Sad News for Checkmate boats

This was posted yesterday on the Checkmate Powerboat forum

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/1/19

At the
beginning of October, Checkmate has attempted to extend the current lease with
the landlord, however an agreement could not be met. Therefore, after much
thought and consideration of the current situation, the owners of Checkmate
Powerboats have decided to dissolve the company, selling the molds, all the
parts for completed boats, and the intellectual property. Checkmate has been
around the boating industry for over 56 years, having an assortment of 17
different models in both sterndrive and outboard offerings. If you have interest
in acquiring the Checkmate molds and intellectual property, please give us a
call at 631-208-2933.
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Sadly it was just a matter of time. Maybe some cottage builder will pick up one or two of the Pulsare molds and resurrect them. Just don’t know if there’s a market for anything small that isn’t a center console or bass boat these days.

Tritoons killed this market segment.

I agree, its toons and or center consoles into today's world and I also completely understand it. If I was forced to have one boat, it would be a tri-toon with the biggest power I could afford. Really sad to see this happen but in business today, you either change with the market demand or die.

Joe

Well, crap. Dean Reynolds and crew were very good to me when they did the interior in my Eliminator.

Dean and Linda worked with my wife and I for about 4 hours going through details, colors, patterns, custom seat fitment and placement. Linda did a kickass job on the complete interior as well as the custom cover; it fits like a glove and I think of her every time I put it on.

Hard to believe Bucyrus OH won’t have a boat company after being home to Baja and Checkmate for many years.

I wish all of the Checkmate employees the best of luck in their futures.

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I always took pride in the fact they were still in business owning one. We had such good times this season in the '85 Eluder. Very sad to hear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JPEROG

I agree, its toons and or center consoles into today's world and I also completely understand it. If I was forced to have one boat, it would be a tri-toon with the biggest power I could afford. Really sad to see this happen but in business today, you either change with the market demand or die.

Joe

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Joe,

You took the words out of my mouth and my thoughts exactly - I’ve boated on the same ~ 12,000 acre chain of lakes ( the “Whitefish Chain” ) for the past twenty years ( I’m 46 ) ... Hydrostreams, Allison’s, and STV’s are long gone, as are Baja’s, Fountains, and Formula’s ... Tritoon’s are everywhere as are wake boats.

I have a 28 Skater and 1939 Chris Craft barrelback parked on my dock and am seriously considering a Tritoon - crazy how things have changed - my girlfriend thinks I’m too young for a tritoon ( sell the Skater ) but I’m not so sure - lol

35 years ago, a Checkmate or Larson “Wildfire” w / a 115 Merc “Tower of Power” was the ultimate - now I’m eyeing up Bennington Q series ;)

Sad day for Checkmate, but Hydrostream went away as well .... the good ol’ days are leaving us.

MDS

My Daughter lives on the water, they bought a Tritoon The Toon is very nice, comfortable,relaxing and holds a whole lot of people. That being said it is sure not exciting. Sorry to see Checkmate go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikesufka

Joe,

You took the words out of my mouth and my thoughts exactly - I’ve boated on the same ~ 12,000 acre chain of lakes ( the “Whitefish Chain” ) for the past twenty years ( I’m 46 ) ... Hydrostreams, Allison’s, and STV’s are long gone, as are Baja’s, Fountains, and Formula’s ... Tritoon’s are everywhere as are wake boats.

I have a 28 Skater and 1939 Chris Craft barrelback parked on my dock and am seriously considering a Tritoon - crazy how things have changed - my girlfriend thinks I’m too young for a tritoon ( sell the Skater ) but I’m not so sure - lol

35 years ago, a Checkmate or Larson “Wildfire” w / a 115 Merc “Tower of Power” was the ultimate - now I’m eyeing up Bennington Q series ;)

Sad day for Checkmate, but Hydrostream went away as well .... the good ol’ days are leaving us.

MDS

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If you are serious about a tri-toon, let me know and I will connect you with Jim Dorris "Play Craft"-his son has a very special 26 with a single 400 running 76 mph with no hop. Its the only toon besides Brad Roland's that carries itself like a cat and holds air. I was ready to buy it from him at the shootout this year and he decided that it wasn't time yet. Put a 450 on it and it should be a low to mid 80s rig that will keep your attention and scare a few passengers.

Joe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by altamate

This was posted yesterday on the Checkmate Powerboat forum

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Where are they located? That phone number is in NY
<!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/1/19

At the
beginning of October, Checkmate has attempted to extend the current lease with
the landlord, however an agreement could not be met. Therefore, after much
thought and consideration of the current situation, the owners of Checkmate
Powerboats have decided to dissolve the company, selling the molds, all the
parts for completed boats, and the intellectual property. Checkmate has been
around the boating industry for over 56 years, having an assortment of 17
different models in both sterndrive and outboard offerings. If you have interest
in acquiring the Checkmate molds and intellectual property, please give us a
call at 631-208-2933.
<!-- / message -->

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Where are they located? That phone number is in NY

I grew up passing the Checkmate every weekend in the back of my dads Buick in the way to our cruiser on Lake Erie.

In the good days, there was always a transporter full of new boats waiting on delivery.
My dad would slow down so I could get my fix.

The era of inline 150’s on 16’s and 17’s and the 25 Convincors and a 28 w/triple Mercs......, just couldn’t imagine it getting any better.

When the unknowing bashed them, I always defended them.
Their mold/gel work as good as it got.
In terms of performance, Harold Kunkel was a dealer forever and The Godfather of speed.
He had a stock lay up 25’ Convincor running 126 20 yrs ago!

I sold them in ‘89 and we had a 21’ Starliner O/B w/a 300 xp w/power steering that I thought was the ultimate boat.

Why my current 25 Convincor project I’ve been to the plant several in the the last yr or so.
What I’ve seen while there, made me nervous that this was coming.
The plant is 45 mins from my house.

RIP Checkmate Boats and best wishes to those effected.

https://www.screamandfly.com/blob:ht...e-2ecd8055faa8

A Trimate 2 is what got me into boating. Ran 55 with a 140 and scared the crap out of me. I have owned three of them and currently own an MX splash. Great boats all around and it's sad they are going by the wayside. Sure has been a lot of changes in trends over the years. Best wishes to all affected.

Rock

My family comes from that part of Ohio and back in the 50’s my dad purchased one of the first all fiberglass boats Bill built. This was before he formally launched Checkmate and was running his dealership / marine repair business. The boat was a bit of a disaster as it had some significant structural issues (they were just learning now to build them). Bill used that boat to learn and gladly replaced it with a production version that my mom and dad used for years. My mother used to say the reason I’ve always been drawn to the water and boats in general can be traced back to that boat. Every weekend over the summer she was pregnant with me they used to be up on “the lake” (Lake Erie) fishing so the unique feeling of being in a 16’ boat on a lake as unpredictable as Erie was imprinted on me before I was even born.

Fast forward 40 years, in the late ‘90’s I was focussed on offshore performance boats. I spent a lot of time with Steve Stepp learning about offshore boats and racing in general. We talked a lot about the competition and Steve being the brash competitor rarely had good things to say about most of them. On one occasion we were talking about the recreational market, one he understood was critical to his continued success but one he was challenged by since his core attitude was, “If it didn’t make the boat faster why do it”. That doesn’t translate well when people wanted fancy paint jobs and plush interiors. Anyway, when I asked the simple question, if for whatever reason I didn’t want a Velocity what would he consider to be my best option he didn’t hesitate, Checkmate was his immediate response. I was shocked, I’d always considered then lake boats but he “schooled” me. In his opinion the quality of the product and the integrity of the family running the company were second to none in the industry. They always stayed true to their core performance roots and never skimped on quality to boost profits, something he believed could not be said about a lot of boat builders of that era.

RIP Checkmate, you will be missed.

Had a Checkmate Eluder, brown and gold metal flake. Loved that boat, merc 470 motor and alpha stern drive. Looked good, felt like you were going 100, only ran 50 on the old time speedometer. Got tons of compliments, was always proud to get in it at the dock, and untie it with folks standing and watching you leave.

It's very sad to see another one of the greats go down. I've never kept up with society as far as trends go, but to see people shying away from a badass speed/family boat such as checkmate produces in favor of uncomfortable for the family centers or slower than hell toons. I suppose I will keep shopping for boats the way I always have, in backyards and junkyards.
Checkmate will be missed