Bertram 630 Convertible — By Capt. Ken Kreisler — March 2004

Evolution of a Battlewagon

More of this Feature • Part 1: Bertram 630 • Part 2: Bertram 630 • Bertram 630 Specs • Bertram 630 Deck Plan • Bertram 630 Acceleration Curve • Bertram 630 Photo Gallery
Related Resources • Boat Test Index
Elsewhere on the Web • Bertram

Hey Jose, can you get this kite over some?” Josh Brown calls up to Capt. Jose Mullian on the bridge. Down in the cockpit Brown’s eyes are glued to the lone kite flying 100 yards astern. The port engine kicks ahead, the wash bubbles out, and the big boat swings a bit to starboard. “Yeah, that’s it,” I hear Brown whisper to himself. “Fly the other one,” he says to Joe Lambert, our other deck mate.

Both kites are now positioned correctly at oblique angles from the transom. Brown moves around in back of the fighting chair. “We’ll get fish today,” he muses as he catches sight of several birds working a weed line just to the east of our position. “Hey Jose?”

“I see ‘em,” is Mullian’s immediate response. The deep-throated growl from a pair of 2,000-hp MTU diesels beneath the cockpit changes as we slowly slide off a bit and edge closer towards the wheeling and darting birds.

The wind is a steady 10 knots from the northeast, and the ocean is up just enough to make it interesting for the fish but not anywhere near what it would take to upset this boat. Things are calm now, but once the knockdowns come, it’ll get a lot livelier, both in the 160-square-foot cockpit and on the bridge.

We’re aboard Bertram’s 630 Convertible, the company’s latest tournament fishing boat, as she works an area just a bit offshore of Miami’s Government Cut. As this is her maiden angling outing, the pressure is on the crew and I to hook up and land her first fish.

The 630 was conceived by Norberto Ferretti, the driving force behind the Ferretti Group as well as its chairman and president, who acquired Bertram in 1998. His directive to the Bertram design team was to take the 60, a seasoned bluewater battlewagon, and build a larger, faster tournament boat, a boat that, together with the other Bertram convertibles, would create an impressive sportfishing lineup and make the builder even more of a force to be reckoned with on the tourney circuit.

Ferretti wanted outstanding performance, horizon-chasing range, and top-drawer accommodations, but first he had his team look at why the 60 was such an excellent sea boat. “We designed this boat to possess exceptional seakeeping capabilities, as supplied by [the 60’s] long, constant-deadrise running surface, sharp entry, and deep forefoot,” said Mullian. He added that her generous volume forward helps make the 63 handle well in all sea conditions: head, following, and quartering. “By using all that buoyancy forward, the bow pops up and keeps the boat from falling off to either side.”

Ferretti also wanted speed, and as reducing drag is one of the most important factors in getting something to go faster, the designers gave the 630’s running bottom a 14.5-degree deadrise aft as compared to the 17.5 degrees found on the 60. In addition she has a pair of shallow, seven-foot-long prop pockets that lower draft and flatten out the shaft angle, reducing appendage drag. She also features the same sharp, deep-V entry; big, wide chines; and keel as the 60.

“After all the testing I’ve done on this hull, I’m impressed with its performance in calm as well as adverse sea conditions,” Mullian told me. I’d have to wait for another day to check his claim, as test day saw only a calm sea. However, I can report that my 630 displayed outstanding tracking during my time at the wheel as well as excellent handling, especially through a series of 360s at speed, during which I noted a drop of less than 200 rpm, a sign of an efficient hull. As for backing down—well, more on that later.

Next page > Part 2: The same kind of thought that went into increasing speed and strength was also given to interior comfort. > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6