Bertram Boats

USA Est. 1960

Dick Bertram took Ray Hunt's deep-V hull design and built an empire around it. The original Bertram 31 Moppie won the 1960 Miami-Nassau race in brutal seas that wrecked the competition, and the deep-V revolution was on. Before Bertram, offshore meant getting beaten to death. After Bertram, offshore meant you could fish in conditions that used to send you home.

Heritage

Bertram essentially created the modern sportfishing boat category. The deep-V hull form they popularized is now the default for any boat that needs to handle open water. Every offshore fishing boat built today owes something to Bertram's willingness to bet on Hunt's radical hull design when the industry thought flat-bottom was good enough. The brand has changed hands several times but the name still means serious offshore capability.

Vessels (1)

Bertram 31

Before the Bertram 31, going offshore in a small boat meant getting beaten to pieces. Ray Hunt's deep-V hull design changed that. The constant 24-degree deadrise cut through waves instead of pounding over them. Dick Bertram proved the concept by running a prototype in the 1960 Miami-Nassau race in rough seas — while flat-bottom boats were turning back, the Bertram kept running. The sportfishing world noticed. Within a decade, every serious sportfishing boat was a deep-V, and the Bertram 31 was the benchmark. It's the hull design that made offshore fishing accessible to anyone who could handle a boat.

1961-1986 · classic