How could I identify my boat online?

[Shayne Neal]

I bought a 1988 Vmaster deck boat but it doesn't look like anything else I can find online. The company doesn't seem to have ever existed. There is a manufacturer called Hurricane with some similar boats but my boat has a pontoon-style top deck with a large sundeck up front. The hurricane boats seem to have a tri-v hull, my boat has something that looks more like a tunnel hull.
I am wondering if there is any chance of finding some information about its construction or history. I am very curious as to why there are not more of these boats out there.

 

[Scott Danforth]

what does the paperwork say it is (title, registration and bill of sale)

remember, over the 100 years prior to the internet, hundreds of thousands of boat builders came and went, many only building one or two models.

 

[jbcurt00]

IF its a 1988 it should have a factory issued HIN that decodes into make and year.

Www.hindecoder.com

 

[JimS123]

In my state Vehicle registrations have the manufacturer's name abbreviated to only 5 or 6 letters. My guess is that your boat is a "V******Master" brand. The HIN will provide a researchable code.

 

[GA_Boater]

My state paperwork has an abbreviated manufacturer name as Jim said above.

I am very curious as to why there are not more of these boats out there.

So is the builder of your boat.

 

[Shayne Neal]

IF its a 1988 it should have a factory issued HIN that decodes into make and year.

Www.hindecoder.com

Thanks for the tip...
I was not sure what the number was because I could not read the third character... but I narrowed it down and thought it was VCJ01382B888... a product of C J Burns & Co because I know my boat is from 1988 and they made boats from 1980 to 1988. I found nothing online but this boat may have been the last thing they built.
Then I checked out VCL01382B888 and it is manufactured by Reliable Mfg Llc but they were only in business from 2007 to 2010. Then a quick search found therm on this directory... https://boathistoryreport.com/directory/manufacturers/
In that table is an AKA column with the following...

• RELIABLE MFG LLC
• CARAVELLE BOATS INC (OOB)
• V-MASTER, INC (OOB)
• GLASCO INC (OOB)
• VAL-CRAFT BOAT CO (OOB)

So I am quite confident that my VMaster deck boat was built by V-Master Inc which was probably some company that Reliable bought when they started or something.

I still can't find anything about them online but I feel like I am a little closer now that I know the name of the company that built my boat.

 

[Shayne Neal]

In my state Vehicle registrations have the manufacturer's name abbreviated to only 5 or 6 letters. My guess is that your boat is a "V******Master" brand. The HIN will provide a researchable code.

It was built by V-Master Inc... owned by Reliable Manufacturing (see above)

 

[Shayne Neal]

I also found this... https://www.nadaguides.com/Boats/1987/V-Master-Boats

An Americus, Georgia company, V-Master Boats produced a line of family-oriented bow riders. V-Master Boats fiberglass vessels range between 16 and 18 feet in length were powered by stern drive propulsion. Producing their boats for only the 1987 model year, V-Master Boats merged with Caravelle Boats.

 

[Shayne Neal]

I also found this... https://www.nadaguides.com/Boats/1987/V-Master-Boats

An Americus, Georgia company, V-Master Boats produced a line of family-oriented bow riders. V-Master Boats fiberglass vessels range between 16 and 18 feet in length were powered by stern drive propulsion. Producing their boats for only the 1987 model year, V-Master Boats merged with Caravelle Boats.

This is very odd because I own a 22' fibreglass boat from vmaster which was built in 1988. How do you measure a boat? Transom to bow?

 

[GA_Boater]

Caravelle may have continued using the V-Master name until the merger was complete.

NADA is not a final authority.

 

[jbcurt00]

Caravelle is also likely to have sold any & all boats that were in production or sitting complete at the factory.

So maybe a 1988 built in 87