first impressions of my 2800 checkmate twin ob
 

well.....i must say i really like the boat so far. good ride. nice lines. the interior is lacking (no sunpad or cuddy cushions) but i will have that taken care of in a couple weeks when i drop it at the upholstery shop. having a removable sundeck built over hte splashwell and cushions made for the cuddy. also installing a 19x19 bomar hatch on the bow for air/light. bought 80 ft of red LED rope light to run through the entire cockpit/cabin also.

i have yet to max the boat out....but i will say that when you get up to speed in rough water you really have to drive the boat and work those tabs. its def not a "full throttle and steer" proposition. (lighspeed told me this ahead of time) but it makes it more fun IMO. im still learning.

the boat is very light in the nose and the slower you go the more you have to drop the tabs....and vice a versa. it now has all the manual trim and k plane indicators working so i can stockpile that info while learning how to drive the boat at speed.

lightspeed even suggested adding a lil weight to the bow in the form of a sandbag or two to try and keep the nose down.

all this being said i muist say that my hat is off to the guys who raced this boat....or any like it in rough water at 80+ mph....it must have been a WILD ride. it seems to be very unpredictable in rough water compared to other similar size boats.

the boat moves around when trimmed up and haulin ass....alot more than my 29 scarab ever did. but i think that this is due partially to the light weight of the boat...(just an uneduacated guess)...it weighs the same or even less than my 25 warlock cat.

anyone care to school me and/or add any observations, comments, advice or info on this boat and how to drive it?

Turncoat.....:party-smiley-004: :lolhit:

lol inboards are the work of the devil.

HELLS BELLS if your into evil your a friend of mine ....:evilb::evilb::evilb:

If ya think that thing is wild try driving a 24 Pantera with some serious power, not that mine has it, but others I have driven do.

2tonchevy, you should also post on checkmate-boats.com. There are alot of guys that would be interested in hearing about your boat. My 28 arrived at 5:oo this morning!

i can tell you this much. in big water i think you will find that the boat will handle better with the motors tucked right in. no trim at all. that should make it fly a bit better and get you a more positive feel.
also if it is to "light" in the front thats a very easy fix with just swapping the props. what is on it now for props? 3 blade? you may need more of a stern lift style prop. i found my boat and a few other checkmates handle much much better with a stern lift prop and do not loose much if any top end speed.
any pics??

HEY THANKS for the advice!

it has 26p 3 blade mercury/quicksilver choppers on it now. they are turning in toward eachother. are the choppers a bow lifting prop? i really dont know much about outboards...but im learning. the boat is heavy in the rear.....if there is a way to improve handling i would really like to try it...

any advice on what prop to try?

i do know that the faster you go the higher you can raise the tabs without porpoising. the boat wants to porpoise pretty bad if you get even slightly to little tab in the water at a given speed. (lightspeed told me this before i bought the boat so its no surprise)

it has to be driven....thats for sure....

You could try outboard style bravos prop. Its the same style as a inboard bravo, but it has ventlation holes in it.

i do not know a lot about the outboard props myself. but looking at pics of the chopper prop it looks like a more rounded ear prop which usually means bow lift. best i can tell with all the larger checkmates i have been in they do not like bow lift props. ive tested many props on my boat and the bow lift props gain me now speed but make the boat super "light" in the bow. i call it flighty i swap to a stern lift prop and the boats handle much much better.

i would call throttle up and ask them what they recomend for props for that boat. explain that it needs more stern lift and they will prob send you a 4 blade none round ear prop and i think it will be like a hole new boat.

we did some testing on a friends ob boat and we went with the merc rev 4 props. we did not test the bravo1 on the boat but the rev 4 made the boat much much better all around over his 3 blase. he lost 1 mph on top but picked up 3 mph at 4000 rpm. so his cruse speed went way up and it got out of the water much better.
noyzee

just talked to Greg at CEP and he also recomended the "outboard" bravo series prop. i have a set of stock 26p bravo that i can borrow from the local prop shop.

yup, that should make the boat handle real well. makes it fly straight rather then tossing the bow up

2ton, I have a similar boat to yours and I run 28' bravos with vent holes. The props are great out of the hole and carry the bow very well w- trim. My choppers are a few mph faster on top end but are not as user friendly.

Good luck-

You could also try a 4 blade tempest..

went and picked up the 26 bravos yesterday.

the mercury dealer is rebuilding my lower...everything new except the shaft for 1500 bucks.

the clutch dog itself and the dogs on the forward gear were rounded ...prolly due to prolonged lazy shifting and/ or improper cable adjustment. everything else looked great.

hope to be back on the water next weekend with a few props to try.

WHAT A BOUT A SET OF 4 BLADE CHOPPERS?

theres a set in the swap shop....

Mercury doesn't make a 4 blade Tempest. They make the Trophy Plus but to my knowledge only in right hand rotation..

You can try a set of 4 b-blade blasters....I hear they are great props but $$.

Sorry I couldnt remember if it was trophy or tempest..I had both for my outboards...

hey guys....

since my boat is naturally light in the bow...and according to the prop guys i dont need a bow lifting prop...

what about a set of mercury cleavers?

Cleavers might blow out to bad..You could always try a set of the 4 blade solid hub clevers. They look like a chopper but have a flat trailing edge on them. You also may want to try a hydromotive prop, they are suppost to have more of a stern lifting characteristic from what ive heard..

thats what i was saying, you need to stay away from a bow lifter. i ran a hydromotive on mine and loved it. it was to big for my set up but i was a great handling prop. if i have to get a new prop thats what i would buy

well i found a set of 24 p mercury cleavers on ebay for 450 bucks so i was just curious....ive seen alot of the powerplay OB boats runnin cleavers....so i thought maybe there was somethin to it. i know that a cleaver by design has very little bow lift...witch is something that i though may work good for me....

.....and STILLIBERATOR, theres a guy in the swapshop that has a set of 4 blade solid hub choppers for sale. are those the kind you are talkin bout? they have the small hub like my chopper but 4 blades and they are shaped different. from what i understand there are two things that i amconsidering in a possible prop swap: no bow lift....and 4 blades. both for more stabililty since my boat is stearn heavy. does that sound right?

ima try the bravos sinc ethey are local and see what happens. may call BBLADES and test a few sets to see whats up....

I had 4 blade Mach Choppers. definately bow lifting props. I tried a set of cleavers and the boat bow steered terribly. My boat had a full cabin so I needed the bow lift. With your boat being setup to race I would talk to lightspeed. I would think he would know what it likes best. I doubt the cleavers would be the props for that hull. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Bob

thanks for the input bullet!

lightspeed said the boat was fastest with the choppers that are on it now. 3 blade mercs.he suggested maybe putting some weight in the very front in the form of a sand bag may help it fly flat.

greg at cep said that a four blade would give me greater stability but cost me a few mph more than likely. the boat feels "loose" at speed in 1-2 foot shop....but thats not my major concern...the porpoising is a bigger deal to me....LIGHTSPEED said that its just how the boat is and you just have to know how to drive it to get it to perform. so i may be on a wild goose chase.

My T-Bred felt loose and flew the bow high ( at least thats how it felt). It took some getting used to. It scared me more than once in rough water. I don't think the cleavers will work on your hull unless maybe u go with a 5 blade. I never tried a set. Most vee hulls need some bow lift as the hull generates none. Once u learn how to drive (fly) the boat it is rewarding. It took me 10+ hours to learn the basics and drive thru the chine walk.