'You've ventured out fishing on a beautiful day and the water is like glass. Late in the day and half-an-hour from home the weather turns. With a 20 knot summer blow and 1-2m of nasty chop and swell coming straight at you, do you have confidence in your boat to get all onboard home safely?'

 

As avid boaters ourselves, we've been caught in these conditions and it can be pretty worrying. Fortunately, the design work and testing that's been carried out on every model ensures every Bar Crusher is predictable to drive, which instils real confidence.

 

This confidence stems from the WaveslicerTM hull design, another feature built into every Bar Crusher boat. Heading straight into chop and swell you'll find a Bar Crusher holds its course beautifully and rides softly without the usual pounding experienced in many other aluminium boats. Best of all, we'll prove it!

 

The WaveslicerTM concept combines very clever features that are different from any other boat hull on the market. WaveslicerTM incorporates a deeper deadrise than most other aluminium boats. Typically this is between 18 degrees to 20degrees at the transom and even sharper at the bow.

 

This sharp bow or 'entry' slices the waves more effectively than boats with a stubby nose. Looking at a Bar Crusher, you'll easily identify the sharp nose or entry that 'slices' the waves.

 

In addition, the WaveslicerTM hull utilises a strake-less design. Strakes are the small ridges, running longitudinally from bow to stern, that are often present on the underside of trailer boat hulls.

 

Traditionally, strakes have been used to try to give a boat extra lift when trying to get out of the hole onto the plane, and also to provide stability at high speeds. The down-side of strakes in lighter aluminium boats is they can cause pounding when hitting waves. Strakes can also create turbulence over the prop when turning. This turbulence can cause the prop to aerate and the engine to over rev.

 

Bar Crusher's WaveslicerTM hull incorporates a smooth, deep-V hull that slices beautifully through waves - without pounding. The smooth WaveslicerTM hull allows the boat to hold in the water during tight turns without the normal aeration or cavitation experienced in other hulls. You'll also experience less turbulence and air bubbles under the transducer which means your sonar (fish finder) will be clearer and easier to read.

 

 

Following sea performance is something salespeople don't often speak about... but they should.

When running with the sea or down the face of a wave you need to know that your boat will drive predictably and steer where you point it. Whether it's in 1.5m of wind chop on a bay or a 5m swell offshore, your boat must perform well in a following sea.

 

The best way to prove a boat in a following sea is to take one out on the water.

 

If you're looking at a brand of boat and the salesperson isn't keen to prove the following sea performance in a nasty sea, keep looking! (The boat may perform badly or, even worse, the salesperson may not be confident in the boat's safety.)

When running down the face of a wave in a Bar Crusher, you won't experience the awful broaching action that skews a boat side on and tries to throw everyone overboard.

 

 

This is the phenomenon that sees the nose of the boat bury in the trough of the wave and the stern of the boat is all of a sudden pushed violently sideways and parallel to the wave without warning.

 

If you've ever experienced this in a boat, you'll know what we're talking about. If you never want to experience a nasty broach, rest assured every Bar Crusher hull has been designed with the aim of eliminating broaching.

 

Beware of boats that are wider or 'beamy' at the transom, run a shallow-V and have a sharp nose. This is a formula for a broaching hull and the boat should be driven down a wave with great care. (I.e. be careful on a bay on a windy day and be especially careful offshore!)

 

A boat needs to be of balanced design. It needs to have the right deadrise or V in the right place, the right amount of planing area in the right place, and the right weight distribution. If these variables aren't very carefully managed in the design phase, the end result is a boat with very bad manners and habits. (In other words, downright dangerous.)