 |
Bar Crusher has carved out a nice little niche in the Australian boating industry during the past few years, and this new addition to the line-up builds on the brand's proven pedigree while adding a few nifty touches.
|  |
 |
There is an old saying that you don't use a tack hammer to knock down a wall, and never is the implication, the ideal, more apparent than in the example of the Bar Crusher range of boats. Armed with the suggestion the Bar Crusher range of boats were the ultimate bluewater boat, we decided to put the 560C Cuddy Cabin model to the ultimate test on one of the often grizzliest stretches of water in Australia - Port Phillip Bay. The brochures were not wrong! | |
 |
Continuing his run of 'luck' with Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay weather,
Queenslander Darren Shiel had a luverly time in Melbourne taming the
exciting new Bar Crusher 560 on a decidedly 'wild and woolly winter's day.
| |
 |
Because there unique construction allows these boats to carry a surprisingly deep vee, Bar Crushers feature a ride that puts most other tinnies to shame. It's only because I ran a Bar Crusher for a number of years that I feel confident about making that sort of claim. | |
 |
Bar Crusher is one of Australia's premier alloy plate boat builders.
Rick Huckstepp tests the 560C and concurs.
In the line-up of plate alloy boats there are a group that sit in the upper
echelon when its comes to quality workmanship and practicality.
Bar Crusher is one of those that are high on the ladder and a test on
Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, on the gloomiest of days showed us just why. | |
 |
The Wave Slicer hull achieves a much better ride in choppy water than most
alloy boats. Indeed you can push this tinnie a fair bit quicker in rough water
than most metal boats for this reason. You still get the sense you're in
a metal boat, but otherwise it's like a good deep Vee 'glass' boat in the
handling department. | |
 |
Bar Crusher boats has released a big, strong, gutsy new model for offshore sport
fishing. The new 640 Cuddy Deluxe has a tough plate alloy construction, deep
vee hull, and a huge fishing cockpit. This is evident with all the Bar Crusher we
have tested; the boats are very soft in short, sharp choppy water- especially the
kind of water you will find in our big, open bays such as Port Philip (Melbourne),
and Moreton Bay (Brisbane). | |
 |
Most boat reviews published in fishing magazines these days refer to the
"soft" ride of the test boat. You have to be in a position to be able to
compare the relative "softness" of a ride to make any sort of authoritative
comments on this issue. From my perspective, the ride of my old 550
Bar Crusher was much softer than the 5m Quintrex hull I had previously.
I spent upwards of 300 hours in each boat so I have a good idea of how
each worked. While I only spent a couple of hours in the 560 as tested
here, I'm familiar enough with Bar Crusher hulls to realise that this boat
really does offer an improved ride. | |
 |
Bar Crusher's smooth-riding 640WR delivers on all fronts. | |
 |
"Bar Crusher offers something not only uniquely different, but boats that are
extremely functional. The wave-slicing deep-v hull, exceptional build quality,
well-thought-out design and superior stability at rest make the Bar Crushers
extremely attractive to educated consumers". | |
 |
When you start the process of looking for a new boat, you'll quickly realise there are so many brands and models from which to choose. Every boat showroom is full of flashy boats and salespeople making big promises. A few of these boats are exceptionally well built and perform beautifully, while others are designed and built to a lesser standard and perform very poorly. | |
 |
It's a solid fishing machine I was told when I was asked to take the Bar Crusher 560C for a test on Brisbane's Moreton Bay on a day that produced just the right type of weather to put a boat such as this through its paces, A 15 knot south-easter against an out-going tide at the southern end of Green Island soon shows you how a boat handles.
| |
 |
Bar Crushers are renowned for their strength, durability, fishing fit out, quality of
construction, and their superior ride comfort. Each Bar Crusher is equipped with
a deep vee hull (between 18-20 degrees) for a softer ride than you'll find in most
comparable pressed or plate alloy boats.
| |
 |
This super-tough trailerable rig follows in the footsteps of every Bar Crusher to
deliver the smoothest ride of any aluminium boat on the market. | |
 |
We clocked a top speed of 70.5kmh at 6000rpm while cruising was a comfortable
43kmh at 4000. Trimming the motor right out produced the best manoeuvrability,
with stability through turns and high speed sprints without getting skittish. The
sharp-hulled Bar Crusher was a comfortable boat to drive hard and behaved well.
| |
 |
First impressions are often the ones that stick. And, from the moment
you jump aboard the Bar Crusher 640HT, you see things that look
good and as though they'll work. Yep, there really is a lot to admire
about this boat, especially the oversized windscreen at one end and
the enormous amount of fishing room at the other.
| |
 |
The Bar Crusher brand is noted for hosting a variety of innovative features
that make it famously safe and practical offshore fishing platform, as Rick
Huckstepp found was the norm on the new 620C
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
Without doubt, one of the Bar Crusher's most impressive features is the outstanding stability at rest, thanks in part to its excellent 'water ballast' or 'flooded keel' system. This works by removing some of the boat's displacement when it is at rest in the water. The boat thus settles lower in the water, fully immersing its chines until it takes off again, and all the water in the hollow keel rushes out.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
