy that Arrowglass had made once before. She runs on the same hull as the Nocturne and is a good runner especially on the straights. Quick to plane for a boat of her size and weight. There was a camper top option that enclosed the entire cockpit and made her into a super overnighter. It worked so well that folks used her for camping in campgrounds as well as on lakes. The production run was low, and I rarely saw them coming down the third assembly line. Usually, the Astra was moved off the assembly line over into another side area of the plant that had been occupied by an overhead door company. Assembly of the Astra would slow the assembly line down too much since it had a cabin. In later years the Astra was replaced with the Siesta on a different hull. The Astra interior had to be constructed and installed before the fiberglass top deck was fitted, and that took some time. The hulls and decks of each boat (except the Astra) ran parallel to each other as instruments, etc. were mounted, and then both parts were married about a third of the way down the line. Then the interior was fitted just before final inspection in the interiors department. The interior for the Astra was placed at the beginning of the line and had to be hand carried about 200 feet backwards up the assembly line from the interiors department, it was awkward weaving in and out of all the boats holding seats above your head. It became easier to grab the Astra as it left the grinding booths, take her out the adjacent side door, bypass the assembly area, go around the building and take her inside the area that had been occupied by Dilliard Door Company at one time. All the fittings, interior and trim for the Astra was then taken over by fork lift and the boat assembled, it took an entire day for a team to build an Astra which made for an expensive build and one of the most expensive models.
Would love to see pics when you can. You mentioned the boot, do you have an OMC? In all my time working at AG, I never saw an Astra in the boneyard as a reject. I did grab a few Astra windshields from the dumpster once, but those are long gone.