Old Bertram racing hull model lineup

Hi everyone, my name is Albert and I'm a new member on this website.
I'm 21 with a passion for boating but also the history of boat brands and their models.
I've been around boats all my life but I'm new to the racing side.

I've started to gain an interest in the older Bertram 24 and 31 racing hulls.. I would even like to restore a 24 and 31 in time.
What I know is that they used to have the 24, 31, and 38 but, were there any more hulls used for racing from the Bertram brand ?
Also, why did they make a 24 when they also had the 25 ?

Regards,
Albert.

Now there's a good question. Welcome aboard.

It will be interesting to find out all the answers to your questions.

There was a 36'

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Originally Posted by Serious News

There was a 36'

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Thankyou, she looks beautiful.

From Seabuddy On Boats

Bertram 32 Race Boat with Mercury Marine and Mercruiser engines

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classic fiberglass Bertram race boat flying


I am talking about the boat designed by R. Specht, not the boat model that C. Raymond Hunt who did the Bertram 31 (which started the Bertram Yacht Company) and many of other the Bertram sizes. This one model was a boat designed for racing only; no family runabout, no fishing boat, no day boat aspirations for this one. She was made to race internationally and go after the World Offshore Championship.

Note the transom angling forward and the slight roundedness and tumblehome at the stern. That marks this design. Some say the boat was really a 31’ and called a 32’ just to avoid confusion with the 31’ production Moppie. Others suggest that at least one was cut back to be a 30’ long boat, at the racer’s request. The best research I could come up with says that less than a dozen were made over a 3-4 year period in the late 1960s.

Most were stern drive boats (with twin big blocks and perhaps one with three small blocks), a few used high horsepower shaft drive inboards with the rudders behind the hull, and one was raced while powered by four outboards. Outboard powered Offshore Race Boats in the 30’ size range were a rare bird at this time. Another is rumored to have staggered engines with one engine as a straight inboard and the other using a v-drive, with both engines in line with each other at the boat’s center.

Balestrieri raced one or two. So did Dick Bertram, Rittmaster, Lewis, and Wishnick. They are all famous names from the early days of racing boats offshore at breakneck speeds. Some of the boats were rigged in Italy as they were to be campaigned in Europe.

I know one Bertram 32 hull was in Pomona, CA in the mid-1980s. I inspected it and it was in the process of a long term restoration. I wonder were the other hulls are now.

Photo thanks goes to the Tornado Racing Team and Magnum Marine.

http://www.seabuddyonboats.com/boats...uiser-engines/

She's a beauty indeed. Thankyou for posting the article.
I honestly didn't know about the designer being R. Specht.

I really like her curvy transom which is why it caught my eye.
Hopefully I'll get to restore one..

Billy began racing on the APBA offshore circuit in 1975 with his "HOT SHOT" Race Team consisting of a Bertram 20, then a Cigarette 28, then a Scarab 30, and then Reggie’s 1st Fountain Executioner 33. "Hot Shot" was the North East Divisional Champ for 3 years running.

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This is the original Hot Shot Raceboat, a 1969 Bertram Baron powered by a Holman and Moody 351 Windsor block with a solid-lift 289/271 hp camshaft and a Volvo 280 Outdrive with an Ellis solid-hub 16" prop. she was the APBA divisional Noartheast Champ from 1975 thru 1978 and also won numerous club races.
She ran 59 mph all day long!

http://www.nationalpowerboat.com/aboutbilly.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Serious News

Billy began racing on the APBA offshore circuit in 1975 with his "HOT SHOT" Race Team consisting of a Bertram 20, then a Cigarette 28, then a Scarab 30, and then Reggie’s 1st Fountain Executioner 33. "Hot Shot" was the North East Divisional Champ for 3 years running.

Attachment 79806

This is the original Hot Shot Raceboat, a 1969 Bertram Baron powered by a Holman and Moody 351 Windsor block with a solid-lift 289/271 hp camshaft and a Volvo 280 Outdrive with an Ellis solid-hub 16" prop. she was the APBA divisional Noartheast Champ from 1975 thru 1978 and also won numerous club races.
She ran 59 mph all day long!

http://www.nationalpowerboat.com/aboutbilly.htm

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Wow, didn't know that. Thanks again for posting it.
Are there any videos available that you know of with these boats in them ?

“According to the book “Searace” by John Crouse, the 1964 Cowes-Torquay powerboat race on August 15, 1964, was won by the Bertram 31 “Surfrider” powered by twin 400 HP turbo-charged Daytona engines. It was owned/driven by Englishmen Charles and James Gardner who were identified as “friends and customers of Dick Bertram”. Dick Bertram finished second in his 31 “Lucky Moppie” (he crossed the finish line first, but passed on the wrong side of the finish boat). Bob Nordskog (publisher of Powerboat Magazine) bought Surfrider and raced it to a 2nd in the ’66 Long Beach-San Francisco race and a 3rd in the ’67 Catalina Challenge. That’s the last reference I could find on Surfrider in Crouse’s comprehensive book on the history of offshore powerboat racing”…

https://youtu.be/7vQ6Y5SXbmI