Overview
The Tashiba 40 is a Robert Perry cutter built by Ta Shing in Taiwan, built from 1984.
Design and Construction
sailboatdata.com lists a long keel, 39.89 ft overall on a 34.5 ft waterline, 12.83 ft of beam and 6 ft of draft. Displacement is 29,000 lb with 10,000 lb of ballast, and the cutter carries about 865 sq ft. The Tashiba 40 is the Baba 40 and Panda 40 under the name the Ta Shing yard used once it took over marketing; Perry calls them essentially the same boat. A later deck mold narrowed the side decks, added headroom and cut back teak trim, hatches and portlights. The hull is solid hand-laid mat and roving rather than balsa-cored. Good Old Boat’s Ed Lawrence reports the hulls alternate handlaid 1.5-ounce mat and 24-ounce roving, and builder Bob Berg recalled most boats had six layers in most places. Production of the 40-footer began in 1978, and more than 150 were built. The spars are aluminum with heavy wire standing rigging.
Buyers Notes
John Neal rates it 2 of 5 and calls Tashibas high maintenance; teak decks and exterior wood on older boats are the usual reason. Good Old Boat found the Baba 40 faster than most of her contemporaries, stable and good at tracking, and advises re-rigging an older boat before going offshore. The original steel fuel tank holds 110 gallons on the centerline and is prone to leaks; Good Old Boat quotes an owner whose tank ruptured three months after passing survey and advises replacing an original tank. The butterfly hatches under the boom tend to leak.
On a test sail in 8 to 10 knots on Puget Sound, a 1984 boat with main and staysail made 4.1 to 4.3 knots closehauled and 5.5 with the jib hoisted, heeling 12 to 15 degrees. Footed off to 60 degrees she made 6.1 to 6.3 knots, and the sails misbehaved below about 120 degrees. The standard layout has a double-berth stateroom aft to starboard, the galley to port opposite the nav station, and a 32 by 21 inch chart table.
