1978 Sears Fiberglass boat capacity

[welded4xray]

I went fishing Fathers day with my son and a friend. We hit a sandbar which knocked the plug out of our 1978 fiberglass Sears fishing boat. My son and friend drown. Recently my friends mom has said the highway patrol said the boat was overloaded with the 3 of us which weighed approximately 170 pounds each and 20HP Mercury motor. The capacity plate has worn off, but I still don't believe it was nearly overloaded. I would appreciate if anyone could give any information about it or maybe a place to download a manual. Thank you...Andy

 

[dstroud1987]

Re: 1978 Sears Fiberglass boat capacity

sorry to here that one.. thats a terrible tragedy.

Well how long is the boat? every boat is different.. I will tell you that I have a 14 foot fiberglass boat with a 40hp motor on the back.. and by the time i put 3 170lb people plus gas tanks and safety and fishing stuff.. and a cooler full of drinks i am getting very close to the 1000lb capasity of the boat.

This is something you probably should have thought about before loading up a bunch of people and taking your boat out.. I may be a little over nervous because im new to boating.. but Ive been very particular about making sure to learn as much as i could about the boat before i ever hit the water.. and i have a 1968 boat that took forever to find the weight capasity when i got it this winter..but i did get it.. no dis respect intended but the last thing i would ever want is to find out I had my boat over the capasity and it might have cost someone their life.

either way im sorry to here that terrible story.. I wish all the best for you

 

[jestor68]

Re: 1978 Sears Fiberglass boat capacity

My condolences for your lose.

The quick formula for determining the approximate person capacity of a boat is the surface area of the boat divided by 15.

For example; 14 ft long times 4 ft wide equals 56; divided by 15 equals 3.7 persons. This is based on 150 lbs per person.

You would usually round off to the nearest whole number, which in this example would be UP to 4. Since your average weight was 170, we might round DOWN to 3 persons.

The USCG and/or your boat registration unit has a very detailed formula for figuring capacities.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1978 Sears Fiberglass boat capacity

I am sincerely very sorry for your loss.

If you have the Hull Identification Number (which should be on the registration) that will define who the real manufacturer of the boat is. Sears made nothing and only re-branded their boats. There "should" be a HIN molded into the fiberglass on the transom.

Once the original manufacturer is identified then the next step can be taken.

Yes, the boat was overloaded based on the fact it had filled with water and that was the overloading factor.