Can anyone tell me what year a Hobie 18 with Serial # CCMC02S4A585 was made?
Thanks in advance,
I believe 85
Last two digits represent the year.please anyone correct me if this is not the case.
that would be correct
Built in 85 and an 85 model year. Had the last digit been a 6 it would have been built in 85 and an 86 model.
Great, Thanks folks.
and in january i think.
Yep.
Hi,
Pardon my ignorance. How do we determine the January?
David HO
TheMightyHobie18 1067
Pardon my ignorance. How do we determine the January?
David HO
TheMightyHobie18 1067
Let's see if I can remember this...
CCMC02S4A585
CCM = Coast Cat Manufacturer
C = Model - TheMightyHobie18
02S4 = serial number of boat. Although I'd bet if we looked at the transom, that "S" is really a "5"
A = Month of manufacture, January
585 = year of manufacture and model year. Built in 1985 and is an '85 model. Model year begins in July.
Think thats it.
John
Palmdale, CA
H16
ya, but i think the 5 after the a might be the 5th boat in january
No basket, unlvrebel is correct.
Wasn't sure if I remembered it correctly, Damon. Thanks for the reindorcement. I haven't seen that post on the beachcats group in a while.
The ole' memory is still pretty sharp... 
John.
you sure?
Check numerous cats. I don't think that number (585) ever increases to two digits or more and is always the same as the last number or one less. I'd be curious to know the results of your fieldwork.
John.
Plus the fact that the "5th boat in January" idea would mean you see a lot more numbers there on most boats. The 218th boat would need a longer transom number.
Thanks in advance,
Here is how the serial number works, as required by the U.S. Coast Guard since 1973.
The first three letters represent the manufacturer of the boat.
The next letter is the model of the boat, but there can be a bunch of different letters for the same model of boat if more than 9,999 of that model are being built in a year.
The next four digits are the actual serial number, including the preceding letter (If more than 9,999 boats are built, there could be more than one boat of that particular model for that year with that particular four-digit serial number, so the preceding letter indicates what "batch" that boat was in for its particular year of origin.)
Then there is one letter which indicates the month of manufacture (A is January, B is February, C is March, etc.)
The last three digits indicate the year the boat was built and the model year. i.e., the first of the three digits is the last number of the year it was built, and the final two digits are the model year. In the case of Hobie Cats, just as in cars, the model year changes in September. So boats built starting in August will be the next year's model number.
If the last three digits are 303, it would mean the boat was built in 2003 and it is a 2003 model. If the last three digits are 304, it means it was built in 2003 and is a 2004 model.
In the case of the serial number questioned in the post, CCMC02S4A585, it says the boat was built by Coast Catamaran Manufacturing, and it was a Hobie 18 with serial number 0254 (it is a "5", not an "S"), and it was built in January of 1985 and it was a 1985 model.
For Hobie 14's and Hobie 16's older than 1973, a four digit number was used. The number was stamped into the forward pylon post on the outboard side.
I got this information from Matt Miller of Hobie Cat Company, and as a result of my query, he has now added it to the information on the Hobie website. You can find information about the serial number by going to www.hobiecat.com and clicking on "Product Support" and then on "Warranty Info."
Sounds vaguely similar to what I said...
Yes, it is what you said, but you said you "think" that's right, and then there were a bunch of other opinions, so I called Matt to find out for sure. And now it is on the Hobie Cat Co. website, so everybody can find it.
OK, so here's another one to figure out. I recently bought a Hobie 16 that the owner bought after it was sailed in the 1990 Nationals in Chicago. The last four digits in the serial number are H789. (both hulls have the same number and it's definetely a 7) Was this boat built in August of 1987 and sold as a 1989 boat?
Thanks,
Jack Hoying
Fort Loramie, Ohio
Prindle 18
Hobie 16 (for sale)
Jack,
Call Matt Miller at Hobie Cat Co. 1-760-758-9100, ext. 301.
Mary,
I called HobieCat and Matt wasn't in, but I talked to Jack or Jacque??. He said that it's possible that since they supplied all the national boats back then, they would of started building early, but he thought it was weird that an 89 boat would of been built in August of 87. He did say that they are now making 16s for the World Championships in April of 04. He also mentioned that they build on average about eight 16s per day.
Jack
Wow, pretty cool Jack. An 89 built in 87
Sure sounds like a lot of 16s running around. No wonder the things are dirt cheap.
John
Palmdale, CA
H16
At 8 H16s per day, that is probably like 2000 per year max, which is probably a fraction of what they were making 15 or 20 years ago.
Jack