ivob wrote:... help me out a little bit based on [the stencil number 3B1083].
To interpret the stencil number 3B1083 I use the resources in the FAQ at
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q2The first observation is there is a difference in the gel coat color immediately surrounding the stencil number and the rest of the hull. This suggests that the hull has been repainted. The original hull color was probably DESERT TAN, and now the hull looks white or at the least a different shade of off-white or tan.
In the stencil number 3B1083, the "3B" sequence was used for the 16/17-foot hulls. A list of stencil number ranges is given in the REFERENCE article for the 16/17 HULL, but the table only goes as high as 1972 model year, when the stencil number would have been in the range 3A5201 thru 3A6700. From this the inference is the hull was made after 1972.
ASIDE: the reason the tables listing the correlation between stencil numbers and years of production stop in 1972 is due to the passing of a federal regulation that required all boat builders to use a standard method of identification of their boats by encoding data according to a method designed by the federal government after November 1972. Boston Whaler boats made after November 1972 can have their production epoch deduced from the federal HIN, so the stencil number correlation table is not needed.
FEDERAL HIN INTERPRETATION
The photograph of the metal tag that has the federal hull identification number or HIN shows embossed characters
__ __ __ __ 6768 _76J . This tag used the MODEL YEAR FORMAT, as follows
MODEL YEAR FORMAT prior to August 1984
MIC-NNNNN-M-YY-Z
MIC = Manufacturer's ID Code BWC=Whaler
NNNNN = 5-character production or serial number
"M" = "M" --> an indicator of the Model Year Format
YY = 2-digit model year
Z = Month of Production, coded
A = August
B = September
C = October
D = November
E = December
F = January
G = February
H = March
I = April
J = May
K = June
L = July
This is interpreted as follows:
The manufacturer's Identification code or MIC was painted onto the metal plate and has completely worn off. This would have been BWC. Adding that to the HIN we have
BWC_6768 _ 76J
Next we look at the chart showing the allocation of
HIN hull production number sequences, as mentioned in the FAQ. Looking at the sequences for the 17-foot hull, we see the numbers must be in the range 5000 to 7999. The number 6768 fits into that range. Usually there would be a letter prefix A, B, C, and so on, but that may have been painted on instead of embossed, and thus worn away. So we can add that to the HIN
BWC [missing character letter A/B/C/D/E] 6768 _ 76J
Following the production sequence number there should be an M inidicating the model year format is used. The M may have been painted on, and is now worn away. So we would then have the HIN as
BWC [missing character letter A/B/C/D/E] 6768 [M] 76J
The remaining characters 76J contain two digits for model year, and one letter for month of production. They indicate the model year is 1976 and the month of production is MAY.
In summary, the HIN at one time would have read
BWC[A/B/C/D/F]6768[M]76J.
The boat is a Boston Whaler 17-footer made in May of 1976 as a 1976 model year.
WHY SOME CHARACTERS WERE PAINTED ON THE METAL TAG
The use of painted characters for certain portions of the federal HIN when using the MODEL YEAR FORMAT is probably because those elements would remain constant for all boats in production during several months. By pre-painting those characters onto the metal tag, only the variable elements unique to each boat would need to be embossed onto the tag when the boat was finished.
For example, the characters BWC for Boston Whaler would not change, and were typically painted onto the metal tag.
For a particular HIN production sequence number, the first character would be a letter followed by four numerals. Four numerals could cover many thousand boats in production, so the letter prefix character would be painted onto the metal tag.
The character M indicates use of the model-year format for the HIN. This would never change as long as the model year format was going to be used.
In summary, for many federal hull identification number (HIN) metal tags
which were in use after November of 1972 and prior to August of 1984, the letters BWC and M would always be painted onto the tag. The initial letter character for the hull production sequence number would also typically be painted on. As a result, the metal tags with these pre-printed characters would need to only have four digits embossed onto the tag to identify the hull production sequence number, two digits embossed onto the tag to identify the model year last-two-digits, and one letter to indicate which month of the year the hull was produced.
I hope this explanation helps you to understand how the metal tag on your Boston Whaler boat originally appeared.
The only ambiguity that remains is the letter used as the prefix to the hull production sequence number. That information may be obtained from Boston Whaler if their customer service is willing to look up older records, and assuming Boston Whaler still has those older records.
What is certain is the boat is a 16/17 foot Boston Whaler boat made in May of 1976.