It is a question that comes up again and again, often from someone who has found an old hull that had been sitting neglected for some years and wants to give it new life. Or maybe you are planning to buy a used boat and you know the sail number and want some idea how old the boat is.
What year was this built?
If you know the hull/sail number for the boat, you can likely find out the answer by reviewing the following table. (Please note that for several reasons, this table is not definitive or guaranteed to be accurate, but may serve as a reasonable guide for the approximate age of an ILCA dinghy.)
YEAR Sail Numbers
1977 35265 – 42273
1978 42274 – 56277
1979 56278 – 72998
1980 72999 – 86490
1981 86491 – 93254
1982 93255 – 104928
1983 104929 – 112845
1984 112846 – 118022
1985 118023 – 123688
1986 123689 – 128595
1987 128596 – 132231
1988 132232 – 136322
1989 136323 – 139659
1990 139660 – 142789
1991 142790 – 145705
1992 145706 – 148322
1993 148323 – 152360
1994 152361 – 155822
1995 155823 – 158264
1996 158265 – 161382
1997 161383 – 164398
1998 164399 – 166270
1999 166271 – 168874
2000 168875 – 171536
2001 171537 – 173950
2002 173951 – 176694
2003 176695 – 179554
2004 179555 – 182213
2005 182214 – 185370
2006 185371 – 188573
2007 188574 – 192439
2008 192440 – 194846
2009 194847 – 197063
2010 197064 – 200309
2011 200310 – 202431
2012 202432 – 204542
2013 204543 – 206662
2014 206663 – 208458
2015 208459 – 210618
2016 210619 – 212235
2017 212236 – 214962
2018 214963 – 216182
2019 216183 – 217579
2020 217580 – 218359
2021 218360 – 220548
2022 220549 – 222993
Being able to date an ILCA dinghy in this way supposes that you know the sail number corresponding to the boat. For many years, this number has been printed on a plaque placed on the aft end of the cockpit. Although the plaque design has changed over time, the function has remained the same: identifying each ILCA dinghy as an IYRU/ISAF/World Sailing recognized class-legal hull and specifying the sail number for that boat.
If there is no plaque to consult, the difficulty becomes a bit greater. A number of years ago, Shevy Gunter published some information about dating older ILCA dinghies on his website. Although that website is no longer active, it can be accessed through the internet archive. His FAQ page answers questions for quite a few different topics, but there are three in particular that relate to the question of identifying early ILCA dinghies (accessible through the drop-down menu of his FAQ page):
– How do I determine my sail number and boat year?
– How do I determine the age of a boat from the sail number?
– Who owns the oldest Laser afloat?