Boat test for the 2008 Bertram 700 with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2008 Bertram 700.

Of course, the 700 isn't supposed to be about sporting among the waves; it's supposed to be about sportfishing, and if you have any doubt where Bertram's priorities are on this boat, you need only observe that on the main level, all three additional feet were lavished on the cockpit. The big difference is, of course, the now-standard mezzanine; when it was ordered on the 670, there wasn't as much room between the chair and mezzanine as some anglers—especially those with sizable cockpit crews—would have liked. No such problem here.

Unchanged are the transom-mounted kill box (which on our boat was connected to the Eskimo ice maker) and seven-foot fishbox flanked by 24"x32" dunnage boxes (whose liners were doing most of the rattling). The area beneath the mezzanine is divided into three deep wells (and the engine-room entrance) with lift-up lids that can be freezers, refrigerators, baitwells, or dry stowage. Also unchanged is Bertam's unique cockpit-drainage system: a perimeter gutter that feeds a large (about 15-gallon) under-deck well, which drains through the transom via three large flappered scuppers. I aggressively backed down the 700, and the only water that didn't come over the transom entered under the transom door, and it all exited with dispatch.

Interior aft freeboard here is 2'3", which means tagging a fish will be no problem for even the shorter crewmembers. As to rod stowage, a locker in the forward starboard corner not only holds rods but showers them in fresh water at the end of the day. A huge (I'd guess seven-foot) dry rod locker on the starboard side of the bridge deck is an option.

Forest Johnson

There are two options when it comes to the saloon, the same ones on the 670. Our layout was similar to the 670's Plan B but longer; Plan A features a separate starboard wet bar and, in place of our boat's six Sub-Zero refrigerator drawers, an upright refrigerator. With its big dinette and saloon sofa, Plan B is well adapted to both feeding and coddling a crowd of anglers (or any other kind of crowd for that matter). Two other changes are noteworthy. One is the first application of African mahogany on any Bertram, which along with fine lacquerwork and joinery, imparts a feeling of masculine luxury that you-know-who will appreciate. Second, the molded-in, enclosed bridge stairwell is now just outside the saloon door, a change that not only makes the trip from bridge to cockpit a lot quicker, but also saves on wear and tear on the interior.

And finally, there are the styling changes: The 700 has a sweeping, unbroken sheer instead of the 670's broken one (once a Bertram trademark) and some smoothing out of the feature lines in the flying bridge overhang. Together they make the 700 look more than three feet longer in profile than the boat she replaces. Three feet isn't a lot, but when you know just how to apportion it—as Bertram obviously does—it can make a world of difference.

For more information on Bertram Yachts, including contact information, click here.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Crash Pump

There are many ways to build emergency, engine-driven bilge pumps. The 700's standard setup will appeal to those for whom redundancy is a paramount concern. Each engine has a separate valve, with its handle mounted on the sole between the engines, about a third of the way back. I like this configuration because when water's gushing in, you want the valves as close to the engine-room door as possible. I also like that all you have to do is flip one (or two) levers, a configuration both quick and idiotproof.—R.T.

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