Pearson Serial Number Decoding

Pearson Serial Number Decoding

I have seen a lot of questions regarding the meaning of the coding in the Pearson serial numbers. I have made this page to try and answer some of them. I don't know if this applies to all Pearsons but I think it is correct for boats after about 1973.

Manufacturer
This is the name of the manufacturer of the boat. PEA is for Pearson.

Model Number
This is the manufacturer's model number designation. 46 is the number for the P26.

39 35 1968-82
46 26 1970-82
48 30 1970-80
51 36 1972-76
52 10M 1973-80
54 28 1976?
55 26 Weekender 1975-76
56 365 1976-82
57 28 1977-82?
58 323 1976-81
59 424 Ketch
60 26OD 1977-83?
61 31 1978-81
---------------------------------- 62 40 1979-81
65 32 1979-82
68 Flyer 1981-??
69 36 Cutter
70 37 1982-86
71 303 1983-86
72 424 Cutter
75 422 1984-87
78 36-2 1985-90
80 28-2 1986-89
90 31-2 1987-91
91 27 1988-91
92 37-2 1988-91
98 Triton 27 198?-?? *
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*Pearson built a line of boats called Triton Yachts by Pearson in the 1980's. Molds were from Bayliner and were previously marketed as US Yachts.

If the model number of your Pearson is not listed here please send it to me and I will add it. dan@pearsoninfo.net

Hull Number
This is the sequential number of the hull. This is a bit confusing because there are only three digits. For P26's after 1,000 the sequence starts over and you have to add 1,000 to the number given. P26 hull 1,000 was built in 1975.

Model Year
This is the model year of the boat. It is not necessarily the production year. The model year runs from August of the previous year to July of the year given. I don't know what the M is for.

Build Month
This is the month of the model year the boat was built. It starts with A for August and runs to L for July alphabetically.

A August       E December    I April
B September    F January     J May
C October      G February    K June
D November     H March       L July

Some P26s have been reported to use the number for the build month and the actual build year instead of the model year. December of 1973 (1974 model year) is shown as 1273.

All this means the boat with SN PEA46205M76A is a Pearson 26 (model # 46), hull number 1205 (205 + 1000) made in August of 1975 (the start of the 1976 model year). I guess this also means that if P26 #205 was built in August of 1970 (a guess) it would have the SN PEA46205M71A or something close to that. Almost the same except for the model year.

-DHP

More info on ID numbers from Boatsafe.com
More HIN info from Sassafras Yacht Sales