Hull Identification Numbers

[Raya]

Greg,
That's good information and should help nail down the first 9 boats.
Phil Carr's boat Solitaire, recently advertised, was number 4. Maybe Phil or Neilmac could confirm if it originally had the outboard well.

[Raya]

Peter,

Could you have a look in Tricksy's port cockpit locker and see if there is any evidence of an outboard well.

[PeterY]

Definitely no well. Hull is untouched gelcoat in that entire area and locker floor original.

[Raya]

Thanks Peter.
So number 4 didn't have a well but number 9 did. Maybe the wells were put in after the boats were made as an optional extra. Any other theories?

[PeterY]

I'm only assuming Tricksy is #4 as that is what is on the mainsail. Then again she does have a single hinge on the forward hatch which I believe indicates an early boat.

If she is in fact #4, roughly what year was she made?

[Raya]

Peter,

The main sheet number is about the only way to tell the boat number in most cases. Some sails carry a number given for racing which can be misleading but if your sail has the Investigator logo it is most likely the real deal.

From what I have been able to glean, the first ten Investigators were manufactured in 1975.

[Greg]

1975 seems right for manufacturing, my rego shows 1976 which makes sense.

[PeterY]

So that means Tricksy is about 42 which is the "meaning of life" number. Quite appropriate!

[atles]

Hi guys

my tag in QLD is

Water ways
AU-WWA062793 F58 original main sail has sail number 133 on it with the investigator sign

regards atlas

Thanks Atlas.
Unfortunately that blows my theory about WA standing for West Australia in the HIN. Out of interest, I went to a nearby boat yard and checked out the HIN plate on the second hand boats. The prefix AU-WWA was fairly common. I'd say too common for all the boats to be from West Australia or even from the same manufacturer. Your HIN also proves that the boat number is not part of the serial number. It's looking like the HIN isn't much use for identifying Investigators.

sorry to blow out your theory Raya i was thinking it may help