Hull numbers

[LJS]

I've seen reference to an online listing correlating hull numbers with production dates &c but for some reason have not been able to find it (I'll be red in the face if it is somewhere on this site!) - does anybody have the URL? thanks, Larry

 

[Sean Engle]

Is this the doc you're talking about?

//sse

 

[LJS]

Thanks, Sean - great information. But this raises a little question. Our hull is ERY 29381M75A - that would appear to have it made in the 13th month? - any ideas on how to interpret this? thanks, Larry

 

[therapidone]

Or this one?

This is a USCG discussion of HINs.

Regards,

Ed

 

[therapidone]

Before or after

If you read the USCG document that I just attached, I think you'll find a discussion as to how the HINs changed after 1984...prior to that (1972-1984), there was a different set up for the HINs & I believe it is discussed in that document.

If you know the model year of the vessel in question, you'll know which convention to follow.

From here on is additional text added by editing...after stating the above, I quickly did a read of the article & while it mentions how the last 4 characters differ in the two conventions of constructing/encoding/decoding HINs, it doesn't provide much of a description of how to decode the last 4 characters of HINs generated prior to August 1, 1984, if the use of letters is employed.

So, I've since found a description of the 2 ways to construct/encode/decode a HIN prior to 8/1/1984, and I'll use your HIN as the example:
ERY 29381M75A. The first 3 characters are the code for the manufacturer...this we already knew. The next 5 characters, or positions 4 through 8, are the serial number for the boat in question...I guess Ericson chose to use the first 2 of these positions to inform one as to the putative loa of the model in question...so that yours is a 29-footer & then comes the 381 serial number for 29 footers made by Ericson. Now we're at the last 4 characters. From sometime in 1972 to 8/1/84, these could be represented in 2 ways...either the model year or the certification date. If the manufacturer chose to provide the certification date, the last 4 characters would all be numbers, with the first 2 representing the month of the year (starting w/ 01 corresponding to January) & the last 2 corresponding the decade and year (i.e., 75 would be 1975). Now, if the manufacturer chose to use the MODEL YEAR designation, they would use the letter "M" in the 9th position to indicate this. The next 2 numbers would be the decade and year of the model in question...in your case 1975...and the last character would be a letter corresponding to the month it was manufactured or certified (I'm unclear about this point) with A=August, B=September,... ...,L=July. This letter designation for the month in question changed as of 8/1/84 so that A=January, etc.

This site explains both extremely well & a more concisely than I did :http://www.calyachts.org/MaintanceShop/HIN.html

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Ed

 

[LJS]

thanks Ed - looks like A for August, or is it A for April? but in any case the structure now makes some sense - Far Reach was an orphan, purchased from a local charity, so we lack all the original documentation, Larry

 

[therapidone]

This is about the only area I am of any help around here!

thanks Ed - looks like A for August, or is it A for April? but in any case the structure now makes some sense - Far Reach was an orphan, purchased from a local charity, so we lack all the original documentation, Larry

Before 8/1/84, A=August (like American-manufactured cars used to have their new models come out in September with the designation that they were "next year's" model); after 8/1/84, A=January.

My pleasure.

Regards,

Ed