bertram 26

[gerryC!]

looking at purchasing a bertram 26 flybridge, boat is on the hard no chance for sea trial, what can I expect out of the ride? Is she very tender at rest in a beam sea? snap roll? I have owned a albemarle 24 and that boat had a vicious snap roll. looking for a little better platform when bottom fishing. There is also a local bertram 26 Moppie, maybe that would be a more stable platform without the bridge? any owners care to share their experiences?

[Craig Mac]

I never fished a 26 but have fished 31 / 28 / 25------I can tell you the 28 was the worst----pretty sure the 26 hull is very close to the 28.

[Yannis]

I don't fish, but the 28 must be the worst!
That’s why there are very few 28’s with full towers, they are dangerous...
It has the deepest vee for the length.
A buddy has the Albemarle 30 or 31 (could never tell them apart). It rolls less than my 28.

[gerryC!]

ok thanks, how's the Bertram 25 flybridge on the drift? any better than the Bertram 26?

[Yannis]

The 25 is a Ray Hunt design, as is the 31.
The 26 is a David Napier design, as is the 28 and most other models.

[Craig Mac]

It's been many years since I fished on a 25-----but never remember it being an issue------definitely better than a 28.

[scenarioL113]

I had a friend that had a 26 Bertram Flybridge. I was on it a few times and to be honest I thought it was a great boat. It handled very well in the ocean and it was pretty economical for a twin screw gasser. His had twin mercruiser inline 6 I/O's.

I dont recall the severity of the typical snap roll but I would assume it rolls.

[nestorpr]

Back in my 1970's in Puerto Rico we had a 1970 B25 Flybridge with twin Mercruiser 165's. We fished her all around the island for fun and in many tournaments catching many billfish and numerous other species. The seas north of San Juan are notorious for being very rough during some seasons, sometimes having waves coming at you from 2 or 3 different directions at the same time! In all the years we fished there we were caught by many sudden storms and that boat was awesome! We never felt unsafe and she handled all kinds of seas like a champ. Yes, she rolled, sometimes quite a bit but no snap rolls or anything extreme, always composed and in control. During one tournament, the San Juan Marina International Billfish Tournament, the whole fleet was caught in a terrible storm; many larger sportfishermen had internal damage when furniture came loose and slammed around their salons, some lost power and had to be towed back by the USCG and other good Samaritans. There were 5 Bertrams from our marina (Cangrejos Yacht Club) in the tourney, a 38, three 31's and our 25. When the fishing day was over we reeled in our lines and hit the throttles, it's amazing how that boat ran over and through those huge waves from a following sea with a smooth up and down rhythm like she was just dancing with them, tracking straight like she was on rails, our fishing guests were even having a beer at the dinette below like it was a clear day! All five Bertrams made it back to the pass and went through from biggest to smallest, dropped off our catch (we lost a couple of billfish and caught a Wahoo and several big Dolphin) , docked and cleaned the boats, went home to clean ourselves up, returned to the marina and were on our third drink by the time the FIRST of the other brand boats made it under the bridge, almost 4-1/2 hours after us!!! A hell of a testament to the seaworthiness of the original Bertram hull. Soon after quite a few owners traded their boats for Bertrams, they understood the difference after that day.

[gerryC!]

Thanks Guys !