Baba 40 Buyer's Guide
Shopping a used Baba 40 on the brokerage market means weighing a Taiwan-built Perry double-ender that ran from 1980 to 1996 across 115 hulls, later sold as the Panda 40 and Tashiba 40. These are serious bluewater cruisers with a full keel and cutter rig, and the used fleet rewards a buyer who understands both the boat’s strengths and the few items that demand survey attention.
Layouts on the Used Market
Most boats you will encounter are the standard cutter with a bowsprit, about 865 square feet of sail, and the classic aft-quarter stateroom to starboard with a double seagoing berth. The saloon typically shows a U-shaped galley to port and either a settee plan or the alternative two-settee layout with a pilot berth for sea-kindlier accommodations; forward is a double berth offset to port under 6′ 5″ headroom. A small number of pilothouse versions exist — roughly eleven — with two cozy cabins and expanded tankage, and a couple of ketches are thought to have been built. Tashiba-badged boats, marketed by Ta Shing from 1984, are claimed by the builder to carry less teak trim, fewer portlights, and no butterfly hatches as cost-cutting measures.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, a Baba 40 will commonly be fitted with a bimini, dodger, radar, autopilot, life raft, hot water, and chartplotter — the kind of gear that makes offshore passages manageable. For a buyer, the meaningful clusters are power and energy (autopilot and hot water draw on the house and engine systems), canvas and sail handling (bimini and dodger define cockpit comfort in weather), and navigation and safety (radar and chartplotter paired with a life raft speak to the boat’s bluewater intent). Beyond those, individual boats vary, but the standard cutter rig and Volvo MD21A diesel are the constants.
What to Inspect
A surveyor should check chainplates and any balsa-cored deck sections for rot, the ordinary caution on boats beyond twenty-five years chainplates and balsa coring for rot. The original mild steel fuel tanks were corrosion-prone, and most Babas have already had them replaced replaced the mild steel fuel tanks — confirm the work on any candidate.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The Baba 40 is typically found in the United States. For a shopper, the short list is: verify fuel-tank replacement, survey the chainplates and balsa coring, confirm whether a pilothouse or ketch variant is acceptable, and check Tashiba-era trim reductions against your expectations. A sound example is a well-built, sea-capable Perry cruiser with a finished interior and a proven bad-weather record.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Baba 40. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 3 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 2 | $98,500 | — |
| May 26 | 1 | $99,900 | +1.4% |
| Aug 26 | 1 | $98,500 | -1.4% |
Where they're listed
Baba 40 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 4.
Country view
4 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $98,500 | 4 | 1 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
5 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passport 40 | 39.42' | $ 99,000 | 27 | 4 |
| Tartan 40 | 40.25' | $ 89,900 | 13 | 3 |
| Norseman 400 | 40' | $ 95,000 | 8 | 4 |
| Ta Shing 40 Pilot House | 39.83' | $ 100,000 | 7 | 0 |
| Baba 40You are here | — | $ 98,500 | 4 | 1 |