production speed

[thereheis]

what was the production speed of making a 31 bertram??and how many where made in a year???say in 1971??who would know these figures??

phil

[CaptPatrick]

Phil,

Bertram started production in early 1961. Sam Griffin won the second Bertram driven Miami - Nassau race on April 14th. The first B31 I worked on, (Fortuna/Iasgair), was the 60th hull to be completed, dated September 23, 1961.

The rough math for the 1961 production year is around 120 B31 produced by the end of the year.

The early years, through around 1973 probably saw similar numbers. As newer & larger model sizes came into production, especially with the Nappier designed 46', B31 production slowed a bit due to sibling competition.

There is no solid record that I've found as to the exact number of B31s produced, but it's somewhere around 1900 hulls. 1986 was the last production year, producing 23 hulls. No B31 hulls were produced in '84 & '85, leaving a total of 22 full production years & 1 limited edition year.

The even rougher, (and averaged), math for the whole of B31 production is around 86 hulls per year or 7+ hulls per month.

Br,

Patrick

[John Jackson]

My boat has a desk calendar page with Boat #168 laminated into glass under the port vberth bunk. The date is October 23, 1961. That same date and "boat #" is written in what looks like magic marker with the same date and someone's initials on the forward bulkhead (between the vberth and the cabin). "Boat #168 is also handwritted on the inside of the covers for the flybridge supports.

My original electric panel has a Bertram eagle and "Moppie" written in script letters with the trademark symbol after the word Moppie. The boat is a Sportfish model. I have heard that early on they were all called "Moppies" and the logo on my boat seems to support this.

This info, along with the info from Capt Pat about boat boat the 60th boat made might give you and idea of the production time. I'm pretty sure "boat no. 168" means mine was number 68 as they started with 101. My guess is that the boat Capt. Pat writes about was boat number 160. JJJ

[CaptPatrick]

John,

Hull number 161 would be the 60th production hull, (161-101=60), your's would be the 67th hull. The two are exactly a month apart, so they produced 7 hulls between Sept 23 & Oct 23 of 1961...

Br,

Patrick

[thereheis]

when i was redoing my boat i found a old doc# placker with the numbers of 534272. what would be the chance that it is shownig me that my boat is a 72 model ?

phil

[CaptPatrick]

I found a old doc# placker with the numbers of 534272. what would be the chance that it is shownig me that my boat is a 72 model?

Phil,

No chance... A Documentation number is assigned as a slightly arbitrary number by the Coast Guard. Like a license plate on a road vehicle is tied to the VIN number, but gives no correlation to the model, make, or year of the vehicle.

Br,

Patrick

[Pete Fallon]

My hull number is 186 Dated 12-13-61 The glassed over paper tag with Bertram eagle is still in perfect condition up under the port V-berth (186-101=85) maybe one or two more boats layed -up that year, before Christmas and New Year short work weeks.