Tim Ellis
I have bought a Sonata which is reputedly hull no. 017 but can find no markings to confirm this. The mainsail has 210 on it so is this normally the hull number? No proof that the sail was made for the boat so can’t trust that. Is there a register of Sonatas anywhere showing hull numbers etc? Mine is currently called Meltemi and has been in Penzance and Essex previously but now is up in Cumbria. Any advice or knowledge of her history gratefully received.
Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis
Thanks for replying Mark. The mainsail is definitely Sonata, has the insignia and is a Goacher. I don’t know that the sail doesn’t belong to the boat, just that I have no evidence to say it does, so I can’t rely on that for proof. Thanks for the tip on hull number, I will wriggle down to the end with a torch next time I check on the boat!
Also I’ve managed to track down where she used to once sail at Penzance SC and the cruiser secretary has said she would pass my enquiries on to the previous owners so that might also shed some light.
I read on another post on the forum that somebody else says their hull number is 17 so I shall get to the bottom of this eventually!
Regards
Tim
Meltemi (????)
Catherine Hartley
Dear Tim
Welcome to the sonata class – i am the class secretary and have all the records for boats.
Meltemi was owned by Brian Aldgate from Penzance Sailing Club an he was a member of the NSA until 2005.
The only details i have are the sail number of 210. This boat probably has never been officially measured as most boats will have a number as Mark said starting in 8 ???.
If you would like i measured then Martin Hartley is the class measurer (my husband!) – we are only a few hours from the Lakes so could come and see you if you like.
Both our emails are on the association pages.
Happy Sailing
Catherine
PS hull number 17 is a boat in Belfast!
Mark Taylor
Tim,
Welcome to Sonatas and welcome to the forum!
I’m not sure I can answer your specific question and suspect you would be better giving Martin Hartley, the class technical rep a phone call or drop him an email. His contact details are on the website. He should have the records which will hopefully unravel some of your questions. It might be that some more information on any previous names might be required.
I am however slightly surprised / concerned that your boat only has a 3 digit sail number because typically Sonatas have a 4 digit number and, because it was a National One Design class, the RYA kindly allocated most of the 8000 series of numbers to Sonatas, followed by N. You suggest that the mainsail is not original to your boat but it is still rare to find a Sonata mainsail without the 4 digit 8000 number. Is there any chance the mainsail isn’t off a Sonata (eg could be a Hunter 23 sail)……does it have the Sonata insignia on it?
My first Sonata was 8025N which we bought and then found she wasn’t measured. We didn’t know the hull number but were told the moulding number was quite often written in felt pen on the inside of the transom, so its a case of going down one of the quarter berths and seeing if you have one there………we did that and found it was something like 15. You think it was hull 17 that you have bought, but as my experience shows, there appears to be little correlation between hull number and sail number. In part I believe this is because a lot of boats were finished from kits so there could be differences in timescales between moulding and completion and then sail registration.
From your questions it sounds as if the boat didn’t come with a measurement certificate, otherwise there wouldn’t be uncertainty on the correct sail number! If it doesn’t have one then again Martin is the person to talk to and he has a very pragmatic approach to getting 30+ years certificated, which is both good and realistic!
Not much else I can offer other than to say that if you are in Cumbria there are lots of people locally (eg Steve Goacher, Jack Seed) who know much everything there is to know about Sonatas so you will be in good company!
Hopefully we might meet at an event somewhere
regards
Mark
Saraband 8314N