25 Outlaw vs. 253 Checkmate
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Dubuque, IA
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Re: 25 Outlaw vs. 253 Checkmate
A 25' Checkmate with 496HO will run low 70's on GPS. The Baja 25OL's with 496HO run strong but have a hard time breaking 65 mph.
The 25OL runs good in the rough, but so does the 25' Checkmate even though it's 750lbs lighter. The narrow bottom on the Checkmates are excellent for rough stuff. So I wouldn't say you'd be going up to a better ride.
Fit and Finish: The Baja 25OL is a nice boat, but it won't have as good of glass and gel work as the Checkmate. Look at the deck/hull joint on your current Checkmate, should be riveted, screwed, and thru-bolted closely on center. They also use marine adhesive. The 25OL your looking at might only be riveted.
Baja makes a lot more boats than Checkmate and sometimes things get missed like penetrations and weep holes not sealed Check for it.
The 25OL runs good in the rough, but so does the 25' Checkmate even though it's 750lbs lighter. The narrow bottom on the Checkmates are excellent for rough stuff. So I wouldn't say you'd be going up to a better ride.
Fit and Finish: The Baja 25OL is a nice boat, but it won't have as good of glass and gel work as the Checkmate. Look at the deck/hull joint on your current Checkmate, should be riveted, screwed, and thru-bolted closely on center. They also use marine adhesive. The 25OL your looking at might only be riveted.
Baja makes a lot more boats than Checkmate and sometimes things get missed like penetrations and weep holes not sealed Check for it.