TOPIC: 12' Boat Unknown

I picked up this boat mostly for the newish trolling motor that came with it. It has no identification or serial number tags. When I try to register the WS number online, it displays a shortened make of "econ". I went through a few pages in the library, but haven't found any leads. Anyone got a guess?

Can't help with the identification, but it looks like a well-built fishing boat.

Im guessing this could be as old as the 1950s. It does seem well built, but some materials seem a little thin. The bottom of the boat is pushed up some, which rolled the wall of the seats where it rivets to the hull. I was able to fix the hull by filling it with water and persuading it lightly with a big hammer. Found minor leaks, made a leak bigger by trying to fix a dent. The drain plug threads are all but gone. Might epoxy a tube in place to use a standard rubber stopper. Just need to patch up some butchered screw holes and give it a good duck hunting paint job.

With a large set of Channelocks, I was able to remove the old drain plug. The threads are very corroded on the plug, but the boat side didn't look too bad. I didn't want to have the threads be a wearing item from normal use. So I came up with this with a little luck. I had planned on machining something from scratch, and JB Welding it in. Then use a standard mechanical rubber boat plug. But I found a 3/4 inch nipple with a nice smooth bore. Later I stopped at the new Gander store, and found a smaller plug in the kayak section. I was amazed that it fit perfectly when I got back to the car. I turned off one side of the threads on the nipple with my mini lathe. Then installed it with Teflon tape. No leaks when I filled the boat with water. Pretty slick.

Try looking in the area indicated in this picture. Numbers could be stamped very lightly on either side of the boat. Mine was partially covered by the corner cap. They could even be under the corner cap.

Good luck

For sure first place to look. If that metal transom cap is not original, it could be hidden under it on the inside. I once saw just a corner of a tag hiding in the inside when someone replaced the transom board with a bigger board and almost covered it all up. If that Aluminum plate can easily be removed and reinstalled with a few screws, maybe look under there on the inside of the boat. Good luck.

Not saying this is definitely what it is, but it looks pretty similar to an Orlando Clipper my parents used to have. They did make a 12' aluminum model in the 50s.

Here is a picture of an early 60's Richline boat I purchased, fixed up and sold a couple of years ago, and a picture of a boat that I confirmed was a Richlline for sale in Canada that I found when looking for the original bow handle to get an original for my restoration. Both boat's back benches looks identical to your back bench.

If you google search for them (A relative?) developed a Yahoo group & later a Facebook group for owners of Richline boats. They built a wide variety of boats!