winter
Active member
Hi all! I'm new to the forum but not new to speed boats. My next purchase will be a Checkmate, but i do have questions. I started off way back in the 80's with a 73 16' Mate with a worked 77 150 merc. It was the fastest ride on Herring Creek, off Rehoboth Bay DE. That boat about killed me (literally) and i traded down for a jet ski. In 2000 the wife gave me permission to buy another boat for the family. I ended up with a Hydrostram V-King with a worked 235 Rude. The flat pad and near 90mph runs made the wife unhappy, although the kids enjoyed it. I sold it and put together a 96 Sea-Doo XP with allot of mods for the time being.
Which brings me to 2006. Sometime this winter or early spring i'll be in the market for a boat. I had previously thought to $uck it up and buy a pontoon boat
with big power 
but that changed into looking for a deck boat, also with big power. Hard to not be able to go at least 30mph! In looking at deck boats, to get anything really decent that will move along, i'd need to spend $25k and those funds will not be there this year. In looking some more, i decided an open bow boat would be best right now, and instead of thinking sea-ray or larson, or crestline, i was proud to remember Checkmate made a few open bows. Bottom line, i need speed. Not unsafe, but at least 60mph.
So what do you rec. as a list? I'm not up on all the models and years in which an open bow was available, but here is the criteria...
I don't want to spend much over $12k. It has to be a very well maintained boat. The Stream and old mate needed allot of TLC and $$$, I don't want to have to rebuild anything for quite awhile. I'm tossed between an I/O and Outboard. While my heart is with Mercs, there is something simple about a big block V8. I understand V8's, OB's not so much. I also would like a boat that has a good ride in chop as we intend to use it mostly in the Bay's of Delaware. If anyone has any thoughts or knows of one that may be forsale sometime early next year, feel free to PM or respond, thanks!
Which brings me to 2006. Sometime this winter or early spring i'll be in the market for a boat. I had previously thought to $uck it up and buy a pontoon boat
with big power but that changed into looking for a deck boat, also with big power. Hard to not be able to go at least 30mph! In looking at deck boats, to get anything really decent that will move along, i'd need to spend $25k and those funds will not be there this year. In looking some more, i decided an open bow boat would be best right now, and instead of thinking sea-ray or larson, or crestline, i was proud to remember Checkmate made a few open bows. Bottom line, i need speed. Not unsafe, but at least 60mph.So what do you rec. as a list? I'm not up on all the models and years in which an open bow was available, but here is the criteria...
I don't want to spend much over $12k. It has to be a very well maintained boat. The Stream and old mate needed allot of TLC and $$$, I don't want to have to rebuild anything for quite awhile. I'm tossed between an I/O and Outboard. While my heart is with Mercs, there is something simple about a big block V8. I understand V8's, OB's not so much. I also would like a boat that has a good ride in chop as we intend to use it mostly in the Bay's of Delaware. If anyone has any thoughts or knows of one that may be forsale sometime early next year, feel free to PM or respond, thanks!
