Bertram 630 Sportfish Sinks?

Why did the transom come off? Your scenario has some problems, and that is not the only one. Tagging that bouy should not have resulted in what we see there. 200lbs hel in place by a chain with slack should not be able to do that damage. If that is in fact the bouy that brought this about, the lack of damage on that bouy indicates to me that it took only a slight impact to cause a catastrophic failure, and that's not really acceptable. This is a seafaring vessel and should tolerate a reasonable amount of damage without a full failure. In the areas of destructive failure, there is delamination present in the photos as well. No, this boat had issues before it came apart.

The minimal impact signature and potential in that picture tells me that in normal circumstances of hull construction, that result would not have occurred.

Nice to see the YF moderator has landed from his from his "hovering over this wreck like a vulture" mode - he has now started to feed on the wreck - it appears he likes fiberglass. I hear he has contacted all the tabloids to sell his Exclusive! Exclusive! story - he even has tried to patent the "Bertram Seeks Bottom" phrase! Talk about sensationalizing something, Darn - I had him figured to be judge & jury, now I find out he is an engineer. A real stand up guy that YF Moderator - It's nice to see an independant voice of reason "moderating" things here -

Exactly what is it he's supposed to be moderating? So far I don't see anything posted that is against the terms of use. We now have evidence of the levels of energy vs the levels and types of damage and defect there was. In my experience I see issues with the scene of the wreck, and I've been at a lot of them from both the salvors and the insurance adjusters perspective. What I'm seeing is what I'm seeing and I'm stating my own opinion which in no way is possible to construe as that of "Yacht Forums".

It's pretty obvious you've come to this with an agenda and it's becoming obvious what that agenda is turning out to be. I'm a professional captain in the industry and as most with a 20 year career, have worked in multiple sectors of the maritime industry including boat building and repair in all the major materials and combinations. I may be cutting my throat saying what I do, but I stand behind it, sue me if you please.

It would be nice to know who you are and what your connection to this situation is.

Another interesting theory floating around is that a (mistakenly) deployed anchor at cruise speed could conceivably cause such catastrophic damage. Once it found something to grab, and or catch the running gear, bam. Carl- Anything to show any additional detail of the windlass / chain locker in the video?

Another idea was that the buoy and anchor had a meeting at high speed. Further damage to the reflector of the buoy would indicate this, no? It doesn't seem there is any damage to the buoy other than the PCV / foam filled jacket that surrounds it.

Still doesn't explain the transom being torn off. Which is wildly interesting. I just can't imagine that much water coming through the boat with enough force and volume to rip the transom off. Who knows.

Fascinating stuff these boats are.

Your comments are a cheap shot and a more sensible person wouldn't dignify them with a response but I have never been accused of possessing a great deal of sense so here goes:

Much of the information Yachtforums and a few others have posted has been in the public domain for some time now. It was available to anyone with the wit to discover it.

Because of the rampant conjecture and ill-informed speculation that pervades this issue it is quite possible some information was withheld from this site to allow time for the principals to come to an agreement or conclusion and release it themselves rather than add to the fray.

The owner of this site is a journalist and publisher and this event is news, it is an important event and it is fodder for any journalist in any media. For a publisher to resist "scooping" his competition for so long is a remarkable display of professional restraint and regard for those who stand to lose a great deal through rumor mongering and misinformation.

Need I mention of the wrath that falls on journalists who file a story early and make the slightest of factual errors?

It's not my place to defend the owner of this site, he can do that quite well himself if he should choose to wallow in the muck but I will repeat my opinion that your comments are baseless and unwarranted.

There are full bulkheads between the bow and transom, the water should not be able to push through.

The forward deck looks to me as if it was ripped away and took some of the above the waterline hull with it. What caused that? Stuffing the bow into a wave? Stuffing the bow into a buoy and a wave? IDK (I don't know) and at this point we don't know (WDK). The strut looks as if some chain got between the shaft and the hull. What else could have caused the strut damage? Lots of things but WDK. What caused the transom to come off? Is that related to the forward deck coming off? I'd venture to say yes- but WDK. How about the bent back rudder? Was it caused by striking something? Does not look like it- but WDK. Perhaps the area was weakened by the same forces that caused transom to come off.
The boat's bow can be two inches above the water or 15 feet above the water when running depending on many variables. Could this buoy have been part of why the boat sank? Yes. Was it? WDK. We sure don't know as much as we'd like to know.

Well said as well as needed to be said.

Agree. I am a former Bertram owner and a very potential customer and want answers.

I am not convinced that the strut has damage. If it's older ablative paint, especially when applied spec boat thin, it could easily just be hydraulic paint wear and some growth causing the illusion in a fuzzy picture there is damage. I' don't see any physical indicators of damage such as twisting or tearing of either the strut or hull interface or what is visible of the prop. The prop looks pristine from what I can see of it.

OTP, You're a bit new to the party to be complaining about the music.
Two things should be noted about the transom damage: 1) even without speed that boat brought a lot of weight down against the bottom and 2) once that forward deck was pealed back and the hull compromised the structural integrity of the entire vessel was probably compromised.

I tend to agree. That prop, at least what we can see of it looks fine. As does the hull above the strut and shaft.

And I still can't see any damage to the rudder that would indicate it hit anything.

Take a look at the photos that show the stbd side head (or what's left of it). Notice the amtico flooring, half of the amtico is missing.


Do you guys think that Amtico will honor their warranty on the delaminated flooring?

BTW, take another look at the photos of the helm. WHERE THE HELL IS THE WHEEL AND THE CONTROLS?

Can you point out which bit of damage on that bouy indicates that?

I can get over the bow being essentially torn off. We've seen de-lamination issues before with these boats.

What I can't wrap my head around in the entire transom being torn off. I just can't seem to imagine how this would have happened. The sheer force needed to do that is (in a best guess) an amazing amount of energy concentrated to a relatively small area. To me, that's an equal, if not more fascinating question to answer.