What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to pick up a new powerboat as a couple.
That’s what Kevin and Sarah Bellows did as they attended the Miami International Boat Show on the most romantic day of the year for a date with their 2026 Checkmate Powerboats 2400 BRX.
It was love at first sight.
Checkmate owner Peter Caldwell encouraged the couple to visit Miami Beach to see their catamaran for the first time. Caldwell has been taking the bowrider catamaran to boat shows and will deliver the 2400 BRX to the Bellows before the start of the boating season on Great Sacandaga Lake in New York.
Powered by a Mercury Racing 500R outboard, the bright green catamaran was a draw in Pride Park outside the Miami Beach Convention Center. Earlier in the morning, Boating Magazine had presented Checkmate’s Pete Caldwell with a Boat of the Year award for the 2400 BRX.
Kevin had planned to fly to Miami for the day but when they realized it would align with Valentine’s Day, they decided to make it a long weekend. With the grandparents watching the couple’s three children, it was a chance to see the new catamaran in-person.
The Bellows had two Checkmates previously and worked closely with Caldwell to come up with a package on the 2400 BRX that would grow with the family.
“I realized that it wasn’t going to be a cookie-cutter boat, and it was something that we were going to work through and build,” Kevin said. “We’re bouncing ideas off each other and the next thing you know there’s this old-school Checkmate but with all of these new features.”
The Bellows use the boat to tow the kids around and cruise Great Sacandaga Lake when they visit for the weekend.
“We wanted to have the best of both worlds,” Kevin said. “A performance boat we could run but also a fun family boat that you can lounge out and then enjoy and just cruise around.”
That’s what Caldwell envisioned when he relaunched Checkmate Powerboats in 2020. The goal is to build a powerboat that delivers a lot for the money. Checkmate was offered the 24-foot catamaran with a 500-hp outboard for $214,440 at the Miami show. Anyone who has shopped for a new boat lately knows that it’s a good price.
“We want to build a boat that families will enjoy for years to come,” Caldwell said. “For the Bellows, the 2400 BRX will serve them even as their boating evolves.”
Sarah is going to get her New York state boating license, so she can share more of the driving duties.
“He’s going to have to give me more time behind the wheel now,” Sarah said with a laugh.
