Professional BoatBuilder - February-March 2018

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 19

quite a few cup holders, but if the cus-

tomer wants another in a certain loca-

tion, we ask, ‘Where do you want

them?’ And we put them in.”

With a starting price of $750,000,

and most going out the door just shy of

$1 million, one would expect  rst-rate

materials, workmanship, and  t-out.

Gavio and Truslow are working hard

to deliver.

Commissioning designer Michael

Peters to create the new models was a

no-brainer. He is one of the top Ameri-

can designers of performance power-

boats (see PBB Nos. 126 and 127). But

his a ection for Bertram runs deeper: it

was he who bought the derelict White

Tornado with the aim of restoring it,

and then sold it to the current owner.

not there. Everyone loves the old Ber-

trams, but the world has changed. Ten

or 12 years ago there were maybe 700 of

these types of boats built a year; now it’s

a third, and Viking gets 80% of it. We’re

embracing the new world. Our owners

are educated and wealthy.  ey know

boats extremely well, so they know

what they want.”

 e wife of one customer wanted

two garbage cans instead of just the

one that is standard. So they gave her

two. “You and I might say, ‘Huh?’ but

to her it was important,” said Truslow.

Industry veteran Earl Blackwell, who

came out of retirement to help set up

the shop and serve temporarily as vice

president of production, was on a tour

with us and chimed in: “ e boat has

On news that ownership of Bertram

had been transferred yet again, indus-

try observers wondered what tack the

new owners would choose: produc-

tion of series-built models or custom

one-o s?  e answer is: semi-custom.

To date, management has settled on

two models—a 35 and a 60 (10.7m and

18.3m). A 50 (15.2m) is on the draw-

ing boards.

“Bertram was a production-line

company,” said Truslow, who knows

something about series production;

previously he was president of Edge-

Water Boats in Edgewater, Florida.

“ e market is smaller and the world is

semi-custom. We’re not aspiring to be

the Bertram of old. Every one of these

boats is semi-custom.  e volume is

Facing page—The new Bertram 35 (10.7m) has a  berglass structural grid and liner bonded to the hull; here, bulkheads awaiting

installation are suspended from gantries. Above—Equipped with a pair of 500-hp (375-kW) C7.1 Caterpillar turbocharged engines,

the all-out  shing machine cruises at 28 knots burning 1 gal (3.8 l) per mile. Inset—From left to right: industry veteran Earl

Blackwell, who helped set up production; CEO Peter Truslow; and Cody Kozlowski, the customer service manager.

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