Missing capacity plate

[River Rat Del]

How do I obtain a replacement capacity plate? My boat is a 14' aluminum V-Hull. The HIN is "BAM05488M76A-ST". Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Mikeyboy]

Re: Missing capacity plate

I am fairly new to boating so this may be way off but it is my understanding that older boats weren't required to have capacity plates so that may be why you don't have one. You should be able to obtain one by getting in touch with the manufacture of the boat though.

 

[River Rat Del]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Thanks. I'm not exactly sure about the age and manufacturer. I think it's a 1976 Browning. Im in NJ. I'm pretty sure anything under 20' is required to have a capacity plate. If this boat doesn't require one because of it's age, I'll be a happy man :0)

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Many aluminum boats had capacity plates that were glued inside the transom and many fall off or are not re-glued following a transom repair.

There are USCG formulas for estimating the proper capacity or I would suggest you look at similar boats that are the same dimension sold new. ie length and beam.......

Some are rated at 15 hp and some are rated as high as 25 hp (those are tiller numbers).

Welcome to iboats

 

[lakelover]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Im in NJ. I'm pretty sure anything under 20' is required to have a capacity plate. If this boat doesn't require one because of it's age, I'll be a happy man :0)

In NY, the DMV handles this sort of thing, whatever department in NJ that handles boat registrations should be able to tell you if you need one or not.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Welcome to iboats!

Your boat is indeed a '76, and the manufacturer was required to affix a capacity plate to it. However, you, as the owner, are not required to have one.

However, in order to be safe on the water, you do need to know what those capacities are. Once you obtain this info you can make up your own label with the following format (click on image for larger size):

 

[River Rat Del]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Thank you everybody for the helpful responses. I am glad to have found this forum. It seems to be a great group and a valuable resource for sharing information and knowledge.

 

[TorchedGT]

Re: Missing capacity plate

I was curious about this too, as I just picked up a 1990 24' Donzi which is also missing the plate. I could do the whole "formula" thing for my own knowledge, but since the boat has been restored it would be nice to have all documentation on board. It does have the oil discharge plate in the engine compartment though (I thought that was a requirement for 26' + vessels however?)

I could CNC one out of aluminum at my shop, but programming it's a PITA - can you buy the stickers on ebay or something?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Missing capacity plate

I ordered a custom engraved brass plaque from OfficeMax and it works well as a capacity plate. It was raw brass, so I clear coated it with a couple coats of lacquer.

 

[Ike-110722]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Having spent 20 some years working in the USCG Office of Boating Safety enforcing the laws for capacity labels, let me inject some accurate information here. First NYBo is right. Your boat is a 1976 Browning by Thunderbird Products
The following is from the USCG Manufacturers Data Base http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic1.aspx

MIC: BAM Status: Out of Business
Company: THUNDERBIRD PRODUCTS Company Official: SAM BLYTHE
Parent Company: PORTER CO Parent MIC:
Address: 2000 W MONROE ST City: DECATUR
State: IN Zip: 467335003
Country: Phone: 2197249111
Fax: 2197241166 In Business: Monday, November 04, 1974
Out of Business: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 Date Modified: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Type: Outboards, Open Motorboats, Jon Boats
Inboard/Outboard, Sterndrive, Inboard/Outdrive

Additional Address: ALSO: (800)736-7685. sblythe@thunderbirdformula.com
Comments: FOR MORE INFO ON BROWNING AERCROAFT MARINE SEE BRW: 1-800-348-0869 ; SEE (TNR) ALSO. 04/19/2001 UPDATE PER RNI OOB PER PPG 1/17/2006

NYBo is right that you can make the label yourself, and you should. His statement that you aren't required to do so depends on the state you live in. Yes, the Federal Regulation applies only to boat manufacturers. However, in the last 5 or 6 years states have been passing laws making it illegal to exceed the capacities on the labels and requiring you the boat owner to replace missing labels. How they can enforce this I don't know, but I have talked with several people who have been cited by state authorities, with state LEOs, and with my former boss at USCG HQ, and it appears they have the authority to do this. So it would be good to replace it. You can ask the New York State Boating Law Administrator http://nasbla.org/i4a/member_directory/feSearchForm.cfm?directory_id=3&pageid=3335&showTitle=1

How to find the capacities? Horsepower is the easy one. Look here http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/hp.html It's a simple formula based on the size and type of boat.
Maximum Weight Capacity and Persons Capacity is a little harder. Some times you can find these in old brochures or used boat price guides. I looked on Fiberglassics for thunderbird http://www.fiberglassics.com/library/Thunderbird but they do not have any 1970's brochures.
The other way is to figure it your self look here http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/load.html and here http://newboatbuilders.com/docs/backyardboatbuilders.pdf

As for making a label, you can make one in MS Word and put it on the boat yourself http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/fl12-2.html All you need is a computer, a printer, some laminating plastic (from an office supply) and some clear epoxy resin.

fishrdan, your boat was not required to have a capacity label. The Federal law applies to boats under 20 feet. However they may have put one on voluntarily under ABYC standards which do go to 26 feet, but it's optional. Call DONZI and ask. They will tell you if your boat had one. The USCG only requires a certification label, and a blower warning label, as well as the Pollution Placard

River Rat if you have questions PM or e-mail me.

 

[TorchedGT]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Great info there Peter, thanks!

Now that you mention it, I might be missing other labels as well - were the others you mentioned only manufacturing labels required at the time of production?

http://garzonstudio.com/boat/capacity-decal.html - these guys make some very professional looking capacity stickers. I'd probably have a custom one made with the DONZI Marine logo text on there too.

If I run the math and get 13.6 persons, I'm assuming you'd always have to round down unless I planned on bringing .6 of a person on board safely? What's the weight they classify as a person again?

I'll call Donzi but I need to find someone who doesn't mind dusting off some old records for me!

 

[Ike-110722]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Sorry TorchedGT, I got the wrong user name. No you don't have to round down. But if you want to be on the safer side then you should. The US Coast Guard and ABYC do not use a set persons weight for the number of people. They use a formula that is derived from the amount of weight it takes to sink the boat called the displacement weight. For your I/O divide that by 7 and you have maximum weight capacity. Then it's maximum weight capacity plus 32 divided by 141. But since it's not required by law you could roughly estimate it at 165 lbs per person. Frankly it would be easier to call DONZI because they have already done the math, or if you have the owners manual it is probably buried in there somewhere.

 

[River Rat Del]

Re: Missing capacity plate

Thanks for the great info, Peter. I appreciate your help.