I wasn't there to see it for myself but after some conversations I've had with Sammie online I believe both him and the story are legit. Sammie has helped a lot of members on the forum with rigging of their vintage Checkmates. He is a very honest and helpful guy and that his love for boats definitely gives him a writing style all his own.

Got to be a good guy , his name is Sam .

-5 drive?

sounds about right. if he had a #3 drive and and special -5" lower like he said then it would be almost as short as a #5 ssm. he wouldn't need a #5 ssm with the light weight of the boat but would need to make it a surface drive like a 5. sounds like it is possible with a 1500 lb boat and 1200 hp. got to have the nuts to drive it that fast though

What about terminal hull speeds here? Can this hull make these kind of speeds without serious chine walking or losing control? I call bull**** also. I have driven checkmate over 80 miles an hour very scary.most people in the boating will add 10 mph this guy has just gone too far!

It's easy to find out the truth just find out the gear ratio and prop pitch RPM and there you go. Also I don't remember Mercury having any new SSM drives in the early 90s other than the Black Hawk.

I had my 30 which would have been called a 28 in the 1990's up to 120. His 22 would be a 24 in today's boating world. Also he didn't say 140, he said 131 and change. I think he did it.

Drew, my 25ft Checkmate would run 97 all day long like it was on rails, with wife and two children on board, That was 25 years ago as well. Hummm.....? Terminal hull speed assumes that most of the hull is in contact with the water. I believe the claims are possible. Just my opinion!

I think the definition of insanity should be a picture of this boat. I love speed, but thats flat out scary. Always impressed with people who have an idea and go for it.