Not many production boats can trace their lineage directly to a race winner. The Bertram 35 can.
When Richard Bertram founded his company in 1960, he brought with him a result that had already turned heads across the offshore racing world. His 31-foot racer Moppie, designed by Raymond C. Hunt and built around a radical deep-vee hull, had proved that a boat could punch through heavy offshore seas rather than pound over them. Hunt’s geometry absorbed what the ocean threw at it. Bertram saw the commercial logic immediately.
The two men took that hull philosophy and applied it to a range of fast, seaworthy pleasure boats that quickly found an audience. By the time the 35 Convertible arrived in 1970, Bertram had already established a template for what a serious sportfisher should look like. The 35 refined it. With its flybridge, spacious cockpit, and a below-decks layout designed around both fishing and cruising, it created a genre that competitors spent years trying to replicate.
Production ran until 1986. During that time, the design crossed the Pacific. International Marine, founded by Arch Spooner in 1958, began building the Bertram 35 under licence in Melbourne in 1970, out of a 120-hectare facility in the suburb of Scoresby. Thousands were produced. When the licensing arrangement ended in 1989, International Marine rebranded the line as Caribbean, and the same hull design remained in production for over 50 years. That’s not a footnote. That’s a verdict.
Back in the United States, Bertram continued under a series of ownership changes before joining the Ferretti Group in 1998, and later the Gavio Group in 2011. Through all of it, the boats continued to be built in Tampa, Florida. The Bertram 35 itself never fully went away, with a redesigned Mk II following in 1981 and a modern re-release arriving in 2017.
The Mk1, though, holds a particular place. It was the original, and enthusiasts have long considered it the most honestly built of the three generations.
This boat
This 1979 example is listed through Parker Marine Group, priced to sell, with the vendor inviting realistic offers.
Runner presents well. White hull with blue and red stripe trim sitting just above the waterline, blue canvas work throughout, and a teak swimming platform at the transom that makes getting on and off the water effortless. She’s a well-proportioned boat, and the classic Bertram lines carry the colour scheme convincingly.
The cockpit is set up for serious fishing. Rod holders are spread around the transom area, storage is thoughtfully arranged, and there’s a fighting chair for when something big takes an interest. The layout does what it was designed to do.
The solid fibreglass deep-vee hull runs 19 degrees of deadrise at the transom, giving it the smooth, predictable offshore ride the design is celebrated for. It was repowered in 2008 with twin Cummins 6BTA 5.9 diesels, a combination that’s become the benchmark repower choice for this hull. Fuel capacity sits at approximately 1,033 litres.
Below decks, the layout follows the classic galley-up configuration. The forward stateroom has a large double V-berth with a custom mattress. The head includes a stall shower and vanity storage. To port, an L-shaped galley is fitted with a 115V Princess three-burner electric stove and Sharp microwave. The lower helm sits to starboard, and a full-size sofa bed completes the salon.
Finding a well-maintained Mk1 with a documented repower history is increasingly difficult. This one has both.
For more information or to arrange a viewing, contact Dave Radford at Parker Marine Group: 027 257 7071 or dave@parkermarinegroup.co.nz
Specs at a Glance
LOA: 11.88m | Beam: 4m | Hull: Solid fibreglass deep-vee | Deadrise: 19 degrees | Power: Twin Cummins 6BTA 5.9 (repowered 2008) | Fuel: 1,033L
