The Astondoa 39 comes from a yard better known for building much larger vessels so the build quality and engineering tends to be a step up from the norm says Alan Harper
A common sight in the Med, but less so in UK waters, Astondoa has a heritage stretching back more than 100 years. The company’s story started in 1916, when carpenter brothers Jesús and José Astondoa began building rudimentary rowing boats for local fishermen in the small Spanish coastal town of Portugate, just north of Bilbao.
As their skills developed, the brothers moved on to more sophisticated vessels known as traineras – row or sail boats with a raised prow and rounded stern, traditionally used along the Spanish coast of the Cantabrian Sea. An Astondoa trainera would go on to win the 1929 Bilbao racing regatta, an important feat as fishermen prized boats that could get them to market quicker than their competitors.
In the wake of that success, ‘Astilleros Astondoa’ (Astondoa Shipyard) was soon contracted to build lifeboats. Roll on half a century to 1981 and Astondoa, by now located in Santa Pola near Alicante, built its first polyester resin boats.
These 12m recreational vessels initially supplemented the wooden craft that had helped it forge its reputation, but five years later only resin vessels were being produced. At that time there were 35 employees building 15 units per year, but since then, Astondoa has gone on to manufacture a whole range of models, from open boats and coupés to flybridges and 100ft-plus superyachts. Today, it will even build you a 197ft steel megayacht should you so desire.

The Spanish yard’s styling and build quality has stood the test of time very well
But the subject of our report is the Astondoa 39. Our example dates from 2004 and is being offered for sale by Lymington-based Berthon International for £145,000 including VAT. Despite the wealth of Astondoa information available online, including a 240-page multilingual tome on the business and its history, not a single word appears to have been written about the Astondoa 39.
The company’s communications department appears equally reticent on the matter and there’s no local dealer to turn to either. The vessels were once marketed in the UK by a Poole-based firm with a second location in Windermere, but the offices for both are now long gone. So we have pieced together the story of the mysterious Astondoa 39 with the help of the test boat’s original owner, former marine engineer, John Sandon-Allum.
Taking a tangent
“I purchased the boat new in 2004,” recalls John. “At the time, the broker was trying to introduce Astondoa into the UK. Because I’d had a couple of other boats off him previously and upgraded from a smaller to a larger one fairly quickly, he put the 39 on the mooring next to me. Then he said, ‘Oh, you were thinking of upgrading,’ threw me the keys and said, ‘Have a look around it, see what you think.’ My wife and I had a look and decided to buy it!

The ladder up to the flybridge is pretty steep but it’s worth the climb when you get there
“At the time, I had been looking at a Fairline Phantom 40 and a couple of others. But although the Fairline had two cabins with two bathrooms, it was quite cramped in the saloon area. I was thinking that in the cabins, you’re only sleeping. You don’t actually live in them that much. So we went with the Astondoa because it was so spacious in the saloon area. And although it only had one bathroom for its two cabins, that was enough for me, my wife and our two young girls at the time.
“The boat was also very, very well made. And looking around at other boats on the market, they just didn’t seem to have that sort of quality. It was a good price too, so we thought, why not? I have to say, we found it extremely attractive, and it hasn’t aged as much as some other makes of boats have. To my mind, it still looks relatively modern.”
He has a point. While it lacks the big hull windows and sharp lines of the very latest designs, it does still look good for a 20-year-old boat. And in our view, it gets even better on the inside, where a large and beautifully appointed Art Deco-style saloon awaits.
Accessed via the boat’s spacious aft-cockpit (which itself is accessed from an equally large bathing platform), the saloon sports not one but two super-comfy sofas, covered in a delightfully light and bright fabric which has stood the test of time well. In fact, our review boat sparkled like new in every respect, which is a credit to John and its subsequent owner. There’s lots of natural light, too, courtesy of long glazed panels on either side above each settee.

Walnut dashboard is rather splendid but visibility is compromised by thick windscreen mullions
The woodwork throughout the saloon, and indeed the rest of the boat, is equally impressive. Deep gloss finishes, rounded corners and ultra smooth lines make this boat feel surprisingly upmarket. The plush leather-clad double helm seat is a case in point. Its curved wood-framed back rises magnificently above the saloon’s starboard settee and ahead of that the wood theme continues with a walnut-faced dash.
It’s only when you perch your bum on the helm seat that you begin to realise you are not quite master of all you survey because the view ahead is significantly impeded by the roofline of the boat’s superstructure and chunky A-pillars. The view to either side isn’t that great either, and with only two small sliding windows it could all get a bit stuffy in here. But of course, this is a flybridge cruiser, so when the weather plays the game, none of this really matters.
The flybridge is accessed by way of a steep six-step ladder from the aft cockpit. The clamber up is rewarded by a good-sized fly with a central helm, a navigator’s seat to starboard and a seating unit to port, which stretches back and curves around the wet bar. Despite there being no table up top, this is a great space for drinks and casual entertaining. The other outside areas – the aft cockpit and sunpadded foredeck – offer plenty of space too.

Galley down layout is a bit dated but it’s actually quite practical and well equipped
Back inside, to the left of the helm, two steps lead down to the galley. Again, this is a spacious area with a double sink, twin hotplate, microwave, fridge and storage both above and below the countertop. And ahead of the galley is the boat’s accommodation: two cabins and the single heads. The guest cabin offers twin beds, storage lockers and a full-height wardrobe.
A little more light at the head end of the beds wouldn’t go amiss, but there is still room for a small table lamp on the unit between the two beds. The heads has Jack-and-Jill doors, so the master cabin, which has a large island bed with storage on either side plus a full height wardrobe, can claim a fully-equipped ensuite.

Big windows, light fabrics and wooden highlights make the most of the saloon’s space
Olesinski expertise
Clearly then, this is a boat with plenty of features that push it firmly toward the luxurious end of the scale, but how does it handle? “It’s got an Olesinski hull, hasn’t it?” offers former owner John. “We’ve been all over the place in it; all along the south coast and we used to go over to France a lot.
“I remember once, a storm blew up and the waves were probably 10ft higher than the boat. It was really, really bad. But the boat was absolutely superb. I was quite surprised it didn’t rock about much, but it’s a heavy boat and it’s quite a wide boat as well. Also, the hull is interleaved with Kevlar, so it’s pretty much bulletproof.”

The forward owner’s cabin still looks very clean and smart for a boat of this age
One thing that did concern us was access to the boat’s twin 370hp Volvo Penta TAMD-63-P engines. These are reached via a hatch in the saloon floor, which measures 2ft 6in by just over 12 inches – enough to do the daily checks but not much more.
“The engine access could be a bit better,” agrees John. “But actually, if you roll back the carpet, the whole floor does slot out. When I took it out, I would just stick it on the bathing platform. Then you can stand all round the engines. I always used to do that because I did the servicing. It would always take me a day or so, so I thought why not just take the flooring up and do it properly?”
We weren’t able to ascertain exactly how many Astondoa 39s there are in the UK, but we suspect that they’re few and far between. That said, if you’re interested, you can easily find a good selection available on the continent, particularly in Spain, and with prices appearing to be relatively low for a boat of this size, spec and quality, shelling out for transport back to Blighty might not be such a bad idea.

The twin cabin isn’t as bright or spacious but is fine for children and teenagers
Astondoa 39 specifications
MODEL: Astondoa 39
DESIGNER: Bernard Olesinski
HULL TYPE: Planing
RCD: A
LOA: 42ft (12.80m)
BEAM: 13ft (3.97m)
DRAFT: 2ft 6in (0.75m)
DISPLACEMENT: 11,200kg
FUEL CAPACITY: 2 x 450L
WATER CAPACITY: 350L
TOP SPEED: 28 knots (based on broker data)
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 2.68L/nm @ 28 knots (Volvo TAMD63L/P)
RANGE: 316.8 nm at 22 knots with 20% reserve
Astondoa 39 running costs
Annual fuel burn: 2,300 litres (based on 25 hours at 28 knots and 25 hours at 6 knots)
Berthing: £9,088 (based on £710 per m for a Hamble River marina downstream of Bursledon bridge)
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