Pull up to the dock in a Bertram 64 Enclosed Bridge sportfish, and the entire world will know you’ve made it. Few vessels afloat can project power like this one does, and whether you’re a die-hard marlin hunter out to crush the competition or a weekend angler who doesn’t mind flaunting success now and again, this boat will leave onlookers shocked and awed.
The Bertram 64 Enclosed Flybridge is powered by twin 1,925-hp Cat ACERT C-32s.From the outside, the new 64 is sleeker and more aggressive looking than its older siblings. Gone is the broken sheerline of Bertram’s past 64s. Side windows have a new style as well, with a curvaceous aft end and an increased surface area, which helps brings additional natural light into the cabin. What’ll really catch the gaze of passers-by, however, is the semi-circular staircase leading up to the bridgedeck. Not only does it look uber-cool, it’s also a lot easier to navigate than the standard stainless-steel ladder.
Sure, it’s impressive from the outside, but the real jaw-droppers come once you walk through the 194-square-foot cockpit and enter the saloon door. The woodwork glows with a satiny finish, the grain is book-matched, and nearly invisible top-latches flush with the cabinetry eliminate those pesky push-and-turn button latches we’ve all come to know and hate.
Want more glitz and glam? No problem: A lighted pull-out glass rod locker in the saloon provides a place to show off your treasured gold 80-wides; countertops are mirror-like granite, and a 55-inch flat-screen TV pops up out of a seemingly solid countertop. But the beauty is more than skin deep. Check out that slick-looking touch screen mounted in the bulkhead, for example, and you’ll find that the ship’s systems interface comes via a Mortiz OctoPlex, which controls and monitors all AC and DC power systems. It’s completely NMEA 2000 compliant, the touch-screen interface is as simple to operate as your smart-phone, and it gives you a constant read on everything from tankage levels to engine status to power supplies. Better yet, there’s a second screen at the helm so the captain can closely monitor every aspect of the ship’s systems at all times. That means no more climbing to and from the bridge every time you want to check on something.
The revised cabinside windows add extra natural light belowdecks, where cabinetry wood grain is book-matched.Despite the new look and feel of the 64, this Bertram’s core remains true to the company’s history. It rides on the old 63’s hull design, backed up by high-density foam-cored stringers, deck and hull ribbing, and unidirectional S-glass reinforcement in critical areas like the keel and chines. Nor does the 64 forget the Bertram fishing heritage. The cockpit features a mezzanine with seating for six, a monstrous transom livewell with viewing port, a pair of in-deck fishboxes (the port one fed ice directly from an Eskimo icemaker mounted in the engine room), and multiple cockpit freezer/refrigerator units against the forward bulkhead.
How about the downsides and trade-offs in the new 64? Well, with a pair of 1,925-hp Cat ACERT C-32s in the engineroom, you’re certainly going to burn a lot of fuel. Then again, that goes with the territory. Beyond that we’re drawing a blank. What’s not to like about pulling up to the dock with 45 tons of shock and awe?
Comparison shoppers will want to see the Hatteras 64 Convertible and Viking Yachts 64 Convertible.
For more information, visit Bertram Yachts.
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