Year of Laser and builder found from info in Serial number

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Archetype

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Hello Everyone,

I am new and in the process of looking for a Laser. I found one that is local to me. However, it is a boat that was used only in a lake from the time it was new. So........no title. I have the serial number and wondered if anyone could determine the year of the boat approximately from that. The number is PSL 095250 873.

If there is another way to determine the year I would love to know. This boat appears to be pretty old. I am guessing late 70's. It has an orange hull if that means anything.

Thanks for any help......
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

The sail number is 95250

The boat was built in 1978. Look again at your boat. The last digit of your serial number is an "8" not a "3."
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

Thanks a lot guys for the help. The Laser I was looking at was not in very good condition and sitting in the water. So, it was difficult to read the number.

That is a huge help as boats of this age are much easier to get titles for provided there is no bad history.

Thanks....
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

I'm a little confused. I put his sail number 95250 into the year-calculator that the link above gave. It said it would be a 1982...

The serial number on the back of my boat is PSL455920377. I put the number "45592" into the calculator thing and it said 1978. I read somewhere that the "0377" means it was built in March 1977. Can anyone clear this up for me??

Thanks,

Chris
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

I blew it!!

The serial number that started this thread is for a 9000 series boat and it was built in 1973

also. I found a 67000 boat built in 1978, a 80000 series boat built in 1979, and a 100000 series boat built in 1982.
My guess is the on line calculator has a few flaws but generally gives the correct year within a couple.

Sorry for the screw up.
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

gouvernail said:
I blew it!!

The serial number that started this thread is for a 9000 series boat and it was built in 1973

also. I found a 67000 boat built in 1978, a 80000 series boat built in 1979, and a 100000 series boat built in 1982.
My guess is the on line calculator has a few flaws but generally gives the correct year within a couple.

Sorry for the screw up.

No, the online-calculator is not wrong.

This calculator is only for boat-numbers of Lasers built by Performance Sailcraft Europe ("PSE") in Falmouth/Cornwall/UK.
Do not try to get the age of boat when it is built on other continents, in this case the calculator failures.
On hulls of that boats only the "sail"-number is printed into the gelcoat somewhere (under the boweye or at the gudgeons, or the sticker at the aft wall of the cockpit if there is already one of that stickers).

Also, this calculator is for boat numbers that are older than ~ year 2000, I guess. Higher numbers f.e. 181700-> 2004 do not work on this calculator.

But every Laser has its own unique (sail-)number all over the world - only the code which is made from the original-"out_of _the_box"-boatbuilder is different.

drLaser has had very good descriptions how to find the age of your boat , but this is another story. *
Hope this helps a bit in getting a result of your riddles ;)
Ciao
LooserLu
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

I'm new to the group and also trying to determine the age of my Laser. I bought it in ~1983 used and have spent a lot of time this summer reading/repairing/updating trying to make her competitive. The description referenced in the link from Bradley was helpful but I'm still confused - it says "The next five characters [after the 3 letter builder code] are the sail number... If the first character is a letter than the sail number is over 100,000. A=10, B=11, C=12, etc. followed by the next four numbers. The last four characters denote the month and year the boat was built." So here's my confusion - my serial number is ZFS98079M81E - so I know the builder (Perf. Sailcraft, Montreal) and the sail number (98079), but what does the 'M81E' tell me about the age (1981?). Thanks for any insights.
Jeff

LooserLu said:
No, the online-calculator is not wrong.

This calculator is only for boat-numbers of Lasers built by Performance Sailcraft Europe ("PSE") in Falmouth/Cornwall/UK.
Do not try to get the age of boat when it is built on other continents, in this case the calculator failures.
On hulls of that boats only the "sail"-number is printed into the gelcoat somewhere (under the boweye or at the gudgeons, or the sticker at the aft wall of the cockpit if there is already one of that stickers).

Also, this calculator is for boat numbers that are older than ~ year 2000, I guess. Higher numbers f.e. 181700-> 2004 do not work on this calculator.

But every Laser has its own unique (sail-)number all over the world - only the code which is made from the original-"out_of _the_box"-boatbuilder is different.

drLaser has had very good descriptions how to find the age of your boat , but this is another story. So, I advise to Bradleys hint.
Hope this helps a bit in getting a result of your riddles ;)
Ciao
LooserLu
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

H'portLaserer said:
my serial number is ZFS98079M81E - so I know the builder (Perf. Sailcraft, Montreal) and the sail number (98079), but what does the 'M81E' tell me about the age (1981?). Thanks for any insights.[/font]
Jeff

Different manufacturers used those last digits for different purposes. "81" could be the model year or the year in which it was actually built ("81's" might have been built in 80 or 81); the letters could be codes for the month of the year in which it was built, there might also be a code for which mold or on which production line it was built.
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

The Boating Industry Association (BIA) agreed in to begin the 1978 model year in August 1977. As of that time the standard Hull Identification Number (HIN) would be used.
The first three letters were to be a manufacturer's code.
The middle characters were to describe the model and a unique number for that model ( most companies chose how many had been built before it plus one)
The last four letters were to be:
M...a letter to be in all HIN which was reserved for later use by the BIA
the last two digits of the year of manufacture.
The month in which the boat was built. Unless the company announced its intention to do otherwise, it was to be assumed that A stood for August, B for September and so forth until July would be L

I do not know whether the standard HIN has changed. I do not know when any laser builder has begun its model year.

I do know that a Laser with an original unchanged serial number with 81 near the end was not built before 1980 or after 1981.

By the way, as of 1978 BIA members also agreed to have swamped outboard power boats float upright and level and use a standard wiring color code. Examples? pink wires to power the gas tank guage and blue wires to the interior lights
 
Re: Need Some Help on determining year of a Laser

Great information, thanks for your help. Given the knowledge of the group, let me ask another question I've had trouble finding an answer for. My Laser is only 5 digits (98079) and all the numbering instructions I can find only discuss 6 digit sails (first 2 digits red and last 4 blue/black). Can anyone tell me whether to make the first 1 or 2 digits red on my old 5 digit boat? thanks
 
Who built my boat

Hello, I am trying to find a list of Laser Builder's over the years. Can someone provide that for me? I have a couple different boats and the history of the builders is of great interest to me.
 
Re: Who built my boat

This information is all found in the SN info below. I got this from some previous posts I believe the original author is Allan Broadribb

"THE SERIAL NUMBER:

Check the transom of the boat for the serial number, it'll look something like this! PFS 800000779

The first three characters denote the builder as follows. This is from memory but it's fairly accurate:

PFS - Performance Sailcraft in Montreal. Boats built from about 1971-82

ZFS - Performance Sailcraft in Montreal after they went bankrupt and refinanced. Boats built from about 1982-85.

ZID - Performance Sailcraft in Hawkesbury, Ontario, after they went bankrupt and refinanced again. Boats built from about 1985-89.

PSB - Pearson Small Boats, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, after another bankruptcy by Performance Sailcraft. Boats built from about 1989-91.

SLI - Sunfish Laser Inc., Portsmouth, Rhode Island, after Pearson Yachts and Pearson Small Boats declared bankruptcy. Boats built from about June 1991 - March 1997.

OQT - Vanguard Sailboats Inc., Portsmouth, Rhode Island took over building Lasers and Sunfish from Sunfish Laser.

The next five characters are the sail number, in this case 80000, which was my first Laser. If the first character is a letter than the sail number is over 100,000. A=10, B=11, C=12, etc. followed by the next four numbers.

The last four characters denote the month and year the boat was built.

So now you know how to tell who built the boat, the real sail number and when it was built."
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