17.

Boat Fishing - February 2005

Supplied Courtesy Yaffa Publishing

THE TRADITION CONTINUES

The new 640 from Bar Crusher builds on the tough fishability of these popular plate boats.

David Toyer reports.

Using designs that hail from New Zealand, but now with a factory in Dandenong on the southern outskirts of Melbourne, Bar Crusher has earned respect as open water fishing boats due to their solid construction, attention to detail, practical and workable interiors, and sound performance.

A little unique in some aspects of design, the plate aluminium Bar Crusher boats are built for easy, care free boating, and consequently almost every component in the design, construction and fit-out concentrated on long life, with easy to clean and low maintenance finishes and detailing. The new 640 follows the Bar Crusher tradition of toughness and practicality. For example, all screws and rivets have washers, with neoprene washers used to separate any dissimilar metals and their fixings. Bump pads are used under all hatches to prevent rubbing (and rattling) or to act as stoppers where hatches are swung open against other surfaces; while the non-slip step pad on top of the side decks and the step rail fixed off the back of the seat pedestals provide the facilities and step-up needed to reach the rods in the overhead rocket launcher. The above transom bait prep/cutting board is nothing out of the ordinary, but the drain line that is taken down into the berley bucket is a nice inclusion.

For low clearance garages and carports, and to make highway towing far more economical, the hardtop and windscreen fold back into the cockpit, considerably lowering overall height and reducing wind resistance. This simple feature will make an incredible improvement to fuel economy when towing long distances on the highway. The hardtop, particularly with the screen and clears in place is an enormous drag, capable of doubling fuel consumption for the tow vehicle.

Many builders have, and still do, offer folding tops and screens, but none I believe, have done so successfully as Bar Crusher. Firstly, the whole exercise of removing the clears, folding the hardtop, and hinging the screen takes less than two minutes, and about the same to put back up. Secondly, and this is where many other builders have come unstuck, the hardtop and screen do not rattle, vibrate or shake around when the boat is used, particularly when running into the teeth of a howling wind.

The fully welded aluminium chequerplate floor provides a flat flush self-draining cockpit floor from cabin through to the transom. It provides a good non-slip surface over the complete working area of the cockpit, draining to both the rear scuppers and the centre aft well which is fitted with the automatic bilge pumps. The chequerplate finish is a practical, easy to clean surface that extends well under the raised side storage pockets to provide good clear toe space right to the sides of the hull.

Bar Crushers are unique in the fact that they have strakeless hulls; their designers believe that strakes can cause pounding and increase turbulence leading to possible and propeller cavitation. Most boat designers will not hesitate in disagreeing with this theory saying strakes are essential to hull lift and improving efficiency, creating a softer ride, and when correctly designed and positioned will not produce turbulence nor affect propeller performance. Without using this forum to argue the cause for one side or the other, I will say, that out on the water, the Bar Crusher does run different to more conventional (straked) deep vees, but that performance is not inferior. While water does slide up the face of the vee, there is enough width in the chines to deflect the displaced water down and off the boat, leaving little chance of too much spray being blown back over.

Stability at rest is extremely good. A couple of beefy guys can hang out over the side and with deep toe space in under the side shelves and a nice deep and smooth rolled inside edge to the deck, there is superb support allowing a big reach out over the side without having to grab hold of anything. The width of the side deck is great. They protect the side storage pockets; are great to sit and rest; and leave plenty of space for the installation of flush mounted rod holders that have been especially cast in aluminium for these boats. Bar crusher claims much of the stability of the boats is the result of what they call the "Quickflow"water ballast system.

In what is a revival of something that has been tried by a handful of trailer boat builders over the decades, including John Haines back in the early 1960s, this ballast system involves the filling of the bottom of the vee with water, when the hull comes to rest. Being open at the back with a vent outlet at the front, this water ballast is jettisoned as soon as the boat gets under way. There is conjecture as to the effectiveness of this water ballast system simply because it is free to move and not fully contained within the boat. Again, whether this moving water ballast is effective or not, the fact remains that the Bar Crusher is very stable at rest and sits the chines well into the water. Rated for up to 200hp, 150 is more than enough, providing good cruising of 20 to 24 knots (3500 to 4000rpm) in good offshore conditions. But with strong wind and a bit of a swell, that cruise speed is best and far more pleasant if it is kept down around 3000rpm , or a tad more. The test boat, powered by a 150hp Yamaha four-stroke, had exceptionally good acceleration, planing at just over 12 knots without getting the bow up at all, and could be pulled hard into turns without any slip in the hull or ventilation.

With a towing weight of 1800+ kg, the Bar Crusher 640 can be towed by many of the popular 4WDs, as well as Commodore and Falcon (with their 2100 and 2300kg towing packages respectively). However, this is a big boat on the trailer, and I know I would feel a lot happier having behind a bigger, higher 4WD than looking daunting and over-powering behind a family sedan.

Legal Note: The statements, observations and opinions expressed in the above excerpts are those of the boat tester and were formed after inspection and testing of the Bar Crusher boat described in the test. The opinion is provided by the author of the test and not the directors of Bar Crusher boats.The information in these excerpts is offered to assist prospective buyers to do their research. Bar Crusher Boats confirms that the information above may contain factual errors and no responsibility is taken for it's accuracy or completeness. Please refer to the legal notice by clicking on the words "Legal Notice" at the bottom of each page.