The Baba line of boats was conceived in the mid-1970's by Bob Berg who, with two business associates, formed Flying Dutchman International Ltd. to import the boats from Taiwan.
The name "Baba" originated from the local Chinese slang version on Bob Berg's name.
Bob Perry was commissioned to design the boats, which sold between 1978 and 1986. The Original Baba line of boats consisted of three sizes, the 30, 35, and 40. During the production run of the Baba, two other lines were created based on the original designs. These two other lines were Panda and Tashiba. While Bob Berg was involved in all of these lines, Robert Perry was responsible for designing all of the Baba and Tashiba line, but only one of the Panda models - the Panda 40.
The Panda 34 and 38 are highly modified takes on Mr. Perry's original ideas. Developed by Gary Grant and Performance Design Corporation, both of these designs share only a faint resemblence on the outside, especially since they've done away with the canoe stern. The interiors, however, resemble the original Baba lines more closely. The only thing missing is the trademark 'keyhole' bulkhead. It is because of this pedigree from Bob Berg through the builder TaShing that we include them as family members of the line.
The Tashibas are 'updated' versions of the original Baba line with the last Tashiba being built in 1997. These updates for the most part are subtle but they give the vessel more contemporary details through less use of teak (though still extensive by most standards), rounded corners and stainless steel in place of bronze for details such as port lights and hardware. Functionally, the keels on all the Tashiba line was reworked significantly though to the naked eye they may still appear the same.
Most of the boats were configured as conventional cutter-rigged, cabin versions. However, there was also a pilot house version available for all models as well as a ketch rig for the 40'er along with shoal-draft versions.
The Baba, Panda, and Tashiba line of boats was built at Tashing Yacht Building Company.
Select a button above to learn more about a particular Baba model.
Locate a copy of the November 1, 1998 Practical Sailor. It has a Used Boat Survey about the Baba 30.
Locate a copy of the March/April, 1999 Good Old Boat Magazine. There are 10 pages of great information about the Baba 30 in this issue.
Contact the designer, Bob Perry at www.perryboat.com