The 630 shoves waves out of the way without hesitation.
King of the Hill: Bertram 630 Convertible
Standing at the helm of Bertram’s 630 Convertible, you know exactly where the term “battlewagon” comes from. Juice up the 2,000 horses in the engine room, swing the wheel over, and enjoy the feeling of displacing over 95,000 pounds of water. Run headlong into four and five footers, and squash ‘em like a bug. Battlewagon? Dang straight—this boat has enough brute force to make you feel like you’re running the only tank in the firefight.
Like many modern sportfishers, the Bertram’s is no slouch when it comes to speed, either. When I tested it we hit a 47.4-mph top-end, which ranks among the fastest of boats in this class. Give a bow to those diesels, which pack a couple hundred more horsepower then most comparable boats. That means you pay for the speed, though, in the form of increased fuel burn. It’s a rather extravagant burn, too, chugging down 187.6 gallons of diesel per hour at WOT. Saudi princes, rejoice.
Our test boat was also fitted with the Mitsubishi ARG anti-roll system, which cuts the relative motion of the boat by a third. That’s pretty darn impressive, and it more then makes up for the (relative to boat size) steep 16-degree deadrise’s tendency to allow rolling. And when taking seas head-on, the Bertram’s sheer mass and that steep deadrise make for an incredibly smooth ride—you can barely even feel the boat running over three footers, and impacts on fours and fives are minimal.
The interior holds everything you expect from a 3.1 million dollar yacht.
Inside, the boat’s jaw-dropping. You’ll spot features like solid cherry cabinetry and doors, a spiral teak staircase (on the enclosed bridge model), walk-in hanging lockers, and a dishwasher. The master head has no less than six mirrors. Opulent? You bet. Then again, shouldn’t a 3.1 million dollar battlewagon have the right to brag a bit? On the flip side, hard-core anglers may find the extravagant décor a tad much for a fishboat. After all, who wants to risk getting mahi blood all over those posh valences? Of course, buyers can be involved in choosing the boat’s décor and arrangement, so you can opt-out of the more extravagant touches, if you so desire. Same goes for cockpit customization. Put the livewell over here, the bait freezer over there—whatever you like. Our test boat had an upright rod/gaff locker (like it), an icemaker feeding the massive in-deck fishbox (love it), 1,500-watt through-hull SeaLites (LOVE it).
What about construction? As you’d expect from Bertram, the 63 is built like a brick you-know-what. Stringers are fiberglass over molded foam, and they’re capped with steel plates in the engine room. The hull to deck joint is backed by a 3/8” aluminum backing strip. AME 6000 vinylester resins are used instead of cheaper polyester resins. And crash pumps provide an extra layer of security. As if security was something you felt was missing—hah!—when you were behind the wheel of this consummate battlewagon.
