Sail Number
- Thread starter Bill and Kathy McDonald
- Start date
In terms of identification, what is the metal plate for? Looks like I have to get the Hull number for my sail number?
New here! Glad to be here.
New here! Glad to be here.
Wow - resurrecting an olde thread!
Anyhow, sail numbers are much like race car numbers - a convenience in starting and timing a race. They're up to the owner as long as they are unique and the boat's not in some high-level competition. If you're going to be entering your boat in a serious (Olympics, Nationals, Volvo round-the-world, etc) you need a unique number and US Sailing is the administrator (https://www.ussailing.org/competition/offshore/services/#sail-numbers ). They'll register you with a sequential (5 digits now?) number and you can print USA ###### on everything you own, whether on sail, t-shirt, back tattoo, whatever. Some of the serious amateurs that I've talked to really like these as they look official.
For most of us, we're just beer-can racing, and even semi-serious amateur races do not really care that much what number you put down, as long as it's unique to their race. Most people put their hull numbers up there as it's sometimes meaningful and probably pretty unique in a field of thirty boats. There are very few rules about such formalities in amateur sports.
Anyhow, sail numbers are much like race car numbers - a convenience in starting and timing a race. They're up to the owner as long as they are unique and the boat's not in some high-level competition. If you're going to be entering your boat in a serious (Olympics, Nationals, Volvo round-the-world, etc) you need a unique number and US Sailing is the administrator (https://www.ussailing.org/competition/offshore/services/#sail-numbers ). They'll register you with a sequential (5 digits now?) number and you can print USA ###### on everything you own, whether on sail, t-shirt, back tattoo, whatever. Some of the serious amateurs that I've talked to really like these as they look official.
For most of us, we're just beer-can racing, and even semi-serious amateur races do not really care that much what number you put down, as long as it's unique to their race. Most people put their hull numbers up there as it's sometimes meaningful and probably pretty unique in a field of thirty boats. There are very few rules about such formalities in amateur sports.
Its on the starboard side of the transom. Yes it normally matches the sail number unless sails have been swapped with a different boat. The C22 national association has tons of fun info on Hull numbers and how to interpret them if your interested.
