Finding out the year of board

GuyT · Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 182

Got an email from a guy that wanted my opinion on a Tabou 3S 86 that was suppose to be a 2012, according to the ad. From the graphics, I knew it was not a 2012 (I have one), but a 2010.

Talking to people who bought used boards, I found out that a few people weren't really sure about the age of that "killer deal" board. And some sellers confuse the year of the board with the year they got it. Wink

I am sure most of you know that, but there is a way to find out the year of a board, it's included in the serial number.

All the boards build at the Cobra factory in Thailand (Fanatic, Tabou, Naish, Starboard, F2...) follow the same pattern: the first 2 letters identify the maker and the two next digits give the year.

For example, the serial number of my Fanatic Freewave 2012 starts with "FA12...".

RRD and Angulo boards have a slightly different pattern, they insert the board model between the company identifier and the year. For example a RRD Freewave 80 2011 has a serial number starting with "RDFW8011". I think Angulo uses 4 letters to identify the company.

JP boards have a completely different pattern. I am not really sure, but I think the year follows the first 4 digits. A 2007 board would have a serial number like "92347..."

And if you can't see the serial number because it has been erased, it's probably a stolen board. Wink

Cheers!

DelCarpenter · Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 499 Location: Cedar Falls, IA

A missing serial number on a board with an EVA deck might just be due to ordinary wear. I have a 2001 Starboard Start, 2006 Kona One, and a 2012 Kona One which all had serial numbers placed on the EVA and each of them is now missing all or most of the serial numbers. All of the serial numbers were clearly visible when I bought the boards.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Still a good deal for the 2010.
Just search company and model, until you find the actual board in the PDF catalogs.
I"m in SF Bay Area, and won't be driving up to Hood River to personally inspect the lineage of the 3s in the ad.
If no picture is provided, ain't much you can do.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

I also use photos from the 18 years of test magazine issues I saved "in case". Holy cow, has THAT paid for itself in selecting boards!

It's never too late to start ... if there are any such magazines still publishing.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Just got the 3S 86 of 2010 today at 2:30, rushed down to Berkeley and got an hour's powered up session with a 5.5.
Nice, triple pads, no gimmicks, slightly narrower tail than my JP 84 FSW, for a longer, carving higher speed jibe.
The double concaves made the whole deal, being much smoother than the JP, and initial strap and track settings were dead on for bump and jump sailing.
Exactly the kind of board I was looking for.