Welcome aboard Whisper. This is a beautiful example of Robert Perry’s Tashiba 31. Whisper is in very good condition. This capable 31-footer is equally at home gunk holing around the Gulf Islands and San Juans, as it is crossing oceans.  With her classic lines and quality craftsmanship throughout, she’ll be certain to turn heads and impress in every harbor along the way!

Description provided by the owners:

Whisper is a 1988 Tashiba 31, hull number 24 in a run of 25, built in Taiwan by Tashing Yacht Building Co. and was designed by Robert H. Perry. She is a full keel design with a cut-away forefoot, sails well with good speed, goes where she looks, has an easy motion in rough water, tacks easily, and is a cutter rigged sloop with separate sheet tracks and cockpit winches for each foresail. She sleeps four adults comfortably by way of the V berth, pull out settee, and quarter berth, which also serves as a seat to the chart desk. The shorter settee, 5 ft. In length, is fine for a child.

We purchased Whisper in August, 1994, and she has been a US documented vessel since that time, going on 27 years. She has been sailed in Northwest waters by us for four months each year and when not in use kept under a full fitted canvas boat cover in the same marina and monitored and maintained by the same boatyard. She is unmodified since new, with no “good idea” changes made. The interior teak woodwork is extraordinary in quality and craftsmanship with all vertical surfaces finished in teak boarding. The cabin overhead is spruce boards, added at the factory as a special order. The woodwork and cabinetry are of quality not to be had in recent vessels of any size or price. There is not a sharp corner to be found anywhere below. Handholds are designed into the mouldings and trim, allowing one to move about safely under rough seas. Accessible storage below is extraordinarily generous. Counting from memory, I believe there are 12 drawers and 40 louvered doors to cabinets and lockers – as well as storage behind all settee cushions.

The original owner of our boat, who was from South Puget Sound, commissioned a watercolor by noted chart artist, Betty Vestuto, of the boat in full sail, painted on a chart of the area of Pt.Robinson. The painting is visible in the attached photographs on the bulkhead above the table. Although it cost the original owner $1,000, it came to us with the boat and will be left in place for the new owner.

The rigging, sails, and teak deck are in good condition. The sail inventory is a full batten main, roller furling Genoa, and a staysail. Sail handling is by five winches in the cockpit area and four at the mast, eight of which are self tailing. Ground tackle is two 35 lb. CQR anchors carried on the bow sprit platform with a Neptune manual anchor windlass, 60ft. of heavy chain with 150 ft. nylon rode.

Ventilation is excellent with a forward hatch, butterfly hatch, four adjustable dorades, and eleven opening bronze ports. Daylight below is enhanced by five decks prisms, of which one is in the V-berth and four in the main cabin.

A new 30 hp Beta Marine diesel engine with transmission and a new heavy weight aluminum fuel tank were installed in the spring of 2016. The exact capacity of the new fuel tank is not known, but we believe it is less than the original 40 gallons. Water capacity is 90 gallons in two stainless steel tanks.

Instrumentation includes Datamarine 5000, including knot meter, log, depth sounder, wind speed and direction, and a Lowrance GPS with map screen and chip for all US and Canadian West Coast waters – all mounted on the wheel binnacle above the Ritchie compass. Also installed were VHF- Icom, barometer, ship clock, and lightening protection system. The Sunbrella dodger, hatch cover, and wheel cover were replaced five years ago, and are in fine condition. The sail cover and full boat cover are original and have been repaired but remain satisfactory for use.

Whisper has a good [Espar] diesel forced air furnace, water heater (engine or 110 volts) and pressure water in galley and head. The furnace is about 8 years old and is very effective. The 12 volt refrigerator / freezer works very well and is accessible from the counter top and from the front. The compressor has been replaced by us once. There is a sizable fiberglass holding tank installed beneath the V berth.

Included in the sale is a good 8 ft. Fiberglass dinghy built by Valiant, which garners lots of admiration. The sale will also include many spares, two 50 ft. power cords, tools, maintenance materials, galley wares and barbecue, V berth special mattress with Eddie Bauer fitted sleeping bag, four near new PFD’s, and a good sailing library along with numerous equipment manuals.

If you so desire, you will be able to take Whisper anywhere in the world. If not, you can have many years of closer to home adventures, as we have.

DESIGNER’S COMMENTS

Tashiba 31

This new 31′ double ender for Ta Shing represents the latest design in a long series of canoe stern yachts that have come from my office. This series began with the Valiant 40 and has included both full and fin keel yachts with one common characteristic. Each design reflects a design effort to create a fast, forgiving, and comfortable cruising yacht intended for offshore use.  The “Norwegian” style has established itself as a legitimate school of yacht aesthetics and has found a very  appreciative  market.   The new 31 carries on the canoe stern tradition with a subtle progression of this basic style.

The hull form was developed by re-assessing the performance characteristics of one of our similar but older designs, and then manipulating hull shape to arrive at a generally improved model I have pushed the sectional volume outboard to increase form stability.  The ends have more volume, thusly showing a higher prismatic coefficient over the parent model.

The keel foils were chosen to keep the VCG low while reducing overall drag from the keel. Close attention   was   paid to the tip area of the keel. The hull model shows a finer entry than is common on most yachts of this general style. The finer entry results in much   improved performance to weather.  The stern retains its volume for increased sailing length and further increased form stability.

In keeping with the style of the hull, we chose a cutter rig with a bowsprit to help keep the VCP as low as possible.  The general rig geometry allows for large headsails in a big fore triangle, whereas  many  modern  cutters  reduce  the  fore triangle until  the  staysail  becomes   too  small  to be effective.

The interior stresses comfort and convenience.  The high volume hull form lends itself to generous interior   components.    There   are   numerous   options   available, including another interior with the head aft and a larger stateroom forward.  This interior was developed through exhaustive preliminary sketches and is – – to my eye – – the ultimate interior for this yacht.

I was very happy to receive this new commission from the Ta Shing yard in Taiwan.  I have worked with this yard many times in the past, and they have always produced the highest quality yachts coming out of Taiwan.  The new 31 will be built to the highest standards, and will undoubtedly be a yacht deserving of pride by everyone involved with it.

Cordially,

Robert H. Perry