Global Marine Power Purchases Checkmate Marine
Global Marine Power, the parent company of Hustler Powerboats, has acquired the Checkmate Marine assets and plans to resume production at the Bucyrus, Ohio, facility at the beginning of August. Photo by Robert Brown
There’s good news for Checkmate Powerboats fans that were worried about the future of the company a couple of months ago. Global Marine Power, the parent company of Hustler Powerboats in Calverton, N.Y., announced today that it has purchased Checkmate Marine‘s assets.
Hustler Powerboats, a manufacturer of high-performance offshore boats since 1979, will now be able to offer 17 models to customers looking for boats under 30 feet by Checkmate.
“With a strong presence in the center console and small performance outboard boat market, Checkmate makes a great addition to the Hustler family,” said Paul LoGiudice, sales manager for Hustler Powerboats. “With 84 years of history between the two companies and 32 different models of boats ranging from 18 to 50 feet, the unification will appeal to the new customers who are looking to find an affordable boat while working up to a larger boat without the need of changing companies down the road.”
Checkmate will continue to produce and operate in Bucyrus, Ohio, and complement Hustler’s current distribution channels. According to Hustler owner Joe LoGiudice, who seemed very excited about the new business opportunity in a phone interview today, the Checkmate facility is being cleaned up so they can start fresh with production on August 1. He also said they plan to run production similarly and retain many of the employees, including general manager Dean Reynolds and former owner Doug Smith.
“Hustler and Checkmate share many of the same attributes—they’re custom, hand-laid, high-quality boats with exceptional performance,” said Doug Smith, who founded Baja Marine and bought Checkmate six years ago from founder Bill Combs. “I am excited to see what Hustler will be able to help Checkmate accomplish.”
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