checkmate vs baja

[difran25]

my buddy is buying a boat. he is leaning to a 27' baja over a 27' checkmate. looking at years 2000ish. he says he can get a better deal on the baja. i am trying to talk him out of it and go with the checkmate. any advice? he says the baja might even be a better boat.

 

[teamhart2]

Biased site to ask on, but everyone here will rightly tell you the checkmate is better, and will likely perform and last better. Dont know if all Bajas were built like junk using chopper guns, but most were, compared to hand laid checkmate hulls they will be heavier and not as strong. Dont know about the specific boats he is looking at, sure youll get more details coming up

 

[Mr. Buss]

OH Brother.... here we go...

 

[happy]

Biased site to ask on, but everyone here will rightly tell you the checkmate is better, and will likely perform and last better. Dont know if all Bajas were built like junk using chopper guns, but most were, compared to hand laid checkmate hulls they will be heavier and not as strong. Dont know about the specific boats he is looking at, sure youll get more details coming up

He should buy it!! Cheaper is always better. I like how all the wires fall off the switches after they run, cant get the engine hatch up, wont start. The plastic pannels break after you continiously pull them off to repair wiring. He can spend his weekend fixing instead of riding. The good thing, we'll have more room out on the water!!

 

[jazzy]

there are some real baja loyalists out there but just about everyone i know that took a shot on a baja who really boated hated them a friend of mine had the whole bottom of the boat blister and had to send it back to baja to be fixed he dumped it soon there after it seems like they were just not built to last but if your friend wants to get a better deal he probably can with a baja but comparing them in price to a checkmate is totally wrong it would be like comparing an impala to a m5 theyre both four door sedans but thats where the similarities end

 

[ezstriper]

you get what you pay for.....like I always said...baja's are the bayliner of performance boats...

 

[Big Red]

Here is the truth a 26 baja is slower hands down. I rode in a poker/fun run on saturday in a 26 outlaw. The boat is a 06 with a factory merc 600SC. I do feel the boat did cross over rollers better at 5000 rpm's then my 242 did. The reason a Baja can not carry the hull in the water it plows the water and can not ride on top like a Checkmate. If I would have hit the rollers in my 242 at the speeds he hit it in the Baja I would have been 50 foot in the air.

The resell on a Checkmate is better, you can get more speed out of a Checkmate with less horsepower. I belive the highest speed we hit Saturday was around 77 he was spinning a stock 28P with a Merc 600SC. The guy that owns the Baja is a good guy, and he will tell you he regrets buying that hull. He loves the engine but the hull is slowing him down.

The guy takes care of his boat, it being a 06 with around 190 hours o it, I did not notice and cracks or costmetic BS. Then again he takes care of it and does not beat the crap out of it. Runs it hard from time to time but he does not abuse it.

My 242 carring the hull

 

[boatn70]

nice review BR, im surprised!!! thought youd be much more abusive!! I, too, have noticed that, comparing my 242 to a 25 outlaw,a 275 performance series(zt275 now) and a 272 performance, that the ride was very nice, level and easily controlable.
I will say that the checkmate was always faster vs. the same horsepower in any of these boats! I have seen some stress cracks in a couple of these that were used pretty hard...the ones that are not and are well cared for are in great shape still.
I have read more and more about the checkmates propoising alot! A problem that I really didnt care for much, had to use tabs for cruising, which then plows water! oh well!

good luck in your buddys purchases!

 

[boatn70]

oh yeah,
the 25 outlaw is for sale and the 275 maybe for sale in the future.
whats his price range? there may be some checkmates out there too!!

 

[BagMan]

Is it me or is it ironic that an increase in the discussion of Baja's comes during football season??

 

[difran25]

what makes a checkmate so much better then a baja?

 

[Heavy Handed]

what makes a checkmate so much better then a baja?

Hull design and build process--hand laid fiberglass over balsa core. In gel graphics, as well. Checkmate hulls are what have made them a great boat for so long.

 

[Big Red]

nice review BR, im surprised!!! thought youd be much more abusive!!

I have read more and more about the checkmates propoising alot! A problem that I really didnt care for much, had to use tabs for cruising, which then plows water! oh well!

I really feel the porpis comes from the Checkmate Hull tring to get on top of the water and ride at slower speeds. Yet the driver can speed up and the boat will stop because it has enough throttle to get up. Or he can slow down and it will stop. I really feel a Baja the same size does not have the porpis problem because it cant get up on the water at all. My friends boat at 5000 rpms 3/4 of the hull is still in the water. I had to learn every angle of my 242 to control the porpis mine took a lot more driving because I had no trim tabs.
.
This is what makes a Checkmate hull faster, the ability to get the boat out of the water with less HP.

The main reason not to buy a Baja.

1.Chopper gun built
2.Everybody has one
3.All the grafics are stickers.
4.They will not shine like a mate
5.Resell is less
6.bad spider cracking on alot of them
7.You can not get any parts from the factory THE BEST REASON OF ALL
8.slower than a Checkmate HP to HP
9. the square boxy angles

 

[pete m]

ooooppppsss

 

[pete m]

The main reason not to buy a Baja.

1.Chopper gun built
2.Everybody has one
3.All the grafics are stickers.
4.They will not shine like a mate
5.Resell is less
6.bad spider cracking on alot of them
7.You can not get any parts from the factory THE BEST REASON OF ALL
8.slower than a Checkmate HP to HP
9. the square boxy angles

The main reason not to buy a Baja.

1.Chopper gun built true
2.Everybody has one lol true
3.All the grafics are stickers. mine was all in the gel coat
4.They will not shine like a mate depends on how well it's taken care of, however my checkmate has a much better shine!
5.Resell is less true
6.bad spider cracking on alot of them mine didn't have any, but i have seen a few that did crack!
7.You can not get any parts from the factory THE BEST REASON OF ALL
8.slower than a Checkmate HP to HP very true
9. the square boxy angles true

 

[SunTime]

I'd say the biggest difference is that the Baja was a mass produced boat compared to the Checkmate. Thus you see so many of them and you'll likely have many more issues then from a builder like Checkmate where mass production is not part of their lingo.
Checkmate does a much superior job in their glass/gel work and structure. That said, I wish they (CM) did a better job in rigging though as they remind me of a Baja in terms of the rigging, wiring and looming things up nice and tight. The build quality of the rest of the Checkmate line desreves much better overall rigging IMO.
I'd STAY AWAY from any of the Baja Liner boats as they were sending them back to the factory under warranty as fast as Baja could fix them. I've known mulitple liner hulls that had to be returned to the factory more then once. Was not just cosmetics, but rather structual on these liner hulls.

 

[BagMan]

I'd say the biggest difference is that the Baja was a mass produced boat compared to the Checkmate. Thus you see so many of them and you'll likely have many more issues then from a builder like Checkmate where mass production is not part of their lingo.
Checkmate does a much superior job in their glass/gel work and structure. That said, I wish they (CM) did a better job in rigging though as they remind me of a Baja in terms of the rigging, wiring and looming things up nice and tight. The build quality of the rest of the Checkmate line desreves much better overall rigging IMO.
I'd STAY AWAY from any of the Baja Liner boats as they were sending them back to the factory under warranty as fast as Baja could fix them. I've known mulitple liner hulls that had to be returned to the factory more then once. Was not just cosmetics, but rather structual on these liner hulls.

Interesting. What were the structural problems??

One question I'd want to know before buying a new Check...details on how and how long these new liners are covered. Everyone's praising the advantages, and rightfully so, but what about potential difficulties?

 

[sim]

what makes a checkmate so much better then a baja?

Cooler Owners!

 

[SunTime]

Interesting. What were the structural problems??

One question I'd want to know before buying a new Check...details on how and how long these new liners are covered. Everyone's praising the advantages, and rightfully so, but what about potential difficulties?

Mainly involved the 23, 26 30 outlaw series that used the liner hull. The liner hull was basically part of the structure and they had seperation issues and large stress cracking as a result. I'm not sure anyone else ever tried to build a boat using a liner as part of the structual integrety of the hull, and Reggie (fountain) quickly ditched it for the conventional stringer systems once he took over the name - for good reason.

I doubt very much if CM is using the liners for structual integrity but rather for convinece like the other builders do.