Sad news for Checkmate Powerboats
11-03-2019, 03:24 PM
#21
Banned
iTrader: (9)
Yup I saw it first hand at our dealership back in 2005. We couldn't give away the 4 or 5 2004 Baja leftovers we had left but our brand new Malibu's , Moomba's and Supra's we couldn't even keep in stock. Just selling themselves basically. Flashforward to 2019 and the Wake boat sales has slowed down for us but the bottom line is they still sell.
I had quite a few $100k Wakeboat demo's that I got to use , they are great for partying on and riding behind obviously but I would still rather drive my 18 year old Baja anyday.
I dont get it , Wakeboats are a complete bore to drive. And considering most people who buy them are beginner Wakesurfers/Wakeboarders at best, why would a Guy spend that kind of money on a Boat that rides ****ty in any sort of chop and tops out at 42 MPH. I guess just to "look cool".
I had quite a few $100k Wakeboat demo's that I got to use , they are great for partying on and riding behind obviously but I would still rather drive my 18 year old Baja anyday.
I dont get it , Wakeboats are a complete bore to drive. And considering most people who buy them are beginner Wakesurfers/Wakeboarders at best, why would a Guy spend that kind of money on a Boat that rides ****ty in any sort of chop and tops out at 42 MPH. I guess just to "look cool".
The fact of the matter they are keeping MANY boat shops in BIZ bar none --- for some reason they spend big money and seems to have available dollars for repairs plus some with open check books. . Also they do not hold back to buy anything wake related.
Wake boats sell within a day or 2 when one throws out an ad for a used one. The cost are as much if not more compared to the sportboat market -- A good example of this - 23 ft - 24 ft wake boat rides like crap in open waters for 125 K to 225 K and then on top of that same customer will spend another 10k to 80k for anything wake related for upgrades. Including stereos - lites - towers - racks - tower speakers - boards and even clothing. In return this also provides many jobs in the boat industry for people that earn an living. I am just saying - it is what it is and I have no control over what is hot and is NOT. I do know what is hot and what surely is not in the industry.
Anyways I would like to see the sportboat in volumes like the old days but doubt it will.. Man in the 90 s to very early 2000s - 60 % of the boats that came into my shop were sportboats - Fountains - bajas- checkmates - scarabs - donzi - Sea Ray Panchanga - four winns liberator - Powerquest and so on.
Last edited by BUP; 11-03-2019 at 03:26 PM.
11-03-2019, 06:42 PM
#22
Performance Boat Center
VIP Member
Very sad to see this happen to an iconic brand. They were very cool boats. They don't look like they were tough to build, just tough to sell....
Everyone complains that boats are soooo expensive... Checkmates were always a bargain in my eyes.
Someone with some space should buy the brand and tools and keep it alive, even at a small volume.... How about Iconic Marine... They could integrate them into their brands easily... They don't complete with what Baja and Fountain do....
Everyone complains that boats are soooo expensive... Checkmates were always a bargain in my eyes.
Someone with some space should buy the brand and tools and keep it alive, even at a small volume.... How about Iconic Marine... They could integrate them into their brands easily... They don't complete with what Baja and Fountain do....
__________________
Tim Gallagher
Performance Boat Center-FL
[email protected]
954-809-8739
Wright Performance, MTI, Cigarette, Sunsation
Tim Gallagher
Performance Boat Center-FL
[email protected]
954-809-8739
Wright Performance, MTI, Cigarette, Sunsation
11-03-2019, 07:32 PM
#23
Registered
Up and down east coastal on fire with sales and most 3 to 5 outboards installed. West coastal not at all the situation for CC boat sales
Inland America not so much either. Pontoon and wake boats by far are on fire with sales.. Wake boats are on fire inland just killing it.. And do I mean on fire. Malibu sells more boats than all combine boats with mercruiser engines in them for the past 5 years - year vs year sales..
Think about that - one wake boat manu selling more than anything all combine Mercruiser installed in what 200 different brand of boats.. That is a hard pill to swallow for the I/O production sides of the coin.
To add wake boats are so strong that 2 wake boat companies OWN THE ENGINE companies not the other way are around. That's saying a lot
Inland America not so much either. Pontoon and wake boats by far are on fire with sales.. Wake boats are on fire inland just killing it.. And do I mean on fire. Malibu sells more boats than all combine boats with mercruiser engines in them for the past 5 years - year vs year sales..
Think about that - one wake boat manu selling more than anything all combine Mercruiser installed in what 200 different brand of boats.. That is a hard pill to swallow for the I/O production sides of the coin.
To add wake boats are so strong that 2 wake boat companies OWN THE ENGINE companies not the other way are around. That's saying a lot
And that is the future. Just don’t invest in the bank or finance companies that is holding those 30 year notes on all those boats these days.
11-03-2019, 08:55 PM
#24
Registered
I don’t mean this to sound snarky, but the only surprise to me was that they were still in business. Nothing against their build quality or anything along those lines, I’m 45 or so minutes from the factory and can’t remember the last time I heard anything about them.
11-03-2019, 09:45 PM
#25
I think Global really dropped the ball with this. Almost zero marketing and no real push of the product lines to any of the wider market trends of today. Plus no provision to build boats in any volume or quickly to support the dealer network. Randy (Wildman) has said that when he tried to special order boats the delivery was unreasonably long.
11-03-2019, 10:24 PM
#26
Gold Member
Gold Member
Sorry to see them go, always read good things about their quality.
However, they were familiar proven boats with newer engines and paint trying to compete in a diminishing market. Unless you are a huge influential player in the market, I think you have to be an innovator and come up with something special. Just my silly opinion.
RR
However, they were familiar proven boats with newer engines and paint trying to compete in a diminishing market. Unless you are a huge influential player in the market, I think you have to be an innovator and come up with something special. Just my silly opinion.
RR
11-04-2019, 10:25 AM
#27
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100% me too. I didn't even know they were still building and selling boats. Now that I look up the website I see that they actually have some interesting boats, but if buyers didn't know they were a thing.....
11-04-2019, 11:35 AM
#29
Registered
My lake is almost solid pontoon boats these days. This past summer I saw several with twin engines and big power. New boaters buy these boats because of the ease of operation and maint. Tons of space and they go as fast as the runabouts on the lake. I used to see a lot of sport boats on the lake but very few anymore. One dealership tried to make a run with the new Baja & Donzi but it took them 2 years to sell the few they had. I despise pontoon boats and wake boats are like riding on a board in the chop. I'm sad to see Checkmate go. And IMO, Baja would have a better shot if they reintroduced the Islander line with some big bowriders. Nobody is buying the 27 Outlaw! Build a big open bow performance boat and you could compete with the CCs on the market.
11-04-2019, 01:10 PM
#30
Registered
I thought their 260 with twin outboards was a winner. They should be respected for the announcement, a class act for sure. So many companies out there that would rather string along and burn customers and vendors until the last penny is spent.
