First year for H16?

I was given a very used H16. No S/N on the transom or under the rudder pins. Looks like it's been repainted several times, so the numbers could be filled in. But the number 1177 is stamped on the outside of both forward pylons. I'm assuming then that it's a pre-1973 boat. Just wondering when the 16 debuted. Thanks.

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Southwest Hobie Island Club
http://www.facebook.com/southwesthic

1970...

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt. I was confused, as Wikipedia says 1972 and the Hobie Class Assoc. says 1969. If mine were a newer boat with the S/N painted over, would it still have the four digits numbers stamped on the pylons?

_________________
Southwest Hobie Island Club
http://www.facebook.com/southwesthic

The four digits on the pylon posts is the indicator that it IS pre 73. It was one or the other... not both locations.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Could the 1177 not be November 1977?

No.

All boats manufactured or imported since November 1, 1972 are required by federal statute to be identified with a 12 alpha-numeric character hull identification number (HIN).

The regulations prescribe the format of the HIN. The first three characters are a MIC (Manufacturer Identification Code) assigned by the Coast Guard to the manufacturer or the person importing the boat (for Hobie Cat USA it is "CCM"); characters four through eight are a serial number assigned by the manufacturer; the last four characters indicate the month and year the boat was built, and the model year. Prior to August 1, 1984, the manufacturer had the option of expressing this in the form of a model year designation.

For Hobies, it is surmised that the pylon numbers are sequential serial numbers of the boats manufactured prior to November 1, 1972. The numbering almost certainly did not start at 0001. Usually a manufacturer will start numbering at 0100 or 1000 for the first production units after prototypes.

I have recently bought a hobie of my own and am super excited about the fun times to come. However i was trying to figure out how old the boat was, but came across something interesting. The serial on the port hull is #bb2593 and the starbord hull is #2285. Does anyone know how to decifer these numbers and tell me the age of each hull if they are from different years?

Cheers.