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First Boat

My first boat was a 1990 VIP Kona 18.5' open bow. It was bright yellow with a black metallic upper half and a grey hull. (looked like my 2nd sled-1994 MxzX470-yellow cowl, grey belly pan. Pretty cool pic-boat in back ground and sled in front, looked like they were painted to match) Anyway, the boat had a 302 Ford I/O with OMC cobra drive(lower for sale in Parts Dept. Just give me an offer for parts--gotta go) Boat ran okay, had thru hull but it was below the water line at rest so no noise
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Had yellow interior and it was a pain to keep clean. NOT a good boat if chop was above 1.5'. Should have been a jet drive. Then I graduated to a 20' Seaswirl cabin cruiser with an anemic 4 hole 3.0 liter OMC I/O.
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Only good thing about it was it was paid for when I hooked it up to the truck to bring it home.
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After 3 years with that, I needed an 8 hole Merc I/O and after a few months of searching, I found a killer deal on my Enforcer. This will be my first full summer with it and am undergoing major interior changes this spring (now) to "update" it. Pics coming soon.
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My first boat was a 1987 Wellcraft Elite 220XL. This was a great bowrider. Very large, it had the 350Mag. Not much in the speed category. It ran in the low 50's. Then I purchased a 1982 Sonic Offshore 33' it had twin 502 mags with SternPowr outdrives. It was a large 33. It ran low 70mph on the gps. Last year I sold the sonic and went for the Convincor 251. Hard to believe going down in size, it has the HP500 with the Bravo XR upper and Imco lower with nose cone. This is a fast boat and fun to drive. Love those checkmates! Waiting for Summer
 
My first and current boat is a 1992 Enticer with a Merc 115 outboard. On a small inland Ontario lake its one of the fastest and best looking boats around.

It always turned heads as I fly by, and still gets the nods of appreciation.

Mates have it all.
 
First boat was a mid-late 80's checkmate. The title said it wsa 14ft, but the tape measur read more like 13ft. Closed bow with a 90hp Johnson. With a 19" SS prop and the back seat out it would run 54mph ont he speedo. otherwise with a few people and the seats in it would run about 48mph. It was silver.
 
first boat 1976 starcraft alum, chry 90 hp, 2nd 1987 larson senza v175 150 evinrude, now- 1994 185 pulse 175 efi merc 6"set back manual jack plate.
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My first boat was a homemade wooden hydroplane with a 20 HP merc,really flew across the water , tried a 40 Hp merc on it ,but you couldn't stop in the water , it would sink tail first . Second boat was a 16' Baja with a 115 inline merc , now I belong to my Senator !
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Redboat
 
MY FIRST WATER TOY WAS A (GET THIS!!) WET BIKE. IT WAS A JET POWERED WAVE RUNNER TYPE TOY THAT STEERED FROM THE FRONT. YOU ROAD IT LIKE A MOTORCYLE. THING WAS A BLAST. AFTER THAT WAS A 1988 SEARAY SEVILLE, 1988 REGAL VELOCITY 230, 1995 SEARAY F-16 JET BOAT, 1995 SCOUT 172 CC, 1999 21'SLEEKCRAFT MOD VP TUNNEL/RUDE 225, 1989 CHECKMATE SPECTRA 170/MERC 150XR2 AND CURRENTLY A 1994 PULSARE 2100/MERC 225EFI. MORE TO FOLLOW???
 
Well here we go my very first boat and main transpertation at the lake every summer was a colman scanoo with a fold up four horse evinrude.My first real boat was a CHECKMATE TRIMATE with a 115 evinrude on it.YA BABY.
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Hello all. This is my first post on your checkmate board. My first boat was a 1959 Cutter with a 65 merc. It had wings like a 59 caddy. My second boat was a brand new 1982 Enticer with a 1979 115 Merc bought from Schenectady Marine in NY. I currently own 4 boats, my main one being a 2000 42' Cigarette Tiger and I just picked up a 1988 Starflight with a 225 Yamaha. The Checkmate is my 17th boat and Im as excited to have this as my 1st mate and my Tiger
 
Yes, the Mate was Byrons. Ive got it all detailed up and looking good. It runs about 66 mph. Does that sound right ??


540 Bulldogs on the Tiger there Jupiter. Iys a nice all around package on the Tiger
 
First boat was a 1963 Glaspar with a 1960 Evenrude 75HP. The engine was a 45 degree V4 with a belt driven magnito ignition. I thought 35 mph was fast. The next boat was a 78 Predictor with a Merc 90, not much faster 45 maybe. I repowered it with a 140. I thought I would die at 70. I now have a 77 Convincer thats to crazy to drive faster than 80
 
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Well my Dad bought a used 1962 Starcraft 14 ft with a 1962 Merc 4 cyl 45 hp(White). My brother and I ran that wide open everywhere we went. (27 mph)!! Screamin huh!!Years later we realized that the old Merc was supposed to be run 30:1 not 50:1!! Now running at 50 mph seems great.(85 Predictor and '87 115 Merc)

Go Checkmate!!
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i got a 16 foot tahiti with a old 135 evinrude that went like a bat outa hell cought fire twice from fireworks... damn kids.... ha ha ok maybe i did it but its all good i still have this boat but we blew the 135 and got a newer 115 which is crap and are in the prosses of looking for a new motor
 
first one was a 1985 wellcraft nova,was 23 ft. with a 230 hp mercruiser engine,i was young and because of the boat had alot of friends,dad gave me the boat and i destroyed it,never ran fresh water through the risers,etc....had alot of fun though
 
I've got two words for you guys HAWK LINE. YEP THAT RIGHT, MY FIRST BOAT WAS A 1977 HAWK LINE!!
It was made by carlson 18 feet long shaped like a bath tub but didnt handle as well.
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But I loved it. 85 hp merc pushed it up to about 30mph
 
Its been real interesting to hear what each of us started out with. Some of the boats really make us appreciate how good our Checkmates are.
 
First boat was a 17 ft Spectra with a XR2 for power.Ran 68 on speedo,dont know real speeds as GPS wasnt around at the time.Bought it brand new of the showroom floor,and payed CASH!I wish I could do that now,4 kids later.Where did the cash go?
 
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