I think of our Saga Sea, a Union 36, as the red headed stepchild of Bob Perry... I feel I can say that because I, myself, have been a red headed stepchild a few times in my life. We have always enjoyed Mr. Perry’s designs. We saw ourselves with his Tayana 37 but once we saw our Saga Sea, she had to be ours. I will first share her history then show you how unique she really is.
Originally conceived in the early 1970s by the founder of Hans Christian Yachts, a Long Beach, California high school teacher by the name of John Edwards, a design was commissioned from Bob Perry for a thirty-four footer to be built at the Union Ship Co. in Taipei, and marketed in the states as the "Hans Christian 34."
Before the first 34 was completed, Edwards wanted to stretch it to a 36 footer, so he had the yard build a second set of molds, adding about a foot in the center and a foot aft of the cockpit. A small number of HC 34's were built and it's believed some 10 or 12 HC 36's were built and sold before 1975 or '76, when Edwards had a falling out with the Union Ship Co. and took his business to another Taiwan yard. When Edwards tried to move the molds to the new facility, he was advised by Union that they held ownership of the molds and would continue to build the boat and market it themselves as the "Union 36." It's fairly clear that Perry received very little in the form of royalties from either the 34 or 36 - Chinese business practices being sometimes referred to as "broken promises" and "double-dealing." Edwards went on to build the HC 38's, which suffered from poor quality control, and the better managed HC 43's and Christina's.
Union Ship Co. built a few 36's before changing their name to Union Yacht Co. and entering into various distributor arrangements on the west coast where the boat was marketed under names chosen by the importer. HC 36's can be identified by a hull number beginning with XSA and Union 36's with a hull number of USC or UYC. It's believed that approximately 160 36's were built after the exit of Edwards, with the last boats being sold in late 1987 and early '88.
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