Old 470; building year?

[mcs]

I have an old school 470. I would like to find out the building year.

Can anyone help me?

The only information I have is the boat plate (attached). No sailing number available.

Thanks.

 

[LaLi]

Early 1980s, 1982 or '83 maybe. Sorry that I can't date it more accurately but I simply don't have enough comparable data at hand.
If you posted pictures of your boat's equipment, sheeting and control systems etc. I could try to figure out some more.

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[John Filipe]

I'm in Liverpool and I have a 470 Parker #950 sail K-628. Anyone could give me a clue of the buiding date?

Many thanks
John

 

[LaLi]

Parker #950 sail K-628

I'm guessing early 1980s for this one, too. If you want to know more, please post pictures of 1) the IYRU plaque, 2) the transom, and 3) the aft half of the centreboard case. Parker changed the design of those areas several times between 1978 and '86, so seeing them should help pinpoint the building date within a few years.

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[John Filipe]

Thank you very much for your informations.
Sail number is K 628, (being K substituted in new boats for GB)
The boat was abandoned for 6 years. I've been restoring it for better days.

 

[LaLi]

Alright! Squareish tiller port + the "bump" on top of the centreboard case = 1979 to '82.

The sail number doesn't help much, as I don't remember those for the GBR boats right now I think some top team used K 653 in the mid-80s, so if that's true, then it points more toward '82 for your boat.

I'll check my archives when I get to them again, in a few days, hopefully...

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[LaLi]

Took a look at the international class association website, and was happy to see that they had updated the championship results archive quite a bit! As the top sailors usually (especially back in the day) sailed with the newest boats, it was easy to do some sail number chronology...

British numbers higher than K 604 don't turn up before 1986, at which time Parker had changed their moulds twice since building your boat. (K 653 turned out to be the boat with which Nigel Buckley and Pete Newlands won the '88 Worlds.)

Conclusion: your boat is not K 628. That number comes from a boat that is more than four years newer. A Parker that I know has the "flat" centreboard case top sailed already in the 1982 Europeans, so your boat is very likely not newer than an '81.

If you want to find out your real number, you have to turn to the RYA, who should keep track of the nationally-numbered classes. (If not, they should at least know who knows.)

Do you have the IYRU plaque (which is not the builder's plaque - see post #1) on your boat? If you do, what's the "serial number"?

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[John Filipe]

Thank you very much for your useful information.
I bought the boat this May and it came with that sail K628. As you say it looks it is from a newer boat. The only plaque I have is the Parker with number 950.

Thank you again.

 

[LaLi]

Ok. Did you get a measurement certificate with the boat? If not, that means that your boat isn't class legal (as its identity can't be ascertained), but I assume you didn't buy it for racing anyway.

By the way, your forestay is much too short! When the jib is up, it should be slack and the jib luff wire tight (opposite to that in the picture ). You can for the time being lengthen it with a piece of thin Dyneema or prestretched rope. Check out this: Unjury-rigging a jury-rigged 470

Also, the trapeze wires are too long - the handles should be at or just above boom level.

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