Hopefully by mid winter Checkmate will be back to producing boats so i can just order the ZT 244 the way I want it. or possibly by then the ZT 260

I see the question has already been answered. And I see you have something in mind already. I will just share my story.

I had an 86 Pachanga 22 with a SBC and an Alpha One. Blew the engine, replaced with a 4 bolt main, higher compression piston setup with Vortec Heads, Edelbrock Intake, Holley Carb, decent cam yada yada. It was fun, but wanted more speed. I GPSed at 64 with that setup on a 23p Mirage prop. Not too bad for that boat/power combo. But, like I said, I wanted more. The wife one day dropped a hint that she wanted a bigger boat, so BAM! Done. I upgraded to a bigger boat with a bigger engine. I got my wish of breaking 70mph, wife got a bigger boat and I fell in love with it. Nice thing about a bigger boat, with bigger engine is you have more room for improvement in my opinion. My Nordic handles like a dream compared to my Pachanga. I couldnt imagine the Sea Ray over 70mph... looking back, I think it would have been scary. I have personally been over 90 in a Nordic Heat and it felt more comfortable than the Pachanga did at 64. There is something to say for bigger boat and better handling. You can get any boat to go fast, just like any Honda Civic. But will it be comfortable and safe at those speeds? Good luck with your possible upgrade!!

Brining this one back out of the weeds. Hopefully someone can talk some sense into me. Heres why.


So this is my second season with my current boat. As most have seen I've been tossing around the idea of a bigger boat with more power. Recently while out with a few friends and their boats as well. As usual we get to talking about boat plans. so my situation comes up and its I'm thinking about a brand new 260 because it has everything, but it also comes with a big payment big block and much more fuel cost. Brought to my attention I won't be out doing nearly the playing I'm doing now due to the added costs.

That brought up my next reason for wanting a bigger boat. being able to handle rougher seas. again my buddies brought up a good point. if its rough out I'm not going to want to be out in any boat.

Then it turned to again keeping my current boat and getting more out of it. This brought up the idea of supercharging. the only one I think I would be comfortable with would be a pro charger, for a couple reasons. One I have had one on my old 6.0 silverado, also it is safer for the drive than the other superchargers by not making gobs of torque down low.

With all of this being said. for those who haven't seen my boat, It is a 2001 that is cleaner than most brand new boats. I wash and wax it every monday. it never stays in the water. always high and dry storage covered by my cockpit cover when I'm not in it. and completely covered during the winter.

So I'm asking for everyones input again.

Make sure the last 8 feet are straight & true. To ck use a straight edge.

A bunch of us run near 70 or more in smaller boats and decent sized lakes. Many had or have bigger boats. small boats can be fun.

Type/size of boat depends on you and where and how you want to run.

Just respect waves - especially confused ones.

So your boat currently runs 60-65? How much does it weigh?

Right now it will run 62 with this prop but at 4600 rpm. I'm sure I could get about 2-3mph with a prop that would allow 4900rpm. My boat weighs about 3300 lbs

Well, from real world experience I can tell you that an additional 10mph is going to mean ALOT things. I had a 2002 Crownline 225 w/496 mag and it would run 63-65 all day long. This was on relatively smooth water (nothing more than wind chop). At WOT, 65 it would get REAL squirrely. Not sure about the handling of your Checkmate, but with increased speed, you lose stability. Also, anything over 70 really benefits from hydraulic steering (mo money!). I eventually realized that I was never going to be happy running 75 in a 22 ft boat so bit the bullet and bought a 32 Advantage w/twin 496 HOs. I can cruise at 70 in MOST water (not LOTO during shootout though!) At WOT you can watch the gas guage drop! Just remember, just cause you CAN go fast, can you go fast SAFELY? Good luck with your endeavor and keep us posted.

From the post you made I would say stick with what you have, it sounds like you are leaning that way. What good is a bigger boat if you can't afford to use it?

As far as it being rougher out, a 260 is going to be safer than what you have. It is not a boat I would want to be on in 3ft waves, however it will handle boat traffic wakes and smaller waves better than what you have. Bigger will always be better in that aspect. It will also run the same speed with a 496 that you are running now, and really won't use that much more fuel than you are using.

Why new? There are so many checkmates out there on the used market, you could save 50-70 percent off the cost of new.

Some will say the procharger style is :"safer" I don't know if I agree with that. You can get any supercharged engine on plane and rolling without hitting boost if you are careful. The prochargers can be a pain to tune on a boat compared to a car. And the way a procharger is sold (just bolt on and go) for a boat is a sure way to blow your engine. A procharger needs much more than they recommend to be safe and tuned properly on a boat.

If your boat does 62 now, a 502 Mag MPI should get you to 70.

You can go the Procharger route, but IMO you should find someone that can tune it for you.