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Bertram 390

Discussion in 'Bertram Yacht' started by colad, Oct 5, 2011.

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  1. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Trim angle - my verbage for running trim angle, nothing to do with trim tabs up or down.

    As you stated, in your natural condition without trim tabs it runs bow up, needs some tab to bring it down to the 3-4 degrees optimum trim angle. If it did not have that min 3 - 4 degrees running trim angle, you would feel like you were plowing.

    You have a lot of tank management to keep your 58 in balance, a natural part of ownership for most, a pain in the rear for others. Inherent attributes for a flush deck MY with a forward engine room , harder to manage in a frp boat, assuming the tanks are not integral, than an aluminum MY of the same design with integral tanks, just the nature of the beast. Most owners today don’t want that kind of fuel , water and / or waste tank management, maybe contributed to the lack of new builds for that design?

    What size/model Mikelson rubbed you the wrong way?
  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I have no idea of what you just typed. I can only guess that you have not run hundreds of hours in a sport hull in rough seas and bad inlets.
    Also not run seas your self in a Mikelflex, a near industry term.
  3. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    This thread started out as information on a Bertram 390 and any ride or other issues.

    It was noted the forward fuel tank / v-drive location was done by the factory designers to negate the usual undesirable running trim affects of fuel consumption for a cockpit located fuel tank. I gave another example of a SF that used a different approach to manage consumables, yet your views are directly related to a Flush Deck MY configuration that surely has nothing to do with a SF.

    But I can assure you that I have only collected a paycheck from the Marine Industry since 1988 and have never heard the term "Mikelflex" until you typed it. Maybe an East Coast thing, maybe not? Dock talk, scuttlebutt, whatever? I do know of print through/cosmetic issues on them. especially with darker Gelcoat colors. I also walk by a few of them regularly, a couple of 43's and a 50, there owners never have mentioned structural/flexing issues, and they would if they had them.

    So I simply asked which model, do you have a reference, a year?
  4. Richard2754

    Richard2754 New Member

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    The Bertram is the way to go. Quality, reliable and well built
  5. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    This thread started in 2011

    In reference to my boat, it is the Bert 58 SF hull. the forward cabins are the same also.

    Approx 15 years ago I was mate with a Broker delivering a long 50ish Mikelson.
    I was still in the cockpit securing fenders when I looked forward to see the inlet chop and confused waves (outbound).
    Then I noticed a near twisting motion of the boat along the gunnel as chop would hit the bow one way, chop hitting the stern another way with angled swells hitting us overall.
    Nothing upsetting as I've run and owned wood boats before.
    The wind caught the spray and soaked me in the cockpit.
    If was a fair ride out the inlet and when clear of it, I climbed to the bridge to relax and dry off.

    Chit chatting with the broker, I explained what I noticed comparing it to a wood boat.
    He explained to me that most of the Mikelflex he ran, sold and delivered you could notice that. He thought it was kinda of built in. It made for a soft, quiet ride and no pops or cracks just like a wood boat.
    He was correct, it was a quiet ride. I have used that term before and others understood.
    Must be just east coast slang that has not covered the great divide yet.
  6. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Thanks for the clarification.

    Keep in mind that Tom Fexas designed the Mikelson hulls differently than the hard-chined SF hulls common on both coasts. They have radiused bilges that transition to a hard chine, similar to a wooden boat and with Tom’s personal experiences growing up with Elco’s. These are easily driven, fuel efficient slippery hulls, great for long range or running inlets. Tom was a graduate of a well know Maritime school from New York and was a Marine Engineer by trade (first). His boats where solid and well designed to engineering specifications with modern composites.

    There is no structural flex in them, that is the inherent dip and rise, depending on the seas and the angle you encounter. They are structural sound and a single interpretation of an inlet passage without knowing that the boat had radiused bilges explains the phenomena. Yes, they feel differently than a hard chined SF hull. I don’t expect the term to make it past the Rockies, they are very popular and proven from Panama to Alaska.
  7. CSchind

    CSchind New Member

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    What year was your 390? Do you still have it? What were/are your running specs, speeds and gph