Why a Checkmate?

[Skarecrow77]

So, as I sit here contemplating just how much OT I'll need to put in at work over the next few weeks/months to pay for the work my Starflite needs before boating season, I got to wondering how everybody else got into the 'Mate family, and it might be fun to swap stories.

What made you guys pick up the boats you own now or have owned in the past? Did you get drawn to the checkmate on the boat show floor? Did your father or uncle or someone in the family own one? Did you see one on the water and wonder "What the hell was that?!" etc.

I'll start I suppose.

I grew up boating on my father's '78 or '79 (he can't remember) O/B 20' Entertainer. It was light blue metalflake with silver metalflake trim. Absolutely gorgeous. It had a "225" Merc on the back putting out more like 260hp after all the work that had been done to that. After that blew up in spectacular fashion, it had a 225 Johnson on it for a number of years. Every other weekend or so during the summers of my youth, we took that thing on the Severn river, the Potomac river, or even the Chesapeake Bay when it was calm enough. It was a fixture on the yearly family get together and camping trip at Kerr Reservoir in NC. It was smooth all the time, and fast when we wanted it to be. We know it did over 70mph, but that was in the days before GPS so who knows for sure just how much more.

My father owned a 24' VIP and a 30' Sun Runner after that, but when I got a real job and had discresionary income, I knew my first boat was going to be a Checkmate. It was just burned in to my brain, you know? It was Checkmate with a big outboard on the back, or nothing. I started looking around on the web and found a really nice red metalflake 16' checkmate something or other (I didn't even know model names at that point) for about $6000. I nearly bought it, but my father found an ad for a 21' checkmate about an hour's drive away. It turned out to be a 1992 Starflite with a 1988 Merc Laser XRi 220 on it, tandem axle trailer included. Bank appraised the whole deal at $9k, asking price was $6k. "The fever" kicked in, and I took that deal and didn't look back.

Money doesn't flow so freely now (I doubt I'm the only one in that boat, so to speak), and we've talked about selling it a few times, but every time I look at it, I see myself 20 years ago, sitting in the back of my father's Entertainer, holding a can of orange soda and listen to the stereo blaring ABBA (don't ask me why ABBA, my dad was as far from disco as you could get).

She needs some work, but it's more a question of "how can I find a way to pay for it" rather than "is it worth paying for"?

How about you guys?

 

[Jamey]

When I was 9 my uncle bought a brand new 1980 Checkmate Entertainer 21' I/O with a 260 hp V8. My brother (who was 11) and I spent a lot of hours screaming down the lake, racing anyone who wanted to give us a try and enjoying the chance to ride in something that was truly unique in that area. That was before the days of having to have a boating license to operate a vessel in Alabama! It was the same blue and silver metal flake paint you describe, and was (and is) a thing of beauty. A couple of years ago I bought the boat from my aunt, my uncle having been deceased for a few years, and none of my cousins or their kids having the time or money to fool with fixing it up. After having the seats custom made to match what was in it, respraying the clear coat, adding new carpet, a new engine, an updated stereo system and various other mechanical parts, I could have bought a much newer boat for less than I have invested in her, but I have all intentions of keeping this boat until the day I die. Now I have a little place on the same lake, and my brother and I take our kids up and down the lake as fast as they can stand. Whoever said you can't go back never restored a classic Checkmate!

 

[illMATTic]

I got into them one thanksgiving. I had no boating experience prior. I was going through the paper looking at all the adds. My friends across town must have been doing the same thing. He called me and said look in the classified section, there is a boat for 1200 bucks. The address was listed so I loaded up my brothers and went for a ride. within seconds of seeing the 79 predictor I said I'll buy it! I did that weekend.

 

[hotdaddy27]

Nice thread...

I too grew up on a Checkmate. My Father has had Checkmates since I was born.

The first (like the two above) was a 1980 Entertainer w/ a 2.4L Merc EFI !!!(the motor was purchased after the boat, it was around an '84) For a few years we were among only a few people with a fuel injected outboard motor. What a great boat! I learned how to ski off of that Baby at age five (my mother would have killed him had she known).

Over the next decade, and many more Checkmates in the family, my father bought a used (maybe a dozen times) Starliner w/ a 200 Black Max. What a great boat! We used that boat (and maintained it) more in one season than most could use a boat in a decade. My Father was a partial owner of a thriving business, so back then he would "get" out early in the summer. The kids would be at home getting the boat into immaculate condition waiting for my Father's arrival. Once he was home, we were off.

We would do this during the week 2 or 3 times minimum. On the weekends if the sun was out, we were on the water!

My father eventually lost interest after over two decades of relentless pleasure boating (would have been shorter but we get winters off). I feel he got burnt out because he started building real high performance Mercs that were much to temper-mental for the type of boating that we did. It is VERY hard to just enjoy a happy median of speed and pleasure and eventually he forgot about the pleasure part of it.

I later hi-jacked the Starliner and focused on more reliable power. After a season I wanted a more updated look so I planned a complete face-lift. While purchasing parts for this endeavor, a supporting vendor on this site said, "it will be cheaper in the long run to just buy a new boat." I did some homework and he was right (to an extent, if I bought a stock boat). I also felt it was ashame to rip a part a boat that was in great condition as it sat, so I decided to sell the Starliner.

I ordered a new 2100 and sold the Starliner. The day that boat left my driveway was a lot tougher than I expected. I don't usually get attached to material things because I buy and sell to often, BUT that boat a had a special place with me.

Basically Checkmates are in my blood. I absolutely love my new 2100. If the brand is still around when I am ready for another new one, the choice will be obvious.

HD

 

[JW]

My grandparents both owned property on a small lake across from each other. That's how my mom and dad met in the late 50's, out boating. My mom's family had a yellow jacket with a worked over white Merc 45. Very fast for it's day.
Years later, my parents bought property on the same lake and we had a few boats, mostly Starcraft. Nothing high perfromance, but we were still one of the fastest on the lake.
I still remember the day as a little kid watching my first real boat race. The dentist on the lake had a 18' closed bow Checkmate with an 85 Johnson on the back. Brown metal flake. Mostly just putted around with it. A new person moved to the lake and brought a new Chrysler boat and Chrysler motor package with a 115 on the back. Must have been around 1973-ish. Large boat, had a high freeboard. Since he had the 'big' motor on the lake, he went after the dentist guy one day. Me and my buddies were on shore watching when it happened, and I think that was the exact minute I got hooked on Checkmates. We were standing along the straight stretch of the lake, so we got to see both boats wide open next to each other. Well, not REALLY next to each other. That 85 horse Checkmate was walking away from that 115 horse Chrysler combo and us young boys were jumping up and down cheering on the old dentist.
Years later, my dad is looking for a new boat. We're on a different lake now, very long and narrow, good for top end runs. Looking at 18' bow rider Sea Ray and Wellcraft and the like. A guy at the end of the lake has a 20' Checkmate Senator with the 350 Mag and thru-transom exhaust. I'm about 27 by now. Dad's about 50. We wave him down, and ask for a ride in his unbelievable boat. So cool. Looked good, sounded GREAT. The guy says 'sure, I'll give you guys a ride sometime' and then proceeds to blow us off for the next year and a half. What kind of guy doesn't give a non-checkmate owner a ride?
After looking at boats for a while, we get a call from an old family acquaintance named Butch Prindle that sells Checkmate out of Lawton Michigan at his dealership Prindle Marine. He says 'you gotta come out here and see this boat'. So we drive out and instantly fall madly in love!

We were at a loss for words looking at this boat sitting in his back room. This was winter 1991/1992, and this was the very first year for the Pulse 171 and XR6 Merc 150. My dad only had one question: Can this boat beat a Senator on our lake? Butch says "yeah, this'll beat his boat". SOLD!!

We never did get a ride in that Senator. We did hear that the owner told all the town-folk that he had the fastest boat on Christie lake. It took me about 4 years to get him to race us. Was a Sunday a.m. Nobody on the water but me and Mr. Senator. So I go about tormenting him until he FINALLY lines up against me and puts the hammer down.
Now, everyone knows why outboards rule right? My little 2.5 carb 150 SMOKED him with his 350 Mag
He couldn't brag about being the fastest boat on the lake ANYMORE!!! If he had only given us a ride...

 

[jlroeder4]

Checkmates have always been in my blood as well. My dad and a couple of his friends ordered 7 boats and were going to start a dealership in 1974. They all ended up keeping one and sold the additional 4. My father still has the 1974 MX 16 with a 135 evinrude. This purple metalflake boat always gets attention and that pretty well sums up why I purchased a checkmate. My dad's boat still is in great shape, but almost to small to boat on the mississippi where we go. Seems like now my dad always wants me to take him out.

Jason

 

[Skarecrow77]

Thanks for the stories guys, good reading.

I actually spoke with my father regarding the 79 Entertainer (guess it had to be a 79, I think that's the year it was introduced) I referenced above. Brief version of his story:

He was driving down the highway one day on his way to my uncle's businessplace, and the sun was going down. It hit a display boat at a dealership he had never really noticed before. The boat glinted fiery bright orange. He pulled a uturn right then and there at the next available chance, and went to go look at that boat. It was a 16' O/B in orange metalflake. He went home and talked to my mother about it. She was quite not interested.

He spent most of the next week talking about that boat and how pretty it was. He convinced her to go for a drive out to the dealership to see it the following weekend. They went out there and she admitted it was pretty, but still didnt' seem that interested. She wandered off while my dad was talking to the salesperson. Apparently she came back and asked "what about that one?" pointing up at one on the top rack. All my father could see was the tip of a blue bow.

Now at this point, my father is thinking "well hell, I like blue well enough. At least she seems somewhat interested in this one." He'd taken her there to look at a 16 footer, so imagine his suprise when the forklift pulls down a 20' bow rider. My mom's comment: "Oh, you can fit more people in this one, so you can take more people out". My dad, with all the restraint he could muster, replied "well yeah, I guess that's true. Didn't really think of that".

They bought the boat that day. The engine on the other hand, the one that became the 260hp bomb, that's a whole other story unto itself.

Anybody else have any good stories to tell about when and why they first got a checkmate?

 

[CheckmateFever]

This is a pretty cool thread!! I chime in here with my Checkmate story even if it is a little late. Anyways, growin up my my parents had a cottage on Keuka lake, one of the Finger Lakes in NY. This was back in the late 80's and early 90's. There was an Eliminator Daytona cat, 21' O/B, right next door to us that was pretty much responsible for my love affair with fast boats. Checkmate is a popular boat here in upstate NY, there were several of them buzzin around our lake. But the boat that sold me on Checkmate was this black/white with red trim 21' Enchanter that i thought was the by far the coolest lookin boat on the lake!! It had a 350 with thru-hull exhuast and sounded sick!! Well, one day they came over to vist our neighbors (not with the Eliminator, that boat was long gone by then) and docked the Enchanter up next to our dock, i went nuts!! The owner told me if i kept an eye on his boat for him he would take me out for a ride later on!! I was 12 years old...my eye's never left that boat all day, even through an afternoon thunder-storm. The sky's cleared and true to his word the guy came down and took me and a buddy of mine out for a ride, i remember watching the speedo hit 70 mph (i know not very accurate) and couldn't believe i was ridin in a real Checkmate!! I loved that boat and vowed to someday own a Checkmate Enchanter I/O, and now i do!! Also up the road from us was a late 80's 25' Convincor with a tubo-charged big block named Wild-thing, that was a killer boat. Ironicaly, that Enchanter that got me into 'Mate's is still runnng on the Lake, i took mine over to his place one day and supprised the hell outta the guy when i told him i was the boy he took for a ride 15 years ago, and that is why i own my Enchanter today. Also, the owners of the old 80's Convincor are still on the lake as well, but traded up to a 2000 something 27' BR Convincor with a Mercury Racing 600 Sci in the engine bay!! I'm a Checkmate fan for life and if i ever get the chance to buy a brand new boat it will be a Checkmate!! Thats my story!

 

[JW]

Excellent stories! This is a GREAT thread!

 

[merc245]

My story is very typical,I grew up close enough to the Detroit river I could hear the freighters horns blow as they pass each other on summer nights.And every summer going to belle isle to watch the GOLD CUP hydro races or the local runabout races. I knew that one day I'd be a boater.And as a kid boating mean't only one thing to me that was a CHECKMATE with a BIG OLE' MERC hanging off the back.
It took a little longer than I'd thought,But eventually I did it.I got my position at the fire dept on Dec 1990 then spring rolled around and bought myself a decent mountain bike thinking I would spend the summer riding it(cheap,good for you,be gone all day) then 3 days later I saw a blue & silver metal flake 89 sportfire with a inline 6 90hp for sale and had to have it.I never threw a leg over the mountain bike again that summer!
After wrecking the sportfire I was looking for another checkmate and I was reading the boattrader mag and saw my friends badass 2 yr old starflite with a big ole honking 245hp 2.5.Well anyway it was fall so I let him sit on it for a few months and the price dropped $2000 and I decided make my move.Went over and he wasn't home but talked to the girlfriend and she let me know she was PREGANT and they had to sell the boat.So I dropped my offer another $1000.
Well that was 14 crazy and funfilled seasons ago and I still get excited seeing her sitting in the driveway. MERC245

 

[Needafunboat]

Yeah - great tread idea and great posts!

Well my checkmate history is a bit shorter - I always wanted a checkmate, but I just didn't know it!.

From as long as I can remember, my parents had a boat and a little cabin on the river where they grew up near California, PA on Monongahela River. First a tiny purple tri-hull with a chrysler OB - then in 1978, they got a no-name 17.5' BR w/ a Johnson 150. It was pretty boat - nice bright silver metalflake with a gray bottom. It was a semi deep V for the size and would peg the 50 mph spedo real easy - probably did around 60. At that time that was very fast on the river - not the fast-EST. But fast, especially for a pretty tame looking boat - the 150 was all the way down on the transom and didn't look like a V6 from any distance.

So it was a fun little sleeper boat and my dad loved playing with guys - it would outrun a few of the jetboats with the big open exhausts. I loved it and was a speed freak. I remember one little race - we had a boatfull of people and a beautiful dark yellow metalflake jetboat was passing us - I'd guess he was doing maybe low 60's. Then a "big" gray boat with a big long closed bow and an evinrude !!V8!! BLEW by us like we were going backwards. I now know what that thing was (didn't at the time). After that we saw "the V8" on the river alot and it was just awesome to see run.

That was the same cabin we dirtbiked out of and was about my favorite place in the world. When I got a little older I would bring friends up and eventually girlfriends. During those teenage years where you want nothing to do with your parents, I remember being SO excited to bring a buddy or girl up there for a long weekend.

So I knew I wanted to get the kids out on a boat. When the boy was about 9 months old, I came across Kurt's sportfire (silverflake and gray also!). Well, it was closed bow - but was solid and for that price why not? Then he took me for a ride and the boat was sold. I only ran maybe a couple of tanks through that boat before the season ended. Based on the kid's reaction I knew that I needed a "keeper boat". Enter the beautiful maroon starliner in MINNEAPOLIS!! I did the drive and the boat was worth it. We had a great summer on it - the boat is perfect for us - tows great, tons of space, plenty of power for skiing, more top end than I've really explored. And every single time out it gets a comment. That boat now sits under a fallen roof and about 4' of snow in the MI snowbelt... No real update on it yet - all 4 walls are up so I need to cut a hole in my friends wall, which he will now let me do since the adjuster has made his report.

Sorry for the length - it's just easy to ramble about the boats!!

 

[ezstriper]

when I was in my teens I grew up on the same water I boat on today, hung out with a older very cool guy who had a 15-16 checkmate with a 95 merc than a 125 when thye came out..went for many a ride in it...was fast as hell...thought we were going to die one day in it....but came thru...later on he got into drag boats, i became his mech and we campained a unblown gas hydro for several years. later on had anothet friend with 19 w/454 and a alpha drive, put on a stern jack, i drove the boat a few times and he raced several guys, blew away several that had trick engine setups with his stock 330, I remeber how well the boat handled at speeds 10 mph faster than many others. next another close friend had a 251 with a trick 509 rode in that at 82..was amazed at that...and just stayed friends with my drag boat guy..still am...he always though the checkmates were THE boat....I agree...like a corvette...classic american muscle....so I just have to have a 251....and love it....Rob

 

[justincase]

Well when i was young my brother had a silverline tri hull then one day he bought a checkmate i dont know what model it was but he had it for a long time. i was in my early teens and id look at that boat and think that thing is just sick looking! The thing about my brother he had a way of buying and investing and always bought the coolest of toys and researched them well. so im 46 now have had 6 boats and the last 4 have been mates!

 

[remlinger]

I always remember seeing the checkmates on Houghton lake screeming by as my friend tried to push his dads mid seventies tri-haul over 40mph. Thinking then at the age of 16 that if I bought a boat it would be a Checkmate. I hit every boat show at Cobo Hall an Metro Beach for four years running. Well later at the age of 20 with money to burn I puchased a new Enchanter I/O, still loven the classic lines that I remembered from drunken summers on Houghton Lake.

Took delivery early in May, call three of m best friends and never saw dry land for that whole summer. Still have her to this day, but now it' my wife and our 8 year old daughter every weekend.

Thanks Checkmate for all the memories.

Harold

 

[hotdaddy27]

All great stories!!!

JustinCase-

Funny that your older brother went from a Silverline to a Checkmate.

My dad had a Silverline (Deep-V) prior to his first Checkmate as well....good taste I guess.

 

[justincase]

That is funny, my first boat was a wooden sportcraft with a 45 chrysler... i dont miss that one!

 

[msmile]

Grew up (sort of) on the Misissippi around Oqwaka-Keithsburg-New Boston, IL. We always had a really big motor (at the time) on a barge. (1960-Merc 700, 69-Merc 1350) With 7 kids, dad went with the barge. In the early 70's on that strip of water checkmates were considered the daddy. Everybody knew when one went by. We tried to talk dad into putting our motor on a checkmate--no dice. This was pre-v six's so the checkmates all had v-4 OMC's and Towers of Power. A good 10 mph faster than almost anything on the water back then and metalflake to boot. Those guys probably ran 60 or better which was really, really fast. Sidewinder is the other hull that comes to mind. Glory days. Years later, my first Checkmate was a 16' Predictor with what else?, Tower of Power Merc 115.

 

[JW]

Dredging up an old thread

Let's hear some more 'first Checkmate' stories!

 

[ckaluger]

This was my first a 1978 Vmate 2 with a Johnson 200 on a 17W EZloader. I bought the boat with only the seats mounted, no other hardware mounted. The boat and trailer were 3,200 new and the motor was 2,200 new, gauges were around 150.00 and 26 cleaver machined by DAH 300.00 and a 23 SST 2, 150.00 so total package 6,000 give or take a few. Dont know how fast, it would run the old OMC speedo past the 70 mark and continue past the 0 MPH, probably 80 give or take, I was turning the Johnson at 6,500 RPM. I did order the boat with a 22 inch transom the hull has about 10 inches if built in set back.

;
;

 

[Jetmate]

I grew up on the Chesapeake. The summer house my Grandparents owned was located on a small river known as Cat Tail Creek. It opened to the Magothy River, then the Bay. The property had been in the family since the late 1800's. My Great Grand Parents had it on a very inexpensive 100 year lease with an option to buy. An old woman who everyone knew as Aunt Maude actually owned the land. Later on Grand Dad did buy it, but that's another story.

All the boats I knew back then were made of wood either planks, plywood, or if you were lucky Mahogany. We weren't that lucky. I remember when very young rowing, yes rowing with my Grand Father in an old wooden plank row boat to the best fishing spots. Later on he bought a lighter plywood row boat with a used Martin outboard motor. I believe about 7 horse power. Fishing was easier now and our horizons had widened greatly.

Enter my Dad into the picture. Now we were looking for something more sporty. But not by much. We now had a 35 horse, pull start Johnson on the back of a 5 place plywood run about. We weren't even sure of the make or model. But at 16 feet and huge horsepower we could go places, even ski a little. And when I say pull start, I mean pull. Took a bit of muscle and she never went on the first few pulls. LOL.

The next big leap was now to fiberglass. Around 1966 my Dad bought a used Tri-hull Thunderbird, electic start with a 90 horse evenrude. The boat was built like a tank. Fishing in the bay was top billing now and the Rock fish were jumpin' in the boat. Those were good times and was how my love for the water came to be.

Later being half Gear Head I started looking at fast boats. That's when I found the 1972 Jetmate. Bought her in 1980, one year after I bought a brand new 1979 Trans Am. Had a $300 hitch put on the dark blue T/A, and the Mate looked great behind her. I had looked at some other jets but most brands have to shallow of a V. The Jetmate had a deeper V and fit my needs better.

The rest of the story most of you know, The Jetmate is still here, third motor and one paint job later she is still doing the job.

Ya gotta love it!