Viper 1
Well-known member
Dear Checkmate Members First I want to Thank all of you Kind Members that took the time to Reply and Clicked Like on my Last Merry Christmas Post to all of You here on this Great Checkmate Forum. It is Much Appreciated by Me. I was Asked a few Months Back if I would Share a few Action Marine Adventures of My Action Marine Boat Club. So I will Try to Give You a Checkmate Hi-Performance Story of one of our Adventures. I have Never done anything like this before so Please Forgive Me if it Does Not Turn out as good as you might have Expected. I know that there are many New Members here as well as some Old Checkmate Members that Might Not know Who Sammie From Action Marine is? Well Maybe its a Good Time to Introduce Myself to all those that Don't Know Me. I am Sammie From Action Marine in Dearborn Heights Michigan. I Started My Action Marine in 1970 at the age of 23 with $1200.00 to my name and Retired at 43 years old. My Love for Mercury and Checkmate was the Driving Force behind me starting My Action Marine. My Action Marine Customers, there Hi-Performance Boating Pleasures and there Safety was the Most Important Thing to My Family, Employees, and Myself. Many of things that I did for My Customers and Friends at My Action Marine over the Years had Really Nothing to do with Money and was Not the Driving Force Behind My Starting Action Marine. I Know this Might sound Strange to some of You here But its the Truth. I Loved My Action Marine, My Customers, Mercury, Checkmate and Hydrostream. This is what I Lived for and was the Driving Force Behind every thing that I did. For those of You here that have Looked at My Action Marine Picture Folder know that much that is Written under the Pictures is Heart Felt. I have Never For Gotten where I came From or Who Helped Me get to where I am Today. I have Always Appreciated Every One that was in My Life and Behind My Success. This is why when I Talk or Write something like this the words come from My Heart. Now that You all know a Little about Me I will Start with My Action Marine Adventure and I Hope all of You here on this Wonderful Checkmate Forum Enjoy this Story as Much as I have Sharing it with all of You. First For those of You Checkmate Members here that Live in Michigan You will know where this Action Marine Adventure took Place, and for the Rest of You I Hope you can still Enjoy the Story. One picture below you will see a Pictures is Action Marine's Checkmate Boat Club meeting at a small parking lot on VanBorn road in Dearborn Heights. Latter on as our Action Marine Boat Club Grew we Moved to a much Bigger parking lot at the Kmart's Parking lot on VanBorn in Dearborn Heights. We Gathered there from 1968 Until 1990. Our Action Marine Boat Club Members Met there Every Weekend Through Out the Boating Season and from there we would all go together to the different lakes and the Detroit river to Run Together as a Big Group Until it was Time to Winterize Our Checkmate Boats in November. The picture below showing Action Marine's Checkmate Boat Club Members Having a Great Weekend Together in 1969 at Bellville Lake as we Did as a Group Every Weekend Together. This Story is about a Guy named David Staller who Owned a Green 18 ft Sea Ray Pachanga I/O with a 454 ci Chevy Motor in it. David Loved to race every body on Bellville Lake. When he First Bought this Sea Ray Pachanga I/O it ran about 66 to 67 mph on My Custom Built Keller Calibrated Racing Speedometer and Most of the My Action Marine Customers with there 15 ft Checkmates in the picture below at Bellville Lake could Get By David's Pachanga which did Not make him very Happy. Well David started Working on his boat by adding some Hi Performance Parts to his 454 ci Chevy and as Time went by his Pachanga I/O Got Faster and Faster. He Now was Pushing his Pachanga I/O into the into the 70 to 71 mph range and was getting by some of My Action Marine Customers with there 15 ft Checkmates. Was he Happy Now? lol No because he still was not King of Bellville Lake. David Kept Working on his Pachanga and bought some more Hi-Performance Parts till he could Out Run all My Action Marine Customers with there 15 ft Checkmates expect for Me lol. One of The Great thing about our Action Marine Checkmate Boat Club was even if some of our Boat Club Members got beat by the Competition, the Competition always Ended up with Me to deal with. So Now David had only Me and My Blue and Sliver MX-15 Checkmate with My Mercury Twister 1 Racing Motor to Deal with lol. I have Always been a Very Private and Secretive Person all my Life, Never Letting anyone know what I was Doing Including My Family, Employees, or Manufactures for the Most Part other than Mercury Marine. All My Action Marine Boat Club Members knew that I was just Playing with David and his 18 ft Sea Ray Pachanga and they Loved it. I would just run along side of David long enough to get a check on his Speed with my Keller Speedometer to see how his was doing with his Performance up Grades, than I would just edge him out by a boat length or two to keep him coming back for more lol. In all my Many Years of Racing Not only Hi-Performance Boats but Cars, Motorcycles, Mercury Snow Twisters Snowmobiles, and Hi-Performance Competition Racing Go Carts the Thing I Loved the Most Besides Winning was the Mind Games that I Played with the other Competition. I can't Begin to tell You how Much Pleasure it gave Me to do that and Now all My Action Marine Boat Club Members were able to Enjoy it as well. This Weekend Racing went on Between David and I for a Couple of Years with David Blowing up 3 or 4 Motors in that time frame. By Now David had Got his 18 ft Pachanga up to between 79 to 81 mph depending on the day and the water conditions. My 15 ft Blue and Sliver MX-15 Checkmate with its Twister 1 Motor would Run 86 to 87 MPH in the 1/4 Mile NDBA Drag Races and post the same numbers on my Keller Speedometer. The Last Time David and I Raced I had Decided that I was Getting Tired of Playing this Cat and Mouse game with David, so after Clocking David's top Speed at 80 mph I opened up the Throttle for the First time on my Mercury Twister 1 and Left David in My Wake up into I hit a wake from another boat a 1/4 mile down the lake and My MX-15 did a 180 Degree Super Sharp U-Turn on the Tip's of My 3 Blade Surfacing Speedmaster Prop Leaving a Big spray every where. I had My Twister 1 motor Jacked up so High on my MX-15 that the Nose Cone of My Speedmaster was Digging into the back of my Transom about a inch above the Brass Drain Plug when I was trimmed down and this was why when I hit that wake from another boat that my Prop Walked its self around sending me back in the opposite Direction that I was Racing in. David could Not Believe what he just Saw with his own Eyes lol, The Big Spray of water and then seeing My Checkmate Make this 180 Degree Super Sharp U-Turn Before I went Blowing back by him in the other Direction. When we Stopped to Talk David said to Me that He had No Idea that My Checkmate was that Fast and that now he knew that I had been Playing with Him all this Time. He also said he had Never Seen a Hi-Performance Boat Turn that Sharp in his Life lol. I did Not Tell Him that I had Nothing to do with how Fast My Checkmate could Turn lol. I Just let him Think that all Checkmates could Turn that Fast. David and I stayed Friends and Waved as we saw each other on the Lake but He Never Wanted to Race me again after that last Race we had. I Guess he Got Tired of Replacing the Motors in His Boat and he knew that he would lose the Race anyways. This Experience with Racing David and His Pachanaga I/O with its 454 ci Chevy in it, is where it Led me to Start Building My Own Super I/O Checkmates with My own Line of Action Marine Hi-Performance Inboard Marine Racing Motors. My Dear Friend John Butch wanted me to build him his Checkmate Dream Boat and he Didn't want it to be a Jet Boat. so I order a 1972 Checkmate 18ft Jetmate Blank Hull From My Dear Friend Bill Combs. When John's Jetmate Blank Hull was Built and Ready to be Shipped From Checkmate my Dear Friend John Found out that he had Cancer and was Dieing. We Together Built his Checkmate Dream boat. I Turned it into a Super Checkmate Jetmate 18ft I/O with my 466 ci Big Block Chevy. I Took my Dear Friend John out to Belleville Lake with his Checkmate Dream boat for its first Test Run. With the Two of Us in John's Boat and with Me Driving we Ran 91 MPH on Our Keller Calibrated Racing Speedometer with the Two of Us. My Dear Friend John Died Shortly after that Test Run with His 1972 Dream Checkmate 18ft Jetmate 1/O Finished and His Dream Completed. John Will Always Been on my Mind and in My Heart for Ever...His Friend Sammie-Action Marine. I Hope all of You have Enjoyed this Action Marine Adventure. Best Wishes to all of You Checkmate Members here Always Your Friend Sammie- Action Marine
ps. for those of You Checkmate Members that Like to look at Hi-Performance Boat Pictures and the History that goes with them I have Down Loaded 710 Hi-Performance Pictures Between My Action Marine Picture Folder and the Members Section under Viper. I Hope You Enjoy The Pictures Sammie Action Marine
ps. for those of You Checkmate Members that Like to look at Hi-Performance Boat Pictures and the History that goes with them I have Down Loaded 710 Hi-Performance Pictures Between My Action Marine Picture Folder and the Members Section under Viper. I Hope You Enjoy The Pictures Sammie Action Marine
