Tayana Yachts is a Taiwanese brand of fiberglass sailboats built by Ta Yang. Ta Yang means "big ocean" in Mandarin, and Tayana means "belongs to big ocean." The yard was founded in 1973 and has built over 1,400 bluewater cruisers. Designers have included Robert H. Perry, Robert Harris, Robb Ladd, and Pieter Beeldsnijder. Yachts range from 37 to a new 72-footer.
Early models built by Ta Yang include the Sea Wolf 41, aka Yankee Clipper, and the Tanton cat ketch. In 1979, they introduced a Perry designed 37-foot double-ender. This was originally branded as the CT 37 because CT Chen was a founding partneer in the Ta Yang boat yard, and they thought the more established CT name would help sell her. Soon, they realized she did not need the CT cache, and they rebranded her as the Tayana 37. Around 600 of these 37-footers were built making it one of the most popular cruisers ever. The Tayana Vancouver 42 followed, another double-ender by Robert Harris.
Ta Yang was one of the first Taiwanese yards to scale up with larger designs like the 50 foot Flying Dutchman FD-12 and the Bob Perry Tayana 48.
Tayana is still producing yachts today.
The FD-12 resulted from the collaborative efforts of German designer Eva Holmann (formerly of Sparkman & Stevens) and Dutchman Willem Eickholt.
In the mid-1970s Eickholt, part owner at the time of Flying Dutchman Yachts, decided to build his dreamboat. A lifelong sailor, he knew he wanted an aft-cockpit, flush-decked cutter of moderate displacement and minimum wetted surface with a fin keel, skeg rudder, canoe stern, and clipper bow. “I also wanted her to be fast. Long passages bore me,” says Eickholt. “Last but not least, I wanted her to be pretty in a timeless way.”
He chose Holmann, known for her fast, unsinkable cruising designs, to help design the boat.
Do not compare the Flying Dutchman FD-12 to heavy, ponderous vessels like Passport 42’s, Hans Christian 48’s or similar. She is visually very appealing, exceptional fast, and very easy to sail. Super strong and close winded; Owners of FD12s have often reported 200+ mile days in medium to fresh conditions.
Certainly one of the best world cruising sailboats ever designed. With her flush deck, she has much more interior volume than many larger boats.