TOPIC:

After months of sanding I have finally started varnishing my Albacore, which I thought was number 1546, then to my surprise the number 1612 appeared out of the varnish. The number 1546 is just in front of the transom and could be IS46, which I am assuming is a builders reference.
Number 1612 is behind the centre board casing and although not very clear is more of a stamped official looking number than the other one.

Back in 1964 No 1612 was measured and was called Two Jacks. When I bought the boat off Ebay she was called Starfire, if anybody has any information about her history I would be very interested.
Hopefully the varnishing will be finished in time for the Northerns in October, and I will be able to follow the fleet round with my old baggy sails, gold spars and very very basic controls

Hi There
The boat is likely to be 1612, which according to the boat register was called Too Jax

1612 TOO JAX FAIREY MARINE/WEATHER MARK DINGHIES 01/06/1964 16/06/1964

Obviously first measured and certified in 1964

Hope this helps

Jean
Hon Sec

When we purchased our Alb we had a lot of correspondence between us, Jean, and Peter Duncan about its correct number.
We had a sail with the number 784 on it, and we had also found the manufacturers registration number 958 stamped on the hog just aft of the centreboard case.
Peter subsequenly wrote this:

"Most early Fairey Marine boats had a "mfg. serial number" stamped in the inside of the transom or in the hog aft of the centreboard case.� The digits were about 3/4" tall and mechanically embossed.� I have these numbers for boats that came to North America.� I don't have a comprehensive list for those in UK.� This number could provide some indication as to what the sail number might be.� Offsets between serial # and sail # is often about 200, but there are plenty of exceptions.� Once the Mark 2 hulls started I think the serial numbers were restarted, but not at zero, so these are harder to use to guess at sail numbers"

After much discussion we decided to adopt the number on the sail, and the name of "Dorai" that had been registered with that sail number in 1968
Here is a picture of our hog numbers: Hope it comes out.

Perhaps this may be of some help.
Derek and marilyn

Sorry picturee too large.
Trying again with reduced size:

The three numbers are jsut forward of the S/S clip.

Thanks for the information, the numbers in the picture are in the same position and style as my 1612 number, I also have 1546 in larger numbers which are carved or burned in by hand just infront of the transom. I am confused again now, I thought the numbers behind the centre board woud be the sail number. I am due to turn the boat back over today, after varnishing the hull so will have another look

Cheers
Ian

It does seem to me that the official type numbers stamped into the hog would have most likely been the manufacturer's factory number, and would possibly have been stamped whilst the hog could be put on a workbench prior to being placed on the mould, whilst the sail number would have been issued months (perhaps years even) later, and the original owner would then have put the sail number somewhere on the boat in a less formal format. To me that seems to be what you have described.
Jean, I do hope I am not offending you with this contradiction, but my theory does seem to accord with what Peter Duncan suggested, and that is what we finally went for with Dorai.
Fair winds to all.
Derek

Thanks again for the information, it looks like my I was right with the first number of 1546


The number 1612 looks to be stamped and I will assume that it is the builders number


Both the main sails that came with the boat have completely different (and lower) numbers but hey ho

Cheers
Ian

oops

Many thanks to John - our new Forum is really working well, and looks great.
Ian - your pictures seem to confirm my theory - our boat came with two sets of sails too - both with different numbers, but after all the discussions, we rejected the higher number as being improbable, and adopted the lower number which was on the sail that the previous owner of about nine years had used.
There has always been a fair amount of sail recycling throughout the class due to the high quality of Albacore sails, and the great range of sailing ability/aspirations, and sailing activities; competition, club racing and cruising etc.,
That's why Albs. are such wonderful boats.
Good luck with your restoration work, and I hope you will have great enjoyment sailing her in due course.
Derek and Marilyn