Truth be told, the biggest problem people have with go-fasts isn’t how fast they are — it’s how loud they are. With the Checkmate Convincor 2800 Outboard, you’ll hit 80.2 mph, but the boat runs so quietly, even sailboters won’t gripe.
Doug Smith, the founder of Baja Marine, recently bought Checkmate and brought to it a traditional approach to high-performance boatbuilding. Case in point: the Convincor 2800 Outboard, the first Checkmate to be powered with our 300-hp test motors. With its straight 24-degree V-bottom sporting four strakes and a slightly turned-down chine, the Convincor 2800 Outboard feels as if it’s a bass boat on human growth hormones. It’s fun and light to handle as you take aim at those big speeds. Because the hull isn’t stepped, when you take the Convincor 2800 Outboard into the ocean, you can lower the tabs and trim in the outboards to make the boat knife through waves. This boat would make a great poker runner on a budget. It’s built to take the pounding, too, with balsa core up to ¾,,” thick in the hull bottom and alternating layers of multidirectional fiberglass.
You can’t argue with the ease of its rigging. The twin outboards are mounted on a Gil Marine bracket. All the hoses and lines are cleanly routed through the transom. Beneath the aft hatch is great access for the trim pumps, oil tanks, and batteries.
At the helm, the number of Eddie Marine Elite Series instruments might seem small, but you can scroll through the multifunction LED screens in the tachometers.
More time-honored design is evident in the Convincor 2800 Outboard’s cabin, where there are two facing lounges and a portable head in the base of the V-berth. And because these engines are so quiet, you’ll never wake the neighbors if you want to make an early-morning speed run.
