Interpretation of Federal HIN

[bigfish]

I recently purchased a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat. I can't seem to pin down the exact model using the serial number.

Fig. 1. A view of the boat under discussion. The image appears to have been made with an extremely short focal length lens, causing a distortion of the boat hull.

hull-1a.jpg (8.02 KiB) Viewed 2367 times

Fig. 2. Close up of the metal tag number.

hin-a.jpg (1.54 KiB) Viewed 2367 times

The HIN is BWC 2837 BM 801. [What can be deduced from the HIN number]? I have already [read] the FAQ for model numbers and nothing matches up to this one. Thanks.

BACKSTORY: The boat was bought from a government auction and previously used as a USGS boat.

[Phil T]

The hull identification number (HIN) that is shown in the photo does not indicate the model name, rather the serial number and date of manufacture.

The model name was determined by the hull legnth and the interior components.

Given the distorted photograph and missing interior, I would guess it was a 15 Sport.

With a modified or missing interior the model is labeled CUSTOM. If a 15' hull, then it is a 15 Custom.

[jimh]

The HIN is BWC 2837 BM 801.

I read the tag from the image at Figure 2 as follows:

BWC = the manufacturer ID Code or MIC for Boston Whaler, applied with ink, faded, and hard to read
2837 = a partial five-character production sequence number, clearly embossed
B = trailing character and part of the production sequence number (2837B), applied with ink, faded, and hard to read
M = model year format, which could be used prior to 1984, applied with ink, faded, and hard to read
80 = two digit year of production for 1980 clearly embossed
I (letter "i") = trailing character indicating month of production; I = April; clearly embossed but easily confused with the digit "1"

Please note that my reading is the same as that given by the OP, except that the last character is interpreted as a letter instead of a numeral. [The characters BWC, B, and M are difficult to read, particularly from the photo-image, because they were applied with ink and have faded. I have relied on the OP's interpretation of these characters.]

Generally for a 15-foot hull the HIN production sequence numbers were in the range as shown on the chart mentioned in the FAQ. For a 15-foot hull the range is 1000A to 2999Z. The number assumed to be the production sequence as 2837B fits into this range.

As Phil mentions and as the FAQ explains, the particular model is not designated in the HIN, but, as I have demonstrated above, by comparing the HIN production sequence number with the chart of HIN production sequence numbers I have provided in the FAQ, you can make a reasonable inference about the hull length.

All of the inferences I have made are DIRECTLY from the explanation of the HIN number formats in the FAQ. There is nothing unstated in the FAQ that was involved in making this interpretation. One must read the FAQ carefully to become familiar with the possible formats in use.

From the distorted image in Figure 1, a reasonable inference is the boat is a 15-footer. This also correlates with the interpretation I give above for the HIN.

I recently purchased a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat

This first-hand observation removes all mystery: the boat is a 15-footer. This again correlates with the interpretation of the federal HIN metal tag.

A further correlation is that use of the model year format was suspended after 1984, as was the use of a metal tag attached by rivets. This further correlates well with the boat being made prior to 1984, as we have deduced from the 1980 model year format.

The month of production is clearly indicated as April, again according to the model year format for federal HIN numbers prior to 1984.

Thus the total interpretation based solely on the HIN is as follows: the boat is a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat made in April of 1984 and sold as a model year 1980 boat.

I can't seem to pin down the exact model using the serial number.

There is no particular model variation encoded in the HIN. This explains why you have not been able to deduce a particular model from the HIN number.

METHOD OF PREPARATION OF HIN TAGS
Boston Whaler used a method of preparing metal HIN tags that pre-printed the tag in ink with certain elements of the HIN. Usually the BWC prefix was done in ink, as would be a character that would be part of the production sequence that would not change rapidly, such a a prefix or suffix character. Also the M for the model year format would be pre-printed in ink.

ASIDE: From the highly distorted aspect ratio of the image at Figure 1, I infer the original image was probably take with an ultra-short focal length lens. This causes the boat's length-width ratio be appear distorted. It also causes a massive amount of extraneous foreground and background to be captured and included in the frame of the image. We are only interested in the boat, not in the yard, buildings, trees, utility poles, overhead wires, and sky that were included in the image and made up about 90-percent of the image. Those have all been cropped from the original image, and only the boat is now shown in Figure 1 as it appeared in the original image.

[bigfish]

Thanks for the reply.

[Moderator's note: at this point the OP changed the topic of this discussion and began to discuss the discussion itself, the forum in general, and how the forum compared to other forums; a superlative comparison was made between the reply he received and all other replies ever made on all other web forums. The OP is apparently unaware that the forum discusses boating topics, and does not discuss itself, does not discuss how this forum compares to others, and does not discuss participants or how their posts compare to other participants on other websites and their posts on other forums. This can be attributed, perhaps, to the OP's unfamiliarity with the forum and how it is conducted; the off-topic remarks have been deleted. In the event the OP has no conception of the purpose of the website, the entire purpose of the website and the forum is to collect useful information on the particular boating related topics that are the focus of the website, and there is no interest in collecting opinions about the website, its moderation, its participants, or its general style and how that compares to other websites, and particularly no interest from persons whose prior participation in the website is limited to and based on one post--jimh]

The FAQ section did not have a format that fit my exact tag, so, I went to the forum for an answer--my bad. None of the examples provided led me to believe that 2837B was the 5 digit second sequence of the HIN; especially considering they were marked in completely different font and method. I have never seen this method in any of the other boats I have dealt with; although, they were not a BW.

I apologize for posting inferior pics to the post, but, I clearly stated it was a 15, which I determined the ole-fashioned way, a tape measure (15'3"). I hope I can one day achieve the superiority of reading between the lines of someone's detailed method of determining every make and model of a BW by knowing when it is a "could" be versus a "shall" be. Until then I will just look at all of the expert photos on the website for my ideals. Like I said, thanks for the information, but it would have been much easier to just say, "hey, the B is part of the 5 digit sequence, although it is completely different than the 2837 and spaced apart." That probably would have been giving me too much credit for being able to go back and follow the FAQ once I knew that. The statement below was exactly what threw me off in the beginning, where is the "BM" in the pre-printed ink tags listed? Not in the list provided. It still seems like a contradiction to the HIN method by the "B" being printed in ink, but, it doesn't really matter.

METHOD OF PREPARATION OF HIN TAGS
Boston Whaler used a method of preparing metal HIN tags what pre-printed the tag in ink with certain elements of the HIN. Usually the BWC prefix was done in in, as would be a character that would be part of the production sequence that would not change rapidly, such a a prefix or suffix character. Also the M for the model year format would be pre-printed in ink

I appreciate the direct response Phil T. The original photo wasn't distorted, but, in order to zero in on the boat, I believe Jim cropped it.

[jimh]

The FAQ section did not have a format that fit my exact tag...

Actually, the FAQ does explain in detail a format that fits the HIN under discussion: the Model Year Format, as I mentioned earlier, and which was used to decode the HIN.

...so, I went to the forum for an answer--my bad

There has been no judgement made by any participant about any sort of breech of conduct or inappropriate behavior in asking a question on a topic that is included in the FAQ. The notion that asking for the information solicited in this thread was "bad" is entirely an invention of the OP.

The original photo wasn't distorted, but, in order to zero in on the boat, I believe Jim cropped it.

Actually, I explicitly mentioned that the image had been cropped. The distortion in the image was due to the ultra-short focal length lens. PHIL T was first to mention the distortion in the image. My comment was in regard to the cause of the distortion in the image. Apparently commenting that the image was distorted is now deemed an acceptable comment that solicits thanks, but commenting on why the image was distorted is not acceptable and solicits a rebuke. I deeply regret my comment about the cause of the distortion. Apparently, I should have just agreed with PHIL T that the image was distorted and left it at that.

My comments on photo composition were in an aside, and the advice I offered is quite useful advice regarding use of photographic images as illustrations for a technical discussion. The image of the HIN was also cropped, as the original image was a great deal larger and the HIN was only a limited portion of the original image.

The statement below was exactly what threw me off in the beginning, where is the "BM" in the pre-printed ink tags listed?

The FAQ explains the use of pre-printed elements in the metal HIN tags. Please see the section of the FAQ under the heading "Missing Letters or Numbers on Metal Tag."

The interpretation of the HIN characters can be quite confusing, and many posts to the forum solicit assistance in interpretation. The reason the advice on interpretation of the HIN was prepared and made part of the FAQ was because questions about the HIN were frequently asked. In many replies to questions about HIN interpretation I have used the same approach of explanation in which each character or group of characters is explained individually, in a style generally known as expository writing.

The process of interpretation of the HIN data into information specific to a particular boat is a process of deductive reasoning. The information in the FAQ describes the general rules used to create HIN numbers. Deductive reasoning works from the general to the specific. Whether a particular person will be skilled in working from the general rules of the HIN number to deduction of specific information contained in a HIN number is hard to predict, and I am sure there will be some variation among individuals in their skill at this process. Although the OP has now alleged twice that the FAQ is defective and omits important data necessary for proper interpretation, I disagree.

[biggiefl]

Boston Whaler only made two models of the 15-footer in 1980. They made the SPORT and the STRIPER. It does not appear that this boat had a console nor the pedestal seats that were in a STRIPER model.

[jimh]

...I clearly stated [the boat which was being discussed] was a 15...

You inquired about what information could be determined from the federal HIN number. I demonstrated that the a reasonable inference about the length of the boat could be deduced from the federal HIN number. That you already knew the length of the boat is not a basis for me to exclude that information in response to your inquiry about what information could be obtained from the federal HIN number.

That you think you bought a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat and the federal HIN decodes to the boat being a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat is a useful correlation; it verifies that the HIN and your assessment of the boat are matching. This is a good outcome. There are often inquiries about interpretation of a HIN which result in a significant discrepancy between what the boat was alleged to be at time of purchase and what the HIN indicates the boat to be.