Its a nice boat but no way I'm dropping that amount of coin on a Cmate. Quality is no where near Outerlimits, Fountain or a Cig and they dominate this size class. If your a Checkmate lover go for it but Outerlimits, Cig and Fountain have proven themselves with all their hulls in the 38-47 range for decades. It only ran 85mph with the current props! What manufacturer can sell a 400k boat without dialing it in. Sorry guys but even in the mid 90's its gonna get smoked by its competition which run 100-105mph w/ 700sci and #6's. I could buy a 39Cig or 42 fountain with 525's for less money that runs high 80's. In the 250k range you could buy any of the 3 I listed and there is no comparison in performance and quality.

Dude, it's a brand new 41 apache.....

I'm aware of what it is. I would rather have the Apache name and I'm a current Checkmate owner. I just dont think Cmate should be in the twin engine market regardless if the mold was from Chief.

So you're more concerned with what name is on the side of your hull than it's performance in rough water. Gotcha.

No. At this price point I want a Cig, Fountain or OL because they have proven themselves for many decades not only in their product but as a business! Checkmate almost went belly up this year! They build solid boats as I have owned 2 and my current 283 for 10years but in the big boy twin market they have had experience with only this model. Not enough for me. Lets go side by side in the rough and see who comes out ahead with comparable power....

Deal!

Yeah, damn those one off 41 apaches, especially from reputable boat builders. Who wants one of those when you can have a fountain? LOL

http://www.offshoreonly.com/wp-conte...ightning03.jpg

Fairly certain a new OL or Cig would probably be close to 3 times as much as this Checkmate was. Hell, the power and drive package is probably in the neighborhood of what the sale price was. Can't see how you could really go wrong...

Check300, good luck with the new ride! It's a great looking boat.

The boat was in florida last winter. Bill brought it back to michigan for boyne.

I think the people in the know will know what that boat is all about. The people who are in that price and category of boat are interested in ride, quality, etc. If it's a good boat it's a good boat. White Lightning is supposedly a 1off boat...and there are lots of people who would take it in a heart beat. Speculating about what you would buy "IF" you had that kind of money is silly. Sounds wicked cool to me...and I have a 253 that I love...Someday may move to a 300 series....but I'd never bang on someone for not doing it like I would.