If you’d like to know the size or age of a shell, the serial number is a good place to start. Pocock serial numbers are always located at the stern of the boat, on the starboard side. All Pocock serial numbers start with GPR. Occasionally, particularly with older boats, the serial numbers may not match up exactly with this formula. It’s easy to mistake some letters for numbers (or vice versa), and some of the boats don’t have every category. Pocock has also made a lot of custom boats through the years, so email us if you still have questions.
For example, look at the serial number: GPRLC4S4B9287
GPR: Pocock’s USCG code
L: this is a lightweight boat
C4: it’s a four, made with the C4 mold
C: it has a Hypercarbon construction
4B: it was the fourth C4 boat built in the “B” Month, February
92: it was built in 1992
87: the mold was built in 1987
| Digits | Category | Options |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Always GPR. This is US Coast Guard code. | |
| 4 | Composite Boat Options | W: Small |
| M: Large | ||
| B: Medium | ||
| L: Light foam | ||
| D: Deep | ||
| B: Bow Coxed | ||
| C: Coxless | ||
| X: Experimental | ||
| J: Sectional | ||
| Cedar Single Options: | S: Standard | |
| T: Teardrop | ||
| F: Flyweight | ||
| H: Heavyweight | ||
| 4, 5-6 | Mold (boat size & the year the mold was built.) | WV8: Small V8 - '98 |
| BV8: Medium V8 - '06 | ||
| MV8: Large 8 - '03 | ||
| E8: Small E8 - '89 | ||
| EB8: Large E8; Large V8 until 11/03 | ||
| E2: Large E8 '93 | ||
| C8: 8 - '87, '74 | ||
| M8: 8 - '87 | ||
| K5: Large K4 - '97, '09 | ||
| K45: Medium K4 - '05 | ||
| K4: Small K4 - '91, '01 | ||
| C4: Medium 4 - '87 | ||
| R4: Rough water 4 / Large C4 - '87, '85 | ||
| B2: Large K2 Pair/Double- '01 | ||
| J2: Medium K2 Pair/Double - '02 | ||
| K2: Small K2 Pair/Double - '93, '87 | ||
| K1: Large K1 Single - '97 | ||
| L1: Small K1 Single - '97, '88 | ||
| CS1: Cedar Single | ||
| K8: 8 - '85 | ||
| C2: Pair/double - '93, '76 | ||
| 7 | Core/Construction | C: Competition Line / Hypercarbon Line |
| S: Standard Line | ||
| Core, Pre 12/2000 | O: None | |
| F: Regular Foam (Standard Line Series) | ||
| H: Honeycomb | ||
| 1: Wood | ||
| L: Light Foam (Competition Series) | ||
| S: Syntactic Foam | ||
| C: Coremat | ||
| P: Polyimide Foam | ||
| 8 | Number of that model boat made in that month. ex: a "3" designates the third boat made in that mold in that month. | |
| 9 | The month, as a letter. ex: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, etc. | |
| 10-11 | The year the boat was built. Before the year 2000, this is one digit and the leading year digit matches the mold date. ex: mold is '91, and digit 10 is 7, then the year of the boat is '97. After 2000, the year is always 2 digits. (our own little Y2K bug.) | |
| 12-13 | The Model Year - the year the mold was built. (See list from digits 5 - 6 above.) | |