Baba 30 for Sale, Review of Bob Perry's Pocket Passagemaker

Why a Baba 30 for sale still draws serious offshore buyers

Few 30 footers from the 1970s are still bought specifically to cross oceans. The Baba 30 is one of them. Practical Sailor's review opens by saying its traditional styling, large interior and heavy weather performance make it a favorite of cruising couples, and that its principal liability is poor light-air performance. That is the honest summary, and it is why a Baba 30 for sale rarely lingers if it has been looked after.

The boat was conceived by Bob Berg, a Seattle yacht broker who formed Flying Dutchman International with two partners to import traditionally styled cruising boats from Taiwan. Berg hired Bob Perry, who had already drawn the Tayana 37, and asked for a smaller version. His stated goal was a boat faster and less expensive than the Westsail 32 and the Valiant 32.

Built by Ta Shing when Taiwan was at its best

Berg told Practical Sailor he built in Taiwan for three reasons: Ta Shing was among the best builders in the world, labor was inexpensive and the exchange rate was favorable. Sailboatdata notes that the first 30 or so boats were built by Shing Sheng before Ta Shing took over. Ta Shing also built Mason, Panda, Tashiba and Taswell yachts, a list that tells you the level of joinery to expect.

Hulls are uncored, hand-laid fiberglass with alternating layers of 1.5 ounce mat and 24 ounce woven roving, six layers in most places and 10 to 12 in the keel area. Surveyors who inspected boats for Practical Sailor called the construction on a par with any quality production boat, praised the tagged and bundled wiring and the plumbing, and found the boats had held up well. Cabinetry and joinery are of a standard usually associated with high-end custom yachts.

Perry's case for a quick traditional hull

Perry told Practical Sailor he disliked the idea that a traditional design must be slow, and set out to wring every tenth of a knot from a heavy double-ender. He gave the hull a prismatic coefficient of about 0.50 for light-air performance, considerable flare in the topsides for stability and a dry ride upwind, and a flatter bottom than a typical Colin Archer type to reduce hobby-horsing. The full keel has a cutaway forefoot, so the boat tracks well, although one owner described backing under power as an adventure.

He also defended the weight. At the time, he said, the average 30 footer displaced about 7,000 lb, and a light boat is short on stowage. The Baba 30's displacement to length ratio of about 379 buys an interior and storage that compare with later 32 to 34 footers. The trade-off is a sail area to displacement ratio near 15, which Perry argued was acceptable because a 150 percent genoa is manageable at this size.

Sluggish in 5 knots, steady in 50

Practical Sailor's test and owner reports agree. In very light wind the boat underperforms, and a large genoa or drifter makes a significant difference downwind in under 10 knots. Above 15 knots it can be sailed at hull speed under jib and staysail, and one owner said it points to within about 35 degrees of the apparent wind with good trim.

The most telling story came from a couple who sailed a Baba 30 from Hawaii to Seattle, a 27 day upwind passage. In under 10 knots they made 1 to 2 knots; above 10 knots, about 5 knots on a close reach under vane steering. Three days from port they met a 30 hour storm with wind building from 20 to 50 knots, steered by hand after the vane failed, and then simply lashed the helm and sat behind the dodger under a double-reefed main and staysail. The skipper's summary was that the more it blew, the stouter the boat became.

Bowsprit, cutter rig and a deliberately small cockpit

The 4 ft bowsprit, wrapped in a stainless pulpit, carries two bow rollers and a large bronze winch. Most boats came with a self-tending staysail; some owners have since fitted furlers to both headstays, which simplifies double-handed passages. Halyards lead to cabin-top winches and jib sheets to two-speed cockpit winches, and side decks are about 18 inches wide.

Early boats had only one set of shrouds; after a dismasting, fore and aft lowers were added to the single-spreader rig, and later boats gained a boom gallows. If you are looking at an early hull, confirm the lowers have been added.

The cockpit is small, with seats about 60 inches long, enough for four adults. That is a safety feature offshore, since a boarding wave drains quickly through the two 2 inch scuppers, but it is not a party cockpit.

A teak interior that works at sea

Berg designed the interior himself for long-distance cruising, and offered two versions: a V-berth layout popular on the West Coast and a double-berth layout popular in the East. The galley is a U to port at the foot of the companionway with a gimbaled two-burner stove, the nav station is opposite with a quarter berth aft of it, the head is forward of the saloon to starboard, and the forward cabin fills the bow. Headroom is about 6 ft 4 in.

Almost every surface except the galley counters is teak, with a teak and holly sole and, on later boats, teak battens lining the hull. Practical Sailor judged the spaces well organized for couples planning extended passages, especially compared with newer production boats.

• Nav table 28 by 17 inches with a cabinet for radios
• Quarter berth about 68 inches plus the nav seat
• V-berth about 77 by 60 inches
• Water and fuel tanks under the settees

Known issues on a 40-plus-year-old Baba

Surveyors flagged minor blistering on some hulls, usually small clusters within about a foot of the waterline. Some chainplate bolts corroded, though they are visible from below and easy to monitor. One surveyor's main criticism was the steel fuel tank, which on a boat this age should be inspected or already replaced. Owners also reported tank capacities smaller than advertised, so measure rather than trust the brochure.

Changing the oil filter is an acrobatic exercise, the anchor locker can bring water and mud aboard, and many boats have teak decks that are now at or past the end of their life. A teak deck replacement or removal is a five-figure job and should shape your offer.

Ownership costs and resale

A 30 ft slip keeps running costs reasonable. Budget roughly $5,000 to $12,000 a year in most US regions for slip or mooring, insurance, haul-out, engine service and a reserve for rigging and sails. Because Flying Dutchman had dealers on both coasts, the Gulf, the Great Lakes and Canada, boats are spread widely around North America.

Practical Sailor called the Baba 30 one of the strongest resale performers it had seen. Buy a well-kept example with a newer diesel, aluminum spars and sound decks and you are unlikely to lose much money on it.