Bertram Sportfish Yachts Coming Back???

In all this it is interesting to note that Viking has bought the molds of the Ocean Yachts 37 Billfish, and rumor is that Bertram sold seven 35s.
The first 35 is nearly ready as I received an e-mail this week.

So seeing Viking making a move in this area means they are smelling business, as they would not make a move for nothing. I think we can all agree that Viking and the Healy family has been always more or less spot on in the business side of things since they took over Viking.

It is worth to note that even though Ocean Yachts marketing room was dead since 2008, they still managed to sell like forty 37s of this are including some of the 2010 launched Open version using the same hull.
So I think there is a market for classic style Bertram 31 inspired sport fish day cruisers.

I think the game changer for Bertram can be if they can make the 35 available with a few different configurations on the 35 hull, something which was also part of the 31 back in the sixties.

Well, they've gone a little further in their plans, announcing Tampa as their International Headquarters for Bertram. Also in obtaining the state and local support they got, they projected spending $35 on Capital Expenditures and employing 140 people.

They are looking for a production engineer if anyone is interested.

My sentiments, exactly. Sportfish builders have been scurrying to build super-size boats, leaving a void in the 40-45 range, but that market is being quickly filled by center-console builders, although there has been a lull as Yamaha 350 outboards (V8's) are grenading due to flywheel problems and the Seven engines are ridiculously (and unjustifiably) over-priced. Now that Merc has raised the bar to 400hp on the Verado platform, big center consoles will likely dominate the 40-45' range. Only time will tell if Mercury is using us as human guinni pigs with the new motors, as so many of us have been over the years.

Yamaha 300's are super engines though. Smart buyers went for them instead. You lose only a little top end speed. Seven's are what the market will pay. The person who wants them, doesn't care about their price. I just don't need that much engine in an outboard.

SF builders may be too late with 40-45'. Some nice CC's in that range now. Maybe they should attack 50'.

Out of interest, what's the storage like over there for 40-45' C/C's... does everyone dry stack...?

And how much are these new Bertram 35's going for...? Cheers

Far

Agreed. V6 based 300s are the bomb. It's the V8s that will explode. Yamaha has set up a 75 hour service interval on new power. Not sure on motors out of warranty, but the price of big CCs with used 350s is plummeting.

You can find some dry stack storage for 40-45'. But a lot of them are kept out of the water on a lift behind the owners house.

Yes, the Yamaha 350s have been having major issues and Yamaha can't find a fix for the flywheels. One owner I know, yamaha just puts new flywheels on the boat every 200 hours for free.

I don't know, Cabo was the premier SF builder in the 40-52' range and towards the end, weren't selling very many FB boats..... in the 52's they only built I think 3 flybridge boats yet dozens and dozens of expresses.

Cannot understand why Viking would buy a hull mold from Ocean, Vikings easily capable of making a 37' from scratch that's updated..... Viking does have several models in the 42'-50' size range already.

Viking's primary reason was to get the manufacturing facility as a place to build some of their smaller boats, leaving more space in their main facility for the larger ones.

The 28 -40ft SF market in Europe is booming. Every marina is packed with them. There is one very simple reason for this and makes them a multi-role boat.

They have a lower helm station.

I have to disagree with you, having spent a lot of time on both the 54 as well as her larger sister, the 60.
According to The Powerboat Guide (a neutral source of info), the Davis had a paltry 30 KT cruise compared to the 32 KT 60 Bertram, both with 1400 HP power. And-uh, the 60 made 36 Kts tops.
40 is the "magic number"?
In comparing deadrise and displacement, the Bertram had 17 deg. and 90,500# vs, the Davis with 16 deg. and 80,000#. Guess which hull "stuck" better to the waves with less punishment?
The Bertram was--not a lot--but decidedly better in a seaway. Puerto Rico's North Coast around to Fajardo on the East is/was some nasty real estate, and I know which brand outsold the other.
Lastly, you claim the 60 "rocked and rolled A LOT".

That is utter garbage and you should be ashamed to be spewing nonsense.

You, sir, are quite knowledgeable about many subjects, but the 60 Bertram is not in that genre.

Cheers!

The 60' Bertram would roll your eyes out in a beam sea on the troll. Yes they ran good at cruise. A friend of mine ran a 2001/2002 with 3412's with a tower when it was new and it cruised 32 knots. On the troll in a beam sea it rocked and rolled.......

Why are you even comparing it to a Davis? Davis was not a good boat either. Yes the Davis was a Michael Peters design BUT, Davis couldn't ever seem to get the balance of the boat or longitudal COG anywhere near close to where it was supposed to be. Yes, I've run a 58' Davis and a 50' Egg Harbor. The only way the egg Harbor 50' ran ok without being a wet submarine, was with the bow tank bone dry, and the aft tank plumb full, then as you burned fuel in the aft tank the ride just degraded from there. Now get on one of the 60'ish ft' Ryboviches or 61' Tribute that utilized a Peters hull and totally different story. The 61' tribute is a 44 knot boat launched in 2007. Blount and Peters have left Napier in the dust, just like all of Jack Hargraves old Hatteras MY hulls and their rolly polly ride in a beam sea.

Cabo was about the best for getting longitudal COG right throughout their line, the Napier hulls plain sucked (wet, pounded, rolled) compared to the later Peters hulls. CABO tank tested all of their designs prior to having a mold built from around 2000 and forward.

If, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video...speaks volumes:

[Bertram 60 during a leg of the Bahamas Billfish Championship]

https://www.facebook.com/goldenkeyok/videos/1154327167921671/

Yeah, she's a roller alright...if you just stepped off a fuel barge.

Pretty stable for the conditions, although mostly in a following sea. I can't remember if the 63' non-benefited from the cathedral-like, Ferretti/Zuchon bottom? If so, it would explain the stability in the video, but it was likely a wet ride home. Again, not sure if Zirchon had a hand in screwing up the 63' hulls like they did with the 54's.

Don't know who's more tired... the fish, the fisherman or viewers after 20 minutes of reeling.

From my small view of the boating marketplace I think going after the mid size is a smart play for both Bertram and Viking. It offers an entry level boat bridging the gap and hopefully bringing new clients into the "family" who'll eventually trade up, the Healey's have been doing that better than anyone for a long time. In the even smaller custom world everyone is building either 80+ battle wagons or 35-40' express boats, almost no 60'ers like 10 years ago. I've got two expresses going now, a 37 inboard and 41 outboard and all the inquiries lately have been for the same basic thing.

Bill106:

Why are all Carolina-built boats so danged pretty?

A closely guarded ratio of tumblehome to flare.

Are you kidding??? I watched the video, they're in a very moderate sea state, not even 4' and trolling down sea at 8.5 knots. There is a ton of side to side movement at times with the sea directly behind them. Watch from 7-10 minutes in the video, they're in less than a 4' sea state, on the stern and that thing is rolling like crazy. In a Viking 61' or 60' Hatteras of the same era, trolling down sea, you'd have virtually no side to side movement.

I'll take the light blue one once you're done, let me email my address to deliver it to. hehehehe They look like they're going to be beautiful when you get them done. What power and speed are you predicting with them? Did Blount design the hulls on them? (I think you mentioned to me that's who you use?)

Has anyone had the time on a 31 before...? If it's anything like the 25, she'll roll running down hill. They seem to have the shallow chine to achieve the deep V, and is always in search of the chine when running. Cheers

Far