tayana yachts

ABOUT TAYANA

Tayana T58 under full sail

Luxury and Performance, horizon to horizon

Imagine a serious cruising yacht, at an achievable price, custom built by hand, around a proven and well respected ocean-going hull, with a fit-out and rig perfectly suited to your requirements.

Now step below deck; everything from the exotic solid wood finish to the air conditioning is just as you would have it! The comfort, the space, the stability, the quality of craftsmanship & the attention to detail make Tayana yachts an ocean ahead of those on the production line, whilst bridging the gap for what most of us would call an impossible dream.

It's the kind of boat that once you own one, you'll stop looking at others! Maybe sail around the world & write a book like the proud owners of a Tayana 55!

Tayana Yachts brings your ultimate aspiration into reality with their range of customised, ocean cruising yachts from 48' to 72'.

The Tayana T54 makes her debut in Oakland California USA. Click the image to watch the new boat showcase of the T54

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A Look at the Tayana 48

Tayana 48 review.

The Tayana 48 is unquestionably one of Bob Perry’s most successful production designs. Production on the model began in 1992 and has continued for going on 30 years. Tayana yachts are built at the Ta Yang yard in Taiwan, where many of today’s finest yacht builders can be found. Ta Yang started building boats in the late 1970’s with the Tayana 37, another renowned Perry design. Many of those owners that started with a 37 eventually grew into the 48 or the larger Tayana yachts such as the 55 and the 58.

The Tayana 48 is a modern design. Sporting a sharp destroyer bow to cut through the waves, sleek lines led aft to a reverse transom stern adorned by teak steps and a superb deck plan tailored with offshore sailing in mind. Available with either a 70’ performance rig or the popular ICW friendly mast, a slung hung rudder, and keel options including the 6’ standard draft or 5’ 3” shoal design, this is a boat that is just as much at home bobbing up the ICW as she is in a heavy blow offshore.

A tried a true design, the 48 received a major upgrade in the early 2000’s from designer Rob Ladd. A more modern styled deck plan, including a raised salon and elevated salon floor, were welcome improvements. This created a much more vibrant and spacious interior commonly seen on larger yachts. Being a true semi-custom boat, many options were available regarding layouts and systems configuration. Each owner could add their preference and make the boat their own.

Compared with other manufacturers, Tayana ranks among the best. Although just slightly below Hylas, Taswell, and Passport regarding price, their quality and sea-going abilities are quite comparable. The interior joinery and woodwork are simply superb, a hallmark of many of the Far East yards.

If you’re in the market for a quality bluewater yacht under 50’, you should be sure to look into a Tayana 48. With their long production run, steadfast following, and proven design, these boats are often found at varying price points. From late-model options to thirty-year-old cruisers, there’s bound to be a Tayana 48 within your budget.

Are you interested in learning more about the Tayana 48?

Be sure to contact David Walters Yachts broker or Erik Haaland , our Tayana expert in Annapolis, MD, at (954) 527-0664. Our expert brokers have sold over a dozen of these incredible boats and would be happy to help you find the right Tayana 48! David Walters Yachts is the leading brokerage in the United States for high-quality blue water sailing yachts. Our buyer agent services have helped over 1,000 yacht owners fulfill their dreams and visions for life on the water.

We look forward to helping you start your journey!

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Sailboat Reviews

Tayana 37s traditional approach still draws big dreamers

With several hundred boats sailing the seas of the world, the Tayana 37 has been one of the most successful products of the U.S.s Taiwan-built boat invasion that began in the early 1970s. Its shapely Baltic stern, scribed plank seams molded into the glass hull, and lavish use of teak above and belowdecks have come to epitomize the image associated with Oriental boats.

Not all thoughts of Far Eastern boats are pleasant, however. To some, Taiwan-built boats mean poor workmanship, overly heavy hulls, unbedded hardware of dubious heritage, wooden spars that delaminate, and builder-modified boats lightyears removed from the plans provided by the designer. Add to that a serious language barrier and the inevitable logistical problems of dealing with a boatyard halfway around the world, and you have a readymade nightmare for the boat buyer. To the credit of the builder, the designer, the primary importer, and a powerful owners association, the Tayana 37 has weathered an astounding production run while making steady improvements and maintaining a steady output with about 600 boats in existence.

Washington-based boat designer Bob Perry had just hung out his own shingle when he designed Tayana 37 in the early 70s. The Sherman-tank Westsail 32 had just come lumbering onto the scene, bringing with it a resurgence of interest in the double-ended hull form, and more people than ever before were beginning to have the dream of chucking it all and sailing away to a tropical paradise.

Perry has become an enormously successful designer of cruising boats, from traditional, full-keel designs such as the Tayana 37 to modern, fin-keel cruisers such as the Nordic 40, GoldenWave 42, and the Valiant 40. A remarkable number of his designs have been built in the Orient, in both Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Perry conceived the Tayana 37 as a cruising boat of traditional appearance above the water, with moderately heavy displacement, a long waterline, and a reasonably efficient cutter rig of modern proportions. (A ketch rig was also available). Below the water, the forefoot of the long keel has been cut away, and a Constellation-type rudder was utilized rather than a more traditional barn door. Perry sought to cash in on the popularity of the double-ended hull while keeping displacement moderate and performance reasonable, avoiding the plight of boats such as the Westsail 32-the inability to go to windward and sluggish performance in anything short of a moderate gale. The stern design of the Tayana 37 borrows heavily from the well-known Aage Nielsen-designed ketch, the Holger Danske, winner of the 1980 Bermuda Race. It is one of the more handsome Baltic-type sterns on any production sailboat.

The Tayana 37 began life as the CT 37. In 1979, the boat became known as the Tayana 37, named for Ta Yang Yacht Building Co. While some snobbishness exists among owners who own the CT version, Perry has insisted that this is illusory. According to the designer, the CT 37 and the Tayana 37 are the same boat, built by the same men in the same yard. In much the same way that the early Swans imported by Palmer Johnson were known by the name of the importer-the names Nautor and Swan were unknown here in the late 1960s-early Tayanas were known as CTs because the name CT had already become known in this country.

Perry, who worked with many yards in the Far East, considers Ta Yang one of the best. The yard always was very responsive to input from both dealers and owners. Over the years, this resulted in steady improvement in the quality of the boat.

Handling Under Power

Three different engines have been used in the Tayana 37: the Yanmar 3QM30, the Perkins 4-108, and the Volvo MD17C. The latest change was to the Yanmar as standard propulsion. This makes good economic sense, as Japan is closer to Taiwan than either England or Sweden.

Although all of the engines offer adequate power for the boat, don’t expect the Tayana 37 to win any drag races. With her substantial wetted surface and fairly heavy displacement, performance under power is sedate rather than spritely. Owners rate handling under power as fair to good, although one reported that his boat backs up like a drunken elephant.

While the engine box removes completely to provide good access for service, there is no provision for easy access to the oil dipstick. This means that this vital task is likely to be ignored. A simple door in the side of the engine box would solve the problem.

The placement of the fuel tank also has caused substantial discussion on the part of owners. The standard 90-gallon, black iron tank is located under the V-berth in the forward cabin. When full, this tank holds almost 650 pounds of fuel. This is about the same weight as 375 feet of 3/8-inch anchor chain-a substantial amount to carry around in the bow of a 37-footer. A Tayana 37 with the bow tank full and a heavy load of ground tackle will show noticeable bow-down trim. The design was originally drawn with the fuel tanks under the settees, but the builder put the tank forward to create additional storage in the main cabin.

This is a good example of one of the basic recurring problems with Far East-built boats. Frequently, the builders have good glass men and good interior joiners, but their inexperience in sailing results in inconsistencies that compromise their boats. Fortunately, thanks to the pressure from owners, the builder began offering optional tankage amidships, where it belongs.

Handling Under Sail

The Tayana 37 was built as a ketch or cutter, with wood spars or aluminum, with mast-stepped on deck or on the keel. Few builders have offered so many options. The standard rig is a masthead cutter with wooden spars; the mast is stepped on deck and supported by a substantial compression column. The designer strongly recommended the aluminum cutter rig, and we heartily concur. The wooden mast is poorly proportioned, with a massive section and extremely thick sidewalls. One mast we looked at had a large knot on the forward side of the mast just at spreader level. Despite the huge mast section, we feel the knot could weaken the mast significantly.

In contrast to the large section of the mast, the boom was an extremely small spruce box section. With mid-boom sheeting, this spar will probably bend like a rubber band, complicating mainsail shape. The clew outhaul slide is far too flimsy for a boat of this size, and owners report that the outhaul slide frequently distorts or explodes. Once again, these problems are rather typical in Taiwan boats, where you frequently find excellent craftsmanship but a poor understanding of engineering or the forces involved in ocean sailing.

In contrast, the aluminum rigs, which may come from a variety of sources including France, New Zealand, and the U.S., are well proportioned and suited to the task.

We see no reason to select the ketch rig. Both performance and balance with the cutter rig will be better. The cutters mainsail is 342 square feet. Any couple healthy enough to go world cruising should be able to cope with a sail of this size.

The cutter rig is tall and well proportioned. Perry has drawn an unusually high-aspect rig for a cruising boat, and the result is a boat with good performance on all points of sail. With the aluminum rig, the optional Nicro Fico ball-bearing mainsheet traveler and a well-cut suit of sails, the Tayana 37 will be surprisingly fast. Her working sail area of 864 square feet is generous.

Despite a ballast/displacement ratio of 33 percent, the Tayana 37 is not a stiff boat. This is due in part to the tall, heavy rig and the substantial amount of other weight above the boats vertical center of gravity. Much of the boats heavy joinerwork and glasswork is well above the waterline, raising the center of gravity and reducing initial stability. Perry believes the initial tenderness to be an asset, reducing the snappiness of the boats roll and making her a more comfortable sea boat. We agree.

Many owners report that the boat carries substantial weather helm. The sailplan is drawn with significant rake to the mast. This creates just enough shift in the center of effort of the sailplan to create a lot of weather helm. Bringing the mast back toward the vertical by tightening the headstay and forestay while loosening the backstay should cure much of the problem, according to reports from other owners. It may be necessary to shorten the headstay to do this.

The weather helm and initial tenderness may also be due in part to the poor cut of the standard sails provided with the boat. Many of the boats in existence came with standard sails made by Lam of Hong Kong. These sails have the reputation of being stretchy and having very poor shape. Mainsail draft with this fabric is almost uncontrollable, with the sail becoming baggy and the draft moving aft as the wind increases. This will create weather helm and increase the angle of heel.

Deck Layout

With its bulwarks, high double lifelines, and substantial bow and stern pulpits, the Tayana 37 gives the sailor a good sense of security on those cold, windy nights when called out for sail changes. A teak platform grating atop the bowsprit coupled with the strong pulpit, relieves that appendage of its widowmaker reputation.

The bowsprit platform incorporates double anchor rollers, which can house CQR anchors. Unfortunately, there is no good lead from the rollers to any place to secure the anchor rode. Line or chain led to the heavy bowsprit bitts would chafe on the platform. An anchor windlass mounted to port or starboard of the bowsprit would provide a good lead.

There are hawseholes through the bulwarks port and starboard, well aft of the stem. These will be fine for docklines, but are too far aft to serve as good leads for anchoring. There is room at deck level, outboard of the bowsprit, to install a set of heavy chocks for anchoring, although anchor rode led to this point will chafe on the bobstay as the boat swings to her anchor.

This is a classic problem of the boat with a bowsprit. The anchor rode must really lead well out the bowsprit to avoid the bobstay, yet the long lead complicates securing the inboard end of the rode. A common solution is a bridle led to the hawseholes.

The long staysail boom makes it difficult to cross from one side of the boat to the other forward. The standard staysail traveler is merely a stainless-steel rod on which a block can slide on its shackle. Under load, this can bind when tacking, so that it may be necessary to go forward and kick the block over after every tack. By all means look for boats with the optional Nicro Fico travelers with their roller-bearing cars. Complaints about the standard travelers are rife.

Standard winches on the boat were Barlow. We suggest that you try to find self-tailing winches for all sheets.

Although the sidedecks are relatively narrow due to the wide cabin trunk, there is reasonable access fore and aft. A full-length handrail on either side of the cabin trunk provides a good handhold.

The cockpit of the Tayana 37 is small, as befits an oceangoing sailboat. There are cockpit scuppers at each of the four corners of the cockpit well, with seacocks on the through-hull outlets.

With the pedestal steering, the cockpit seems to have shrunk. Only three can be seated in real comfort, although this is no real problem for the cruising couple. It is not a cockpit for heavy entertaining in port. The elimination of the coaming around the stern of the boat has made the cockpit seats long enough for sleeping on deck, but at the expense of exposing the helmsman to a wet seat in a following sea.

Cockpit locker configuration varies with the interior options chosen, but the lockers are large enough to provide reasonable storage, although you should resist the temptation to load them heavily so far aft.

The interior of the Tayana 37 probably sells more boats than any other feature of the boat. Every boat was custom built so there has never been a standard interior.

Like other Taiwanese boats, the interior of the Tayana 37 is all teak. This can result in a cabin that is oppressively dark to some people, and exquisitely cool to others. To keep it looking good, owners must do a lot of oiling or varnishing.

The interior joinerwork on the boat we examined was some of the best we have seen. Joints were just about flawless, paneled doors beautifully joined, drawers dovetailed from solid stock. There were no fillers making up for poorly fitted joints, no trim fitted with grinders, no slop anywhere. Older Tayana 37s (70s-80s vintage) we have seen did not boast quite this caliber of workmanship, but their joinerwork was certainly of good quality.

With such an array of interior options, it is difficult to really evaluate the boats interior. Although, in all fairness, there is a standard interior. It is prosaic but good, with a V-berth forward, followed by the head and lockers just aft. The main cabin has a U-shaped settee to port, straight settee and pilot berth to starboard. Aft is a good U -shaped galley to port, nav station and quarterberth to starboard.

Conclusions

The Tayana 37 is both typical and atypical of Taiwanese boats. It is typical in the problems that existed due to the builders inexperience with seagoing yachts, common with communication and language problems.

It is atypical in that many of these problems have been solved over its many years of production. Anyone considering a Tayana 37 should join the owners association and read all the back newsletters before buying the boat.

The total cost of a well-equipped Tayana 37 with most of the desirable options compares very favorably with other boats of her size, type, and displacement. The Tayana 37 would make an excellent retirement cruiser for the experienced sailing couple. Properly handled and equipped, she could take you anywhere with confidence and reasonable dispatch.

Editors note: This review is an updated and expanded version of one previously published.

Bob Perrys Salty Tayana 37-Footer Boat Review

Heavy Glass Hull Marks Tayana 37

Tayana Yachts
Tayana Owners Group

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Sailboat Guide

Tayana 37 is a 41 ′ 11 ″ / 12.8 m monohull sailboat designed by Robert Perry and built by Ta Yang Yacht Building Co. Ltd. starting in 1976.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
LOA: Length overall in feet
Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

From BlueWaterBoats.org :

The Tayana 37 is perhaps the most successful semi-custom cruising yacht to be built. It was designed by Bob Perry and introduced in 1975 as a response to the Westsail 32 which were selling in enormous numbers. Today looking back, with the boat still in production with a boat count of 588, most still sailing, and an active and owners community, it’s very apparent that Perry has succeeded.

One could say the yacht was designed to ignite imaginations of tropical sunsets in exotic locations; think oodles of teak and a beautiful custom interior, wrapped into traditional double-ender hull with a full keel. Beneath the alluring romance, you’ll find a boat that is solidly built, and indeed many Tayana 37s can be found on the blue water cruising circuit around the world.

When in June of 1973 Time Magazine featured a four page spread on the “cruising life” with a photo of the Westsail 32 it was clear that this diminutive boat had caught the imagination of a generation. They sold like hotcakes and the cruising life came out of the fringes and into the mainstream. Meanwhile, fresh from the success of his groundbreaking Valiant 40 and having more recently designed the CT 54 Perry was approached by Bob Berg, former owner of Flying Dutchman Yachts in Seattle, to design a boat to capitalize on the success of the Westsail. It is said that the success of the Westsail was not that it was the right boat at the right time, it was also the right style; it was exactly what Americans thought a cruising boat should look like. This may explain the Tayana’s copious amounts of teak, her traditional full keel, and double ender style.

The boatyard that was originally selected to build the boat was Ta Chaio Brothers of Taiwan, builders of CT yachts. Interestingly, they declined thinking the boat would not be a commercial success. Thus the contract to build the boat was passed to Ta Yang, another high quality Taiwanese boatbuilding concern.

The boat, which was first known as the “CT 37”, was introduced in 1975 and offered as a semi-custom boat, with all manner of internal options and layouts. The rig was offered with options of cutter or ketch, however cutters were the fashion of the day and only 20 boats were built as ketches. In 1979 the CT 37 name was discontinued, instead boat inherited an offshoot of the Ta Yang name, changing to the Tayana 37.

The Tayana 37 continues to be in production today in very low numbers, they have declined in sales as buyer tastes have favored boats with more expansive interiors, stern entry, and avoidance of higher maintenance teak on the exterior. However the Tayana 37 remains popular in the used boat market, at the time of writing the Tayana Owners Association reports the latest hull number is 588 or 589.

Boat Configuration

The Tayana 37 is a classic full keel double-ender which when we look back today marks the start of modern design philosophy for full keel boats. Perry took a very traditional Atkins 1930s inspired design and worked his “boatspeed” magic firstly by cutting away forefoot of the keel, a common technique to reduce wetted area with gains in maneuverability. He then connected the keel to the bilge of the hull as a distinctly separate surface without the traditional wine-glass blend, which tends to help with close-windedness and form stability. Other deviations to the Archer theme included his own flavor of a canoe stern which had worked well in his radical at the time Valiant 40 design as well as opting for a modern inboard rudder over the traditional aft hanging rudder that Archer used.

Most boats are configured with cutter rigs carrying a lot of sail area with the help of a bowsprit. Those with a keen eye may notice the mast position quite far aft from the usual position on most yachts and this has been the cause for some windward helm issues which in the early days was corrected by raking the mast forward. It’s rare to find a Tayana 37 sporting the optional ketch rig which Perry notes is a pity as he thought the ketch examples were particularly fast and well balanced.

On deck, you will find lots of teak, some owners have removed the teak in order to reduce maintenance. The side decks are wide. There are two deck versions, the first being designed by Perry, which was later revised by Ta Yang which according to Perry is far nicer, more aesthetic, with a better cockpit. Most boats have the original Perry designed cockpit. Both versions sport small volume cockpits well suited to mitigating the risk of the cockpit flooding from large following seas. The cockpit has been described as safe secure with high coamings. Visibility forward from the helm is usually impeded by on most boats by butterfly hatches, boom gallows, and mid boom sheeting.

Going below deck you will find a high quality interior reflecting some of the best boatbuilding craftsmanship to come out of Taiwan. The interiors are all semi-custom and it’s unlikely to find two boats identical. While some interiors were well suited to blue water sailing others were not so functional. Blue Water Sailing Magazine writes, “We have seen some interiors that were simply inappropriate for a seagoing boat. Truth is many people who ordered new Tayanas did not have the knowledge to make the choices that were required of them, and either made bad choices or tried to fit too much into a hull already restricted by its design”.

Of note is the location of the fuel tank. In the original design, Perry located the 90 gallon tank below the saloon settee, but Ta Yang relocated them forward to in the fore peak, with the idea of creating more stowage space in the saloon. A full tank weighing 700 pounds so far forward has resulted in trim problems and hobby-horsing. It’s reported a some owners have relocated their fuel tank back to the original spot that Perry intended.

Construction

The Tayana 37 hull is built from solid GRP, generous amounts of glass is used, the hull is 3/8″ thick at its sheer. Perry has been quoted as saying there has never been any consistent structural problems with the boat. The deck is balsa cored to save on topside weight. The ballast is cast iron and internal to the keel cavity and glassed over. The hull-deck join is built into a strong hollow box section, which forms a high standing bulwark.

Sailing Charateristics

One would not expect the Tayana 37 to progress with much vigor from a fleeting glance, however the Bob Perry makeover of the traditional Atkins configuration gives the boat a new lease of life. The boat performs faster than similar boats of this period, especially in a fresh breeze.

The Tayana is relatively tender initially. The first reef is usually thrown in at about 18 knots, in 20-25 knots it’s usually a staysail and the single reefed main. The boat tracks well to windward, but its forte is off the wind, particularly in a broad reach; ideal for the trades.

The cockpit is dry, Tayana 37 owner Rolland Hartstrom writes of a passage between from San Francisco to San Pedro in Mar 2009, “I surfed down 20 footers in this boat doing 14 knots, and they were breaking about 3 feet of white water on top; never took a drop of water in the cockpit”.

Probably the most common bugbear of the Tayana 37 under sail is its often cited weather helm in boats configured with cutter rigs. Many of these problems have been corrected through the years by their owners, some by raking the mast forward. Harvey Karten from the Tayana Owners Association notes, “When properly rigged with a good adjustable traveler and well made sails, rather than their original factory configuration, the much reported weather helm is no longer a problem.”

Buyers Notes

There is an enthusiastic and active owners association with a wealth of information and tips to share, well worth contacting prior to purchase. Particular areas for inspection are listed below:

Teak decks have proved high maintenance, many boats have had their teak removed which is considered an advantage.
Look for delamination around through deck fitting, the balsa cored deck is susceptible to abuse.
Water tanks are made of black iron and are prone to rusting over time, check for leaks.
Some boats have fuel tanks relocated back into their proper amidships intended location, its a recommended modification.
Glaring inconsistencies between boats have been noted
Boats before 1981 should have their wiring and standing rigging inspected closely.
Early boats had spreaders made from spruce which can be susceptible to dry rot, alloy spreaders on later boats are an advantage.
There have been reports of leaking from the scuppers and hawsepipes, this problem has been solved in later models by glassing the bulwark from the insides.

As of 2010 asking prices range from $55k-$115k USD.

Links, References and Further Reading

» Tayana Owners Association, information, discussion group and links . » Tayana Owners Association Google Group, discussions on Tayana boats » Tayana UK Corporate website, Tayana 37 brochure and pictures . » Good Old Boat Magazine, Mar 2005, Tayana 37 review by Karen Larsen. Boat comparison by Ted Brewer. » Blue Water Sailing Magazine, Jun 1997, Tayana 37 review. » Used Boat Notebook: From the pages of Sailing Magazine (p118-121), review of the Tayana 37.

Thanks goes to Harvey J. Karten and the Tayana Owners Association for their assistance on this review.

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