4.

Trailer Boat Magazine, (boat test)- Oct 2000.
Courtesy ACP Magazines.

RAISING THE BAR
Story: David Granville Photos: David Granville & Diane Walker

It's no secret that New Zealanders love their plate alloy boats. In fact, boats constructed from plate aluminium hold a far greater percentage of the market share in New Zealand than they do here in Australia. Not surprisingly some of the most seaworthy plate boats available have been designed across the Tasman.

This latest range of plate alloy boats is being marketed under the Bar Crusher title and they have hit the Aussie trailerboat market with a vengeance. When I first heard the names "Waveslicer", "Quickflow" and "Rigideck" describing features of its boats, I thought this Bar Crusher mob had gone gimmick mad. As it turns out all those names are registered trade marks because the three designs have patents pending. Now occasionally a boat pops up with an ingenious new design feature that warrants a closer inspection, but Bar Crusher claims to have three in one boat.

Bar None

If Bar Crusher is trying to create some interest in the boating fraternity, it's working. And after spending a day on the 5.5 and 610 models , it appears many of the company's Bar Crusher claims are warranted. Waveslicer describes the Bar Crushers' strakeless hull design . That's right, the entire underside of the hull is as smooth as a baby's bum. According to Bar Crusher , the aerated water created by a boat's running strakes are what can cause aeration of the prop. No strakes, no aeration ! Quickflow is the name given to the Bar Crushers' water ballast system. Each Bar Crusher has a cavity that runs the full length of the keel which is open at the transom. When the boat is stationary the cavity fills with water to form a ballast compartment. The additional weight of the ballast brings the boat's chines into the water, which provides greater stability at rest. As soon as the boat goes forward, the water ballast drains out of the cavity, allowing the boat to climb onto the plane.

Rigideck describes the Bar Crushers' deck and sub-frame assembly. The Bar Crusher designs have six longitudinal stringers which are fully welded to cross frames, forming a triangulated sub-frame. The combination of the sub-frame and a fully-welded floor creates Rigideck.

Cool Introduction

To date, most of the boat tests I have done over the past few years have been under sunny Queensland skies. One of the bonuses of being appointed the new editor of trailer boat is I now get to do boat tests in Victoria. Yippee ! My first Victorian boat tests were actually on the Bar Crushers' and I think it was the coldest, windiest day I had ever been to sea. We tested both the 5.5 Hard Top Deluxe and the 6.1 Hard Top around the spectacular Woolamai end of Phillip Island and although the wind was blowing offshore, there was enough slop around for me to see what the Bar Crushers were made of.

The first thing I noticed once aboard the Bar Crusher was its stability at rest. There is no doubt the Quickflow ballast system does its job. Even a couple of hefty guys standing on one side of the boat revealed no notable listing.

The 5.5m boat was fitted with a 100HP Yamaha outboard which had no trouble putting it on the plane. Travelling forward a short distance prior to planting the throttle ensures the ballast cavity is empty on take off.

The Bar Crusher handled the conditions quite well and at one stage I was full throttle, head on into a meter of short, sharp chop and experiencing a relatively smooth ride. Certainly not your typical tinnie pounding anyway.

The craft features a fully integrated engine pod with boarding platforms on either side of the outboard. A drop-down boarding ladder mounted on the port-side platform aids entry to the boat , either from the water or while on the trailer. Welded aluminium grabrails also ensure safe footing while stepping from the boarding platforms over the transom and into the cockpit. The transom bulkhead incorporates a good sized livewell and shelving to accommodate batteries and oil reservoirs. Cockpit padding runs along the transom bulkhead, while a centrally-located baitboard can be replaced by an optional ski pole. A rear step folds down from the transom to aid entry or exit from the boat. This step can also be used as passenger seating although you may want to provide a bit of extra padding. Good sized side pockets run the full length of the cockpit and are raised to allow for toe placement. The cockpit coamings are very wide and feature no less than six flush-mounted rodholders as standard. The helm area is basic but functional. Raeline Swivel seats are provided for both helmsman and passenger. Interestingly, these seats are mounted on framework off the gunwales and sidepockets rather than on pedestals.

The dash features a sports steering wheel with non feedback steering, while gauges include speedo, tacho, hours and trim. On top of the dash is a flush mounted compass as well as a Navman GPS and Sounder. There is still plenty of space on the dash for application of additional electronics. Oddly, the 27MHZ radio was mounted in front of the passenger seat.

Hard To Top

The hardtop folding roofed 5.5 test boat was again an extremely interesting design. The forward end of the hard top was actually supported by gas struts which allowed the hardtop to be raised or lowered. Therefore, on days when the weather is pretty ordinary, the hardtop can be locked down to onto the windscreen to form a totally protected cabin. However, if it happens to be a nice day and you want a bit of wind in your hair, the hard top lifts up to provide natural ventilation. When the hardtop was locked down, however, I did find it restricted headroom when trying to stand and drive although fine when seated. Clears provide additional protection between the hard top and the cabin. The cabin was again a pretty basic design with conventional V berth layout. Good storage was provided beneath the V berth.

The cabin hatch is enormous and is probably one of the few where I have been able to access an anchor well from the cabin without donging my head. It's great to see someone has got the intestinal fortitude to try new and radical ideas in boat design and construction. The Bar Crushers are certainly creating a lot of interest around the traps. They'll challenge some of the established plate names. Indeed, I won't be surprised if they steal a little bit of the fibreglass-boat market as well.

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.