First time out in L.I. Sound-Checkmate 259
 

Put the 259 Checkmate Convincer in the big water for the first time today from all fresh water inland lakes. There is definately something really nice about being able to plan going "Somewhere" instead of the usual local haunts. The boat was definately a bit light and caught some air, but the hull seemed pretty solid structurally. Does anyone else run out here on a regular basis with similar boat?

were in the sound do/will you run? My boat is almost back in runngon condition. I am on the northshore of LI between glen cove and oyster bay. When she's runnind i am in the sound all the time.

i jst looek dup skaneatles NY on mapquest and it appear to be way upstate. Did you move south or do you just like to trailer 8 hours to the sound?

I use to own a 259 checkmate It was like a large waverunner in the ocean! I often wondered if the
K-planes would have made a difference rather than them little sissy trim tabs

I have a 259 with k Planes. they will keep the nose down.

I had a 98 253 with a Procharged 502 and used to run the Sound all the time. Used to go around Orient Pt., thru the Gut. The sound can be unpredictable. Lots of big swells, sloppy chop and boat wakes can make for an exciting ride. The boat definately likes to fly. It handles water well but has it's limitations. I had it for 2 seasons and the boat developed alot of stress cracks and things started to come loose. I was very happy with it but feel it could be built a little stronger.

I just moved to Westport CT from Skaneateles NY...little bit different out here ! We ran from Norwalk to Bridgeport and anchored in a cove called Cockieco (i think). I was commenting yesterday on how the tabs seemed pretty much worthless (and it was really the first time I've ever really needed them). How big of a production is switching to k-planes? Puder, let me know once your boat is back together - we'll have to get together.

definatly.

As for converting to k-planes it isn't taht big of a deal. Check out the eddie marine billet trib tabs. I installed them on my boat. They look good (and stonger than merc parts) and were 1/2 price of merc kplanes alone. Plus they came with trim pumps for $1600. Just remove your bennets, fill the old mounting holes with gelcote drill the new hoels for the planes and bolt the new ones in place. Just make sure that you place them so you avoid drilling into any stringers. If you do get eth eddie marine parts orer the hardware from mcmaster or some other hardware supplier. Eddie marine doen;t supply that and i found that the normal bolts (with hex heads) were a tad big for the mounting plates and had trouble fittign a socket wrench on them. It woudl be way easier to get socket head bolts. good luck.

when my baot gets rungnian again i'll let you know!

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into the Eddie Tabs. In the mean time I made the mistake of stopping at Ocean Performance. They have some really nice larger used boats that might not be too far out of my price range. The finance rates seem pretty damn good too....
We'll see.

JROMY, do you run the dual-ram Bennetts? If so, I'm currently offering an upgrade for both the single and dual ram kits. They simply bolt up to your original tab mounts. Overall length is just over 18" for the dual ram and about 14" overall length for the singles. Both styles measure 12" wide and taper down to 8" at the tip. I've had great success and reviews with this new product. Let me know if you're interested. $399CDN.-dual $379CDN.-single

Shown are a couple of prototypes just out of the paint booth.

Brian Kamrath

More pics of the prototype. Dual ram version is now in full production, single ram version will be in production the second week in August.:D

This picture shows the first set ever built, before paint. I'll post more pics of painted tabs soon. Today I'm doing a set in HP Mercury blue, one in Porsche guards red, one in 'glamour' metallic silver and one in high gloss black.:cool:

I am running the dual ram tabs so those might work out pretty well. It has seemed at times like the speed that the tabs operated at might be a bit slow(big delay). Is that the size of the tab or the speed of the rams themselves?

JROMY...I've been running out of the Norwalk area for 33 years. If you need any information on the area, shoot me a PM and I'll help ya out.

Well, I caught some huge waves this weekend - and heard a large crunch. Apparently just my CD player blowing out of its cradle. Am I going to end up splitting this hull apart?

The sound can be very unpredictable, like a washing machine at times. Lots of big boats throwing big rollers. I run a 28 Pantera with twin 496's and sometimes i feel more like a airplane pilot rather than a boat operater but this boat lands soft and keeps going. I run out of cos cob ct.........sometimes you just have to run some tab in it, and be safe.........

I also live on the sound, a little farther east. I know what you mean about the beating you can take out there. I just bought a 26' Cougar cat. I'm going to pick it up next weekend down in Miami. I'm scared to death that it isn't going to be enough boat for me out there in the Sound. We'll see.

I didn't get a chance to take my other boat out this weekend. Although on Sat. I did manage to take one of the kayaks out for a couple of hours and found it to be unusually calm out there. Between having my weekend being wasted by a not so close friends wedding and the crap weather, the weekend was a wash for me. Sunday I had two hours to myself so I jumped on the chopper and went for a ride. Stopped by Ocean Performance in Old Saybrook. Have you seen the paint work on that cat out front? The "X Men" boat... wow is that impressive. Blew me away. Luckily for my sake, the place was closed. Looks like they have a few nice used boats. Most of the stuff looked to be at least 30'. From my experience on the Sound 30' or better is what's needed in a deep V. I don't know about cats... I'll have to get back to you on that one.

BTW- your boat should hold together fine, it just sounds like it's about to crack in half!

I saw the x-men boat a week or two ago. Beautiful. I was actually hoping to trade my boat for a 38' Cigarette they had for around 155000. Boat is greenish with a baby smoking a doobie (or something) "Pure Insanity" Unfortunately, I don't think I can swing it. I'm just hoping that mine holds up. It seems fine other than some of the noises I hear. Next spring, I'm shooting for a Cig or POWERPLAY. I'm curious to know how the cats hang in the chop out in the Sound.

I didn't see that 38 Cig. Was it in the back, in the fenced in area? Sounds nice, sounds pricey. I see they have a fair amount of inventory turn over. I drive by every couple of weeks if you want me to keep an eye open for something in particular.

You can't go wrong with a Cig or Powerplay. I'm sure there is or will be some deals out there as the market is pretty beaten up... as long as you buy before Feb / March.

I was out in Greenport LI a week ago Sat. Later in the day it got very nasty. Coming through Plum Gut in an 18' Yamaha jetboat was interesting to say the least. Had to be at least 10'+ seas anyway in the Gut. :( I was a little concerned to say the least. The sound itself had about 5' to 6' seas. I couldn't get the boat up on plane (15 mph?) and noticed others in larger boats not moving to much faster. As I got closer to Clinton Harbor some guy came blowing by me at 60+ mph in a cat. Looked to be a 30' - 35' aluminum cat w/ twin BB's. I swear I could smell the beer he was drinking! He was running that smooth. I later saw him at the town dock waiting for someone to bring the trailer, drinking a beer. It blew me away that he was able to run that hard through the crud. I'll be a happy man if I can take my cat through 2/3's the crud at those speeds!

jromy, (sorry this is long) I'm out with my 25 convincor just about every weekend. I launch in Saybrook and usually head out to Greenport or block Island. As others have said, the sound can be unpredictable. Down at the east end the water seems to be going in many different directions.
this time of the year it can get pretty big out there.
Plum gut and the race can get real bad for a 25' boat.Be careful.
Headed out this past Saturday(going to block Island), headed toward the gut and the swells where growing to 4-5-? changed course and headed toward the race. Got real choppy there.
Got to the edge of the chop and found 3 consecutive 6-7' walls of water. We got soaked!!!! Now we're wet and it's only 70*. After that it flatend out a bit but the swells where beating us up.
headed back around the out side of plum island and back thru the gut and back into the sound. Swells were not as bad.
Went to duck Island, ate lunch, took a nap, and headed home.
Let me know when your going out sometime and maybe we can hook up.
As far as the boat, Mine seem's to be holding up pretty good. The screws for the rub rail kept coming loose(not the ones that bolt the hull together). but I pulled them out, filled the holes with silkiflex caulk and put the screws back in. So far they haven't loosened up again.
The EX-MEN boat at ocean performance, Cool boat.
Talked to one of there sales men at a show this past winter about my boat, he referred to the checkmates as a "Ohio poor mans boat". I guess if you don't spend at least $200k on a boat your nobody.
I only dream about a 38' cig
There parts guy (Mike) is a really nice guy though.