Tayana History
 from the 
          				Sailnet Tayana List

   What does the V in V-42 mean? I would like to know a little more about these boats. I keep hearing about the V-42 and read about them in TOG.

 Thanks, Jean-Louis									      September 1999
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Jean-Louis
    The V stands for Vancouver. The designer is a wonderful marine architect, Robert Harris. He lives in Vancouver. He also designed a V-32, and a V-27 or 28 that I have heard of. I chanced to meet him and his wife on a dock on Bowen Island this summer. He is a very thoughtful and gracious older gentleman. In our conversation, he stressed that the most important quality of a boat must be its seakindliness/ worthiness. He had a number of very sensible comments to make about both the esthetics and the seaworthiness of boats. I was very impressed. His boats are lovely.

regards, Harvey									      September 1999
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    There is also a Vancouver 25, 36 and 54. I don't know if the 54 was ever built but I have seen all of the others.

Earl Potter										      September 1999
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Subject: Does anyone know how to contact Bob Harris?
 
    Bob Harris is a delightful and very approachable person. He is based in the Vancouver area.  We first met him on Bowen Island (the island right across from Vancouver where we were sailing) this past summer as we were returning the boat to our friends. He is a very gracious and taciturn individual. I am sure that you would find him very helpful regarding rigging, or any other issues, about his V-42.

Harvey Karten											May 2000
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    Well, I found his number on the Internet yesterday and called him right up.  He was quite friendly, and felt that both parts of my plan--adding sail area and making the inner stay removable--were quite workable.  He didn't feel that mast inversion would be an issue unless the jumpers were "really tight".

Erik Hammarlund										May 2000
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    I finally caved in to my wife's "suggestions" that I get rid of my old Cruising World archives. I started the process this afternoon, but checking them briefly before discarding to see what I might want to cut out retain in a much smaller set of archives (hopefully a very thin file). 

    We have a Vancouver 42, and in going through the old rags I noted the first description of the '42 in CW's 6/79 issue. The last paragraph indicated that the V-42 was "originally designed for cold molded construction by Aqua Craft Ltd. of Port Cocuitliam, British Columbia", but that a "production version" was going to be built in Taiwan and imported by Southern Offshore Yachts of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

    Anyone ever seen or heard of one of those wooden V-42's supposedly build in BC?  The first V-42 ad I saw was in the 11/79 issue, saying hull #1 had just arrived in Newport, RI. Price was listed as $81,900 FOB East Coast. That same ad also listed the Tayana 37 as $61,900 FOB East Coast, with some T-37 hulls already built at that point. 

    A 1983 CW Boat Show Annual shows a V-42 Center Cockpit, announcing "...soon there will be another version of the aft cockpit Vancouver available in the spring of ‘83", obviously a reference to the trunk cabin design most V-42 owners have.  Fun looking through the old rags. 

Bill Rohde											January 2003
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    Does anyone know where I can find the history of the Tayana? When where they first built, and at what yard? The reason I’m asking is I found a 1977 CT 37 built by Ta Chiao designed by Bob Perry that looks just like a Tayana 37. Thanks. 

 Paul												July 2003

    Same boat. The Practical Sailor review (can be located on the FTP site at 
ftp://ftp.sailnet.com/tayana/PSTayana.DOC) gives a bit of history on the boat, and it's origins as a CT-37.

Steve	SV Victoria Rose	T-37 #384
Sailing out of Anacortes, WA									July 2003
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Steve,
    The file of the Practical Sailor review is corrupted. When the text was scanned and converted to digital format (I don't know who did that), parts of paragraphs were shifted around, punctuation was screwed up, etc. As a result, some of the sentences don't make sense. The overall text, however, is OK, and should give the reader a reasonable idea about the T-37.

regards, Harvey										July 2003

An interesting history of the background to the design of the original Tayana 37, with verification and commentary by Bob Perry.
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Subject: FW: Anyone ever hear of a Union?							August 2003

Harvey,
    This just came in from the Baba discussion group when someone asked about a Union 36. I thought this was interesting not having all the background on the Union but also knowing the Taiwan boat building business first hand.  I find the T-37 connection interesting - never heard this version before.

 Tom Beard, Editor in Chief,	The Coast Guard (book)

 I got this from  http://www.cruiser.co.za/hostsecret8.asp

History of the Union 36 and others:
    Originally conceived in the early 1970s by the founder of Hans Christian Yachts, a Long Beach, California high school teacher by the name of John Edwards, a design was commissioned from Bob Perry for a thirty-four footer to be built at the Union Ship Co. in Taipei, and marketed in the states as the "Hans Christian 34." Before the first 34 was completed, Edwards wanted to stretch it to a 36-footer, so he had the yard build a second set of molds, adding about a foot in the center and a foot aft of the cockpit. A small number of HC 34's were built and it's believed some 10 or 12 HC 36's were built and sold before 1975 or '76, when Edwards had a falling out with the Union Ship Co. and took his business to another Taiwan yard. When Edwards tried to move the molds to the new facility, he was advised by Union that they held ownership of the molds and would continue to build the boat and market it themselves as the "Union 36."  It's fairly clear that Perry received very little in the form of royalties from either the 34 or 36 - Chinese business practices being sometimes referred to as "broken promises" and "double-dealing." Edwards went on to build the HC 38's, which suffered from poor quality control, and the better managed HC 43's and Christinas.

    Union Ship Co. built a few 36's before changing their name to Union Yacht Co. and entering into various distributor arrangements on the west coast where the boat was marketed under names chosen by the importer.  HC 36's can be identified by a hull number beginning with XSA and Union 36's with a hull number of USC or UYC.  It's believed that approximately 160 36's were built after the exit of Edwards, with the last boats being sold in late 1987 and early '88. The following note from Bob Perry is considered to be in the public domain as it as been posted to several websites and passed around among Union 36 owners, and is reproduced here with the acknowledgment of its authorship.

Message from Bob Perry:
    I'll just tell you the story and let you pass it on. I've only met one 36 owner who actually had the story right (I questioned him at the dock without telling him who I was!).  Before I designed the Valiant 40, I designed the Hans Christian 54.  HC battled with the yard and that boat became the CT 54 and over 100 were built.  Shortly after that project began, I was asked by Hans Christian to design a 34-footer.  I did.  Time went by and I heard nothing of my 34-footer but I was getting consistent reports of a Robert Perry "36-footer" being built in Taiwan.

    Finally, I called HC in Taiwan and asked what was going on. They told me they used my drawings for the 34-footer and expanded them into a 36-footer.  I said great and told them I was looking forward to the double royalties.  HC informed me that I would not be getting any royalties on the 36-footer.  At the time (1973), I was working for another designer and bringing home $173 a week.  I said, fine screw me over, but I'll be back.  I came back with the Tayana 37 design aimed directly at the HC 36 and I think you know how many TY 37's they built, over 600! I had my revenge.

    Meanwhile, as usual, Hans Christian (actually a Long Beach shop teacher named John Edwards) had his typical war with the yard and he lost control of the HC 36 project. The yard (Union Yacht Co) went on to continue building the boat but they marketed it under whatever name the individual broker wanted so that's why you find the same boat with so many names.  It's all the same boat.  They even tried to pay me royalties in order to get me to lay claim to the design, but it wasn't true so I told them they could say "based on a hull design by RHP."  My arrangement with the yard did not work as they did not want me to tell the correct story.  I remained friends with the yard, Bengt Ni was the yard owner, but we never did business together.  His son Eric marketed the boats in San Francisco for some time and continued to connect my name to the boat and even paid a few royalties.

So there you have it:

Hans Christian 36
Mariner Polaris 36
Union 36
EO 36

All the same boat.

    Mao Ta 36 is a variation on the same hull but built by a different yard.  I know this boat well.  I made a point to get acquainted with it when my name began to be connected with it.  It's a very good boat and in every way very similar to most of my early double-enders.  It's a bastard child of mine and I will continue to feel like the father. 

Bob Perry
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    Mr. Peter Chen, son of the founder of Ta Yang, Y P Chen has taken over the duties of General manager of the yard, replacing Na Hai Chiu, who has been promoted to President of Ta Yang. Peter will run the everyday operations for Tayana Yachts. 

    Peter started with the company in the early eighties working as a marine engineer. I met Peter in 1982 and he worked with me on my first Tayana 55 and we have since become very good friends. Mr. Chen is 51 years old. 

    The first task Peter took on was rebuilding the main office, providing wireless communications throughout, modernizing the building facilities and most important has installed a testing tank for all yachts. All systems like engine, refrigeration air conditioning can now be tested in the water and hull trim can be assessed before shipment. 

    Peter has contracted Rob Ladd to design a new Tayana 53 Deck Saloon that will be built with a Kevlar reinforced hull. We dealers will be meeting at the Annapolis Boat show in October with Mr. Chen and the designer, very exciting new concepts to come! 

    A new color brochure has been published and is now awaiting delivery to all Tayana Dealers. 

    I am very pleased Peter is now at the helm of Ta yang, I believe he will take the yard to the next level of yacht building.

Importer for Tayana Yachts & X-Yachts

Neil Weinberg		http://www.yachtworld.com/pacificyachtimports 			      September 2005
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	   from Tayana Owners Group

   The original creator of the Tayana 37 (T-37) was Bob Berg, former owner of Flying Dutchman Yachts in Seattle. He took his preliminary ideas to Bob Perry, who then did the final design. Those of you who have heard of the BaBa should know that was Bob Berg's nickname in the Chinese yard where he oversaw the construction of the early Tayanas. 
   According to Nan San Chiu, first Sales Manager of the building yard, TaYang means "big ocean" in Chinese. When an "a" is substituted for the last letter of a word, it denotes the possessive sense. Thus Tayana means "belongs to the big ocean." 
   In December 1979, T-37 owner, Norm Demain and his helpful partner and wife, Anne, wrote a two page letter, which was the start of what was to become one of the boating world's best and most influential non-industry sponsored newsletters. Norm gathered bits and pieces of information, new ideas, reports of problems and solutions from the members, the T-37 designer, Robert Perry, the TaYang yard, and many of the dealers, then collated this data and promulgated it in such a way that a communication network developed among the parties (i.e., the designer, builder, seller, and user), which led to an increasingly better product. 
   The Tayana Owners Group (TOG) newsletter, TOG News has helped new buyers to become aware, to become educated consumers. The builder has responded to reports of problem areas. Mr. Perry has added insight and suggestions to improve the design. TOG became a force, a unit with a voice. 
   TOG's progress can best be measured by the success described in the paragraphs above, but the following time line will give you some additional knowledge of how TOG and its newsletter have become what they are today. 
1979 -- First newsletter (two type-written pages) mailed; proposed publishing every two months; membership for T-37 owners only; 15 charter members. 
1980 -- Dues were established at $2/year (the cost of postage for six issues); communication between the yard and owners began; membership rose to 90 by the end of the year, including six dealers, five prospective owners, and three honorary members. 
1981 -- Membership exceeded 100; local TOG chapters started; the first Tayana Burgee was designed; a new T-37 deck mold, the Mark II, became available, featuring a cockpit coamings that extended around the stern; Nan Hai Chiu becomes the new general manager at TaYang and has remained in that position since; entered Group Accord agreement with BOAT/U.S. for reduced membership fee from them (still in effect); Vancouver-42 (V-42) owners invited to contribute to newsletter. 
1982 -- Membership/subscription fee set at $15/year; TaYang begins production of T-52 and T-55. 
1983 -- Changed to publishing quarterly newsletters. 
1984 -- Membership at 135, including six dealers and two honoraries. 
1985 -- Adopted mini format for newsletter to reduce volume and mailing costs. 
1986 -- First index published in three volumes of subjects addressed in the first 30 issues of TOG News. 
1987 -- V-42 owners welcomed as members; membership at 150; newsletter prepared with use of a computer and word processing software. 
1988 -- New masthead designed (still in use) for newsletter; yard begins production of T-47. 
1989 -- Dues raised to $20/year; membership opened to owners of all boats built in the TaYang yard, including Tayana and Vancouver models; newsletter changed to present format (eight pages). 
1990 -- Membership at 200. 
1991 -- Second subject index published covering TOG News through 1990. 
1992 -- New editors for TOG News, Sue Canfield, Rockie and Bill Truxall. 
1993 -- Third subject index for TOG News published covering the first 60 issues; introduction of new logo and TOG Wear (shirts and new burgee). 
1994 -- Newsletter increased to twelve pages; membership over 300. 
1995 -- Sue Canfield left the editorial staff; newsletter increased to sixteen pages. 
1996 -- TOG business cards introduced; expanded line of TOG merchandise; TOG on internet. 
1997 -- Dues reduced to $15 for annual membership renewal; membership at 400. 
1998 -- Newsletter increased to twenty pages.
1999 -- Three issues of the newsletter published with twenty-eight pages; expanded home page.
2000 -- Newsletter reduced to twenty-four pages; fourth subject index published covering TOG News issues 1-87; membership at 500; T-37 Owner's Manual digitized and available on-line, thanks to member, Harvey Karten.