For Checkmate Powerboats and owner Pete Caldwell the last few years has been tumultuous to say the least. What seemed like a great start for the new ownership group, turned into a pause in production and an uncertain future. Now, Pete Caldwell has announced the relaunch of the brand and it is great news for the industry. Without dwelling on the past of the storied brand, let’s consider what the future might look like for Checkmate as it moves to become a dominant family performance boat brand once again.

First, this is my opinion and I did not talk to Pete about his specific plans. I want to give my thoughts on what can differentiate a brand like Checkmate and see it succeed. The phrase I can think of is to move forward in design and approach. To be a serious brand, you have to innovate, push design and not rest on your laurels. How does this look? New models that perform. Checkmate has always owned a distinct look and I love that about the brand. New engines are heavier and more powerful, so Checkmate will have to adjust accordingly.

Another critical thing a serious performance boat company would do is stop making bowriders, they are a horrible design for any boat and have zero business as a performance boat. Efficiency, safety, and design mean no bowriders. If a customer wants a bowrider, they can get a Bayliner, Four Winns, or any other chunk of fiberglass builder. I feel strongly about this. Making bowriders would be a huge mistake. Brands in general, and boat companies especially try to cater to every customer, it’s losing strategy when you’re small.

I do like the 21 Pulare and the 24 Pulsare, they both look great. With a little revision I’d see about stretching them a bit, to accommodate the new engines, making a 22 and 25. For complete revisions, modern boats tend to be a narrower than older designs. The Pulsare boats are quite old, the 21 is actually pretty fast and capable, I think with some revisions could even be better. The 24 is actually the old Enforcer, probably a 40 year old design, although it was greatly updated to create the 2400 Pulsare over a decade ago.

Most of the other hulls in the former Checkmate lineup were pretty bad. The Convincors were ancient and ugly. The 260 that was introduced in 2012 and was I believe a Baja carry over from when Doug Smith owned Checkmate. It’s an awful design, too beamy and slow. It’s probably a good time to move away from goofy graphics and focus on clean color schemes. It would be great to see Checkmate get into the mid size 27 to 30’ market as well with a fresh design. Also, Checkmate built the brand on small boats, why not make a little 16 that can run modest power for the entry level boater in the 90 to 115 HP range.

Making and designing boats is really hard and Pete Caldwell is capable of doing a great job, he has the knowhow, facility and a great brand. Checkmate could continue to be a leader in family performance boats and I hope it does. I have fond memories of running our Pulsare 21 and Starflite back in the day.