Richard Bertram | |
|---|---|
 Richard Bertram at helm of sailboat, FINISTERRE, during Bermuda Race | |
| Born | 4 February 1916 |
| Died | 28 April 2000 (aged 84) |
| Occupation(s) | Sailor, boat builder and yacht broker |
| Spouses | Katherine Ivins Bertram
(m. 1946–1951)Pauline Meagher Bertram
(m. 1952–1967)Francesca Morales Bertram
(m. 1994) |
| Children | Charlotte Bertram Gretchen Bertram Whalen Kim Bertram Scott Bertram Anne Bertram Endler Caroline Bertram Morgan Bertram Colin Bertram Digby Bertram Madelaine Bertram Osborne |
| Relatives | Katharine Whalen(granddaughter) John Holzman (stepson) |
Richard Howard Bertram (4 February 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a champion sailor on powerboats and racing yachts and a leading boat builder and broker.[1] Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Bertram learned to sail at a young age with his parents on the waters of Barnegat Bay. He owned his first boat at age 8, sailed in his first race at age 10 and was skipper of intercollegiate championship boats while attending Cornell University.[2] After college, Bertram continued competing in numerous races throughout the world and was notably referred to by Sports Illustrated as "one of the finest ocean racers anywhere".[3] In 1947, Bertram relocated to Miami, FL, where he opened Richard Bertram & Company, a successful yacht brokerage firm.[2] Among his clients were Aristotle Onassis, the Aga Khan, King Hussein of Jordan and Prince Bertil of Sweden.[1] With his yacht brokerage business successful, Bertram continued racing and set standards in the World Offshore Powerboat circuit.[4] Often, he raced in his own 31' Bertram Lucky Moppie.[5] He founded Bertram Yacht, a Miami-based manufacturer of production pleasure boats, in 1960. Bertram Yacht began the first large production runs of boats with C. Raymond Hunt's revolutionary deep-V hull design.[6] In 1963 Richard Bertram licensed International Marine of Scoresby, Victoria, Australia to manufacture Bertram yachts; however, he left Bertram Yacht in 1964 to focus on his brokerage business, and Bertram Yacht changed ownership several times in the decades after that.[7][8]
