Canoe Cove Association

To Promote the Ownership and Enjoyment of Boats Manufactured
by Canoe Cove Manufacturing

Hull Number (HIN) - Where to find it and How to Read it.

Many owners don’t know where to look for it or how to understand the numbering system on CCM boats. This article may help. However, if you own a CCM boat built before 1973 it doesn’t have any numbers stamped into or on the hull so no need to look.

For everyone else, the number is located on the transom either inside or outside, depending on the model and style of the hull. If your boat is fitted with transom clamshell vents the number is under the starboard one. It will always start with the letters ZVE.* (see note below) The number incorporates the length, hull number, and date of manufacture and is read as follows:

Using a number representative of a 42-foot boat as an example, it would read something like; ZVE42030M88D. Now, what does it mean? ZVE is the code for Canoe Cove Manufacturing. 42 is the length of the boat. The next three numbers, 030 in this example is the actual hull number, for the hulls built in this class, in this case number 030, or 30. The M stands for Manufacturing Date and the 88 is the year – 1988 in this case. The D would be the month. From about 1986 on this was a calendar year. In other words January was A, February B, and so on. So in this example our boat would have April, or D, as the month the lamination of the hull was started. This is important – it is the month the lamination of the hull was started not the date the boat was actually delivered. Prior to 1986 the hull numbering started in the month of October, so October was A, November B, etc.

It is important to understand that the numbering was for the type of hull. In other words, there could be a 41 foot, a 42 foot, a 47 foot and a 53 foot all with the same hull number, like the 030 number in the example, but the other numbers would be different like the length, and date of manufacture.

Note - * Occasionally, if you are dealing with a boat built prior to 1976, these boats were actually built by Canoe Cove Marina Ltd. Their HIN was CVE so the hull number will start with that. These are rare now as hull numbers were assigned to the manufacturers by Transport Canada in 1972 and were not used right away. In 1974 CCM began to use them but the numbers were on a plate riveted to the transom under the starboard clamshell vent. Beginning in 1976 Canoe Cove Manufacturing Ltd. who had split off from the Marina were building the boats and their HIN was, and is, ZVE and the number was embossed into the transom, also under the starboard clamshell vent.