Apr 16

Apr 16 Checkmate Boats: The Next Move

On the first day of the Miami Boat Show I learned the good news that Checkmate Boats had been sold to Pete Caldwell of Caldwell Marine Designs. Now that some time has passed, I reached out to Pete to talk about his plans for the well known performance boat brand. He shared some thoughts and plans as well as some of his own background up until now. The good news is the brand is in good hands, Pete knows how to build boats and he wants Checkmate to be a semi custom builder, opening the door to some positive changes to most of the models.

This wasn’t a formal interview, I was genuinely curious and really wanted to see where Pete was at with the plans for Checkmate. With his company, Caldwell Marine Designs in North Carolina, Pete brings manufacturing capability, which put him in a unique position to acquire the brand as he has the facility and manpower in play already. On top of that, Pete is really passionate about performance boats, although he has worked with brands like Contender and Ski Nautique as well, he also has a history with Donzi and Fountain. Not only is Checkmate in good hands, this is a great fit for Caldwell Marine Designs all around.

I’m a fan of Checkmate, who has long filled the role of an affordable family friendly performance boat. One thing amazing about the brand is the number of people who got into performance boats because of them. On almost every lake in North America there is probably a Checkmate somewhere, and so many of us either had one, or know someone who does. Now that Caldwell Designs is involved, we can expect improved quality. Pete told me they are going to be building the boats with modern materials; closed cell foam core with composite structure.

A fresh take on some good looking boats is what the brand needs and Caldwell Marine Designs will bring. This 2400 BRX Pulsare is the most popular model in the Checkmate lineup.

The Pulsare 2400 was the most popular model for Checkmate and it’s easy to see why because of its family friendly size and ability to handle big modern power. Pete will make a few adjustments to the hull, possibly widening the pad and other elements to improve the handling overall. The same goes for the other models and it will probably go on model by model basis with design improvements.

New materials alone will bring Checkmate into the modern era and be a huge improvement. Caldwell released some potential graphic design ideas to the Checkmate community online to show some concepts and get feedback. All colors will be in the gelcoat, like Checkmate has been known for. Pete also mentioned they sold a ton of new merchandise already, which is a great sign of how strong the Checkmate community is.

The MX 2600 is another outboard option that was a originally a sterndrive model.

Expect to see some improvements to the 2100 Pulsare as well, my personal favorite. I’d love to see the 21 with the pad a little wider for the heavier engines and incorporate a notch in the transom by extending it slightly. That way the hull would retain the running surface and have some built in setback, not relying on too much external setback, which loads up the transom too much. I think revised 21’ and 24’ Pulsares can be the bread and butter for Checkmate. Pete mentioned possibly playing with the MX 2600 model as well. Even with the updates, they plan on keeping the pricing the same, making a truly approachable performance boat option in the market.

The Pulsare 2100 is from 1993 and still looks pretty sharp but a few design updates would benefit the well rounded 21’ sport boat. Engines are heavier and more powerful, hopefully we see a revised version.

Building a brand is hard work and building boats is hard too. With Caldwell Marine Designs expertise and customer fist approach, this looks like a winning combination. Checkmate is a great brand, I’m glad it went to a passionate group looking to take it into the future. We’re going to followup with Pete as some new boats roll out and see how they do. I think they’re going to do great, there is a large space in the family performance market right now.