budget is only 25k...wasn't really looking for a 28 w/ twins, because there aren't any in that price range...until this checkmate popped up...

the way gas prices are going theres alot more twins popping up for sale , look at boat trader online , theres a 94 29 scarab on there for 25k , pair of 350's and alpha's , small blocks wont break the bank on gas prices and are cheap to re-power if bad things happen , as for checkmate , i own one and love it , but mine is a 24 with a shallow V , not many made and it IS fast , but i dance on waves like a crazy chimp , not a ruff water boat , as for singles , i think i've seen that formula , it has a camper canvas (only one i have ever seen) its a nice lookin boat for the bucks there asking

oh yea , i early 90's 251 convincor just hit the clasifieds here for under 20k , yellow one , keeps 6k in your pocket for incedentals

gas prices aren't a HUGE deal to me...i'm on a smaller lake and spend most of my time anchored, but i want to be able to hang with the few big power boats around here when necessary...the scarab is nice, but i'll take built 502's w/ bravo's over 350's with alphas when they are the same price...

double your pleasure double your fun......and repair bills, and maintenence, and headaches.:D Filters and oil dont seem like much on a twin vs. single until you find yourself building a pair of new ones from the ground up. Sometimes buying the boat is the cheapest part.:angry-smiley-038:

Honestly, my 251 Checkmate (though to be fair, as x-driver said, it was a 1982 with a single OB) was the worst riding boat I've ever been in. Boats of comparable size that I've driven are a 24' Excalibur, 22' Donzi, 28' Donzi ZX, and 28' Cig. I've also riden Formulas and Bajas of around the 25' size. In rough water, I would have almost rather been in Dad's 22Donzi than my boat. The angle of the waves and chop had to be just right for that boat to ride smoothly.

It was also a b*tch to dock. For awhile I thought it was just me, but then I let other people try to dock it and they all had the same problem. It didn't really have a pivot point. It just kind of drifted sideways.


I may have been due to the OB or how the OB was set up (I bought it that way) but I just wasn't happy with the boat.

UMMMMm.......YUP!!!!

My budget was close to that. I bought one of these and I've helped two other OSO members get into 28 apache's for $25K. It may not be perfect.........but its not a checkmate either. Have patience........ when you find the right boat it will be an easy choice.

If the Formula is in jersey , it's my buds boat. Very well maintained and nice with the camper canvas extra. We've done a bunch of runs together and I really like the boat. I know it will handle the rough better than the check. Saw it monday up at the shop where it is stored.

I've never really been impressed w/ the finish on the checkmates.

The Formula is a 25 ft boat with 2 ft of builtin swim deck if I am right. that check is a full 28ft, which is 3 ft longer 8' beam better ride. make sure you take both out, and my friend raced 2 formulas in f2 apba and was not happy with the regular off the shelf 38 footer, broke the stringers and other boat parts. he raced them for 5years then sold them over seas for short money . he thought they sucked quality wise didn't buy a fountain because reggie pissed him off at the wet pits in 97 when he raced a superboat 30. andin the 80s they were not covering the plywood under the floors every good in up to the late 80s, look at audiofn boat under stringer repair jon had to replace bulkheads too I think. that 28 C M was a good rough water hull with twin OBs there use to be one in apba long time ago in B class. So take them out for a ride in some chop and I bet the 28 will ride a lil better C M makes a good boat a stronger resin I think it was ame 4000 or something they would say look it up and it takes a lot of hp [blower] to move a single formula to 85 or 90. you will be there with twin stock power in the checkmate. oh if you can come up with a few more dollars theres a white and yellow SUTPHEN 33 TWIN 502S STOCK 80 MPH UNDER SUTPHENS AND THERE NEW MOTORS THAT WILL OUT RIDE ANY OF THE ABOVE BOATS IN ANY SIZE. LOTS OF ROOM TO AND THEY LOOK MEAN ON TOP OF THAT. Thats my next hull since I can't afford a new 28 JOKER. A friend has a 31 that needs power and theres another 33 that needs work both are projects. I know of so I may pull the trigger on one of them this fall, because mine is going to be running after a restore this aug.