J. Burr “Joe” Bartram, Jr., who helped establish Bartram & Brakenhoff as a leading yacht-brokerage firm, died on December 24. He was 79 years old.
Bartram (far left in the photo) was well-known as the co-founder of Bartram & Brakenhoff. He and the late Bruce Brakenhoff, Sr., who died in 2012, established the brokerage firm in December 1967. The company initially occupied just one office, in Greenwich, Connecticut. Thirteen years later, it expanded to Newport, Rhode Island. That location became its headquarters shortly thereafter, with a Florida location further opening afterwards. While Bartram (and Bruce Brakenhoff) sold Bartram & Brakenhoff in 1998 to David C. Lacz, who still owns it today, Bartram remained a powerful influence in the yachting industry. He was an active broker, maintaining membership in the Yacht Brokers Association of America. He also remained a member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association. Both during his time at Bartram & Brakenhoff and afterwards, Bartram was well-liked and well-respected by many megayacht crew, too. He often helped them find jobs.
Bartram’s involvement in the yachting industry goes well beyond the brokerage community. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, Bartram was bitten by the boating bug as a child in Connecticut. He was part of an active family of boaters and eventually cruised aboard several of his own yachts. His father, J. Burr Bartram, was the commodore of the New York Yacht Club and helped re-establish U.S. racing in the America’s Cup in the 1950s. The younger Bartram joined the New York Yacht Club, too, in 1955. With his father, he further supported Courageous in her defense of the America’s Cup in 1974. In addition, he was tapped by prominent figures in American history for his extensive knowledge about yachts. He figures prominently in a chapter in the memoir Witness to History: White House Diary of a Military Aid to President Richard Nixon, written by Alex R. Larzelere. In 1972, the Presidential yacht Sequoia was in dire need of hull repairs. Because of her condition and size, a replacement was being considered. Larzelere states that he met with Bartram. “Bartram wanted to know how the search for a yacht would be represented and when it would be needed,” Larzelere writes. “He asked if it could be foreign built. He wanted to know the maximum and minimum sizes, to be considered….Bartram mentioned several yachts he had in mind, including Blue Jacket, Rosalie, Les Ami and Jardelle.”
Bartram is survived by his wife and sister.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Carpenters Boat Shop, 440 Old County Road, Pemaquid, ME 04558, to the attention of Robert Ives. Donations may also be sent to Lahey Clinic, 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805. Memorial services will be held at a later date in both Fort Lauderdale and Greenwich, Connecticut.
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