ericrn
Member
Ok, let me just start by saying this sucks!
I have decided to try and sell my 1969 V191 Marathon. I have had the boat for 7 years and have been hoping to have the money to restore it but I have to face the fact that this is just not going to happen. The simple truth is I would rather see it go to someone who can restore it than to let it sit it storage.
Here is the story:
According to my sources, checkmate produced less than 10 of these boats back in 1969 and they were designed specifically for racing. They were outfitted with twins and dominated their class. They have a nice deep hull that gave them great handling even in deep chop. I personally know one of the guys that went to the factory to pick it up and raced it for a few years (his name is Leo and you can see him in some of the vintage racing pictures I can send).
Many of the boats were wrecked in racing and I know of only one other one like it in existence(the guy with the other one contacted me through this site and sent me a couple of pics, he said it's not water worthy though). I contacted checkmate to try and get more history but all they could tell me was that I had "one rare bird".
The boat was sold in 1975 to a guy that had it until I bought it in 2005. The guy I both it from "Puff" Tessier switched out the twins and ran it with a 175 Merc. It was babied and used occasionally on weekends by this meticulous owner.
I fell in love with this boat while I was still in high school because it was parked under a "carport" that I used to walk by on my way to school. My dad tried to get Puff to sell it to him and then my older brother tried to buy it from him years later without success. I finally convinced him to sell it to me in 2005 and I brought it to Minnesota.
Turned out the old Merc was done so I decided I wanted to put twins on it but then gave up on the project because I had a buyer for the motors and the concept of counter rotation wasn't going to happen.
I replaced the twins with a 1996 225 Promax with a torque master lower and 12 inches of set back(boat will run mid 70's).
The only modifications to the boat that I have made was to replace all of the gauges(Faria) but the rest of the boat is as stock as it was when they picked it up at the factory.
As you can see from the pictures, the outside needs to be completely redone due to fading. The floor is solid and I can't find any soft spots. I had the transom checked out when I was looking at mounting the twins and it is solid. It sits on a 1970's Trailex trailer that tows surprisingly well.
I know I personally hate it when people post and ask what there boat is worth but I honestly don't know. I paid $5000 for the motor a few years ago but I have no idea what the boat is worth. Obviously it has a lot of sentimental value to me but that never translates into cash...
It has not been easy for me to come to this decision (and it will be even harder if I end up selling it) but the truth is, I have a son who's 4 and has special needs so the prospect of ever having the cash to restore her is just not in the cards for me. Unfortunately because of my son, I don't have the time to do it myself either...
I was going to try and post pictures of my boat but there are plenty in the photo gallery under "first decade boats".
Let me know if you have any questions, the boat is currently in storage in Canada but I will be bringing it back to Minnesota this summer.
Thanks
http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ericrn/media/100_1347.jpg.html
I have decided to try and sell my 1969 V191 Marathon. I have had the boat for 7 years and have been hoping to have the money to restore it but I have to face the fact that this is just not going to happen. The simple truth is I would rather see it go to someone who can restore it than to let it sit it storage.
Here is the story:
According to my sources, checkmate produced less than 10 of these boats back in 1969 and they were designed specifically for racing. They were outfitted with twins and dominated their class. They have a nice deep hull that gave them great handling even in deep chop. I personally know one of the guys that went to the factory to pick it up and raced it for a few years (his name is Leo and you can see him in some of the vintage racing pictures I can send).
Many of the boats were wrecked in racing and I know of only one other one like it in existence(the guy with the other one contacted me through this site and sent me a couple of pics, he said it's not water worthy though). I contacted checkmate to try and get more history but all they could tell me was that I had "one rare bird".
The boat was sold in 1975 to a guy that had it until I bought it in 2005. The guy I both it from "Puff" Tessier switched out the twins and ran it with a 175 Merc. It was babied and used occasionally on weekends by this meticulous owner.
I fell in love with this boat while I was still in high school because it was parked under a "carport" that I used to walk by on my way to school. My dad tried to get Puff to sell it to him and then my older brother tried to buy it from him years later without success. I finally convinced him to sell it to me in 2005 and I brought it to Minnesota.
Turned out the old Merc was done so I decided I wanted to put twins on it but then gave up on the project because I had a buyer for the motors and the concept of counter rotation wasn't going to happen.
I replaced the twins with a 1996 225 Promax with a torque master lower and 12 inches of set back(boat will run mid 70's).
The only modifications to the boat that I have made was to replace all of the gauges(Faria) but the rest of the boat is as stock as it was when they picked it up at the factory.
As you can see from the pictures, the outside needs to be completely redone due to fading. The floor is solid and I can't find any soft spots. I had the transom checked out when I was looking at mounting the twins and it is solid. It sits on a 1970's Trailex trailer that tows surprisingly well.
I know I personally hate it when people post and ask what there boat is worth but I honestly don't know. I paid $5000 for the motor a few years ago but I have no idea what the boat is worth. Obviously it has a lot of sentimental value to me but that never translates into cash...
It has not been easy for me to come to this decision (and it will be even harder if I end up selling it) but the truth is, I have a son who's 4 and has special needs so the prospect of ever having the cash to restore her is just not in the cards for me. Unfortunately because of my son, I don't have the time to do it myself either...
I was going to try and post pictures of my boat but there are plenty in the photo gallery under "first decade boats".
Let me know if you have any questions, the boat is currently in storage in Canada but I will be bringing it back to Minnesota this summer.
Thanks
http://s242.photobucket.com/user/ericrn/media/100_1347.jpg.html
