Bar Crusher 780HT

Even though we should have brought skis when we checked out the Bar Crusher 780HT due to a disappointingly flat Westernport Bay, we still managed to muster plenty of boat wash and up to a metre of swell coming over a sand bar to give us a good idea of how this boat handles the chop. We found that the 780HT handles like a five-metre tinnie, despite being at the maximum trailerable boat size with a LOA of nearly eight metres and weighing 2.3 tonnes.

With a 250hp Suzuki on the back it made a comfortable and well-matched package and we doubt whether the maximum recommended 300hp would ever be required. Still, the option is there if you’re inclined to eke every last drop of performance from this well-designed hull.

Most offshore bottom fishing and live baiting is done on the drift due to the sheer depth and the inability to handle enough ground tackle. Should you have the opportunity to drop the pick, a Stress Free electric drum winch will go a long way towards alleviating hard labour. One hundred metres of plaited nylon rope and 6m of chain will fit onto the drum while a Sarca anchor sits tight in the bowsprit.

If you need to step forward to the bow, the deck top around the cabin is wide enough to walk around. Handrails located on top of each side of the cabin will keep you safe until you reach the low bowrail on the foredeck. Another set of rails run down the length of the rectangular-shaped cabin roof hatch, through which a large torso can fit if it’s too dangerous to walk around the outside.

The front edge of the hardtop is armed with some forward-facing spotlights while the aft edge has a sturdy rocket launcher bristling with nine rod tubes. A set of cockpit lights are also mounted here. It's worth mentioning that all lighting onboard consists of quality Hella brand LEDs.

The side coamings are wide and each has three moulded-alloy rodholders recessed within, with four more rodholders making up the superstructure of the bolt-on bait-rigging station sitting mid transom on the bulkhead. A big livebait tank is also installed in the port corner.

On the starboard side, a half-height step-through transom is shut off by a pull-out Nylon board gate. It opens after the rear lounge is dropped down, also allowing access to the dual batteries and their isolator switches and circuit breakers. This leaves little room for anything else in this part of the boat. Out on the boarding platform a sturdy step swings up and lays flat on its top, with handrails available on each side.

Back inside, the scuppers are closed with an elastic bungee cord for backing down on fish. Excess water floating around the boat or coming over the stern is caught in a sump under the transom bulkhead. The skipper can then bilge this at the flick of a switch thanks to the installed pump.

Forward of the sump is a killtank that drains into the sump, allowing the tank to be emptied when not underway. This is very handy when you’re at sea and want to flush away fish bits and the associated smell. Wide gunwales sit over large sidepockets that run the length of the cockpit, stopping under the aft end of the vertical cabin walls.

For seating, the usual passenger swivel chair has been done away with (although it’s still an option) in preference to a galley module fitted against the cabin liner. A sink is plumbed to a removable 30-litre freshwater tank inside and there’s open front shelving here as well. Centred on top of the module is a cutting board and portable butane burner that sits in the forward section. Cushions cover the module top to form enough seating for two people, who face the skipper’s left side.

The helm chair sits atop a large module that is fixed to the opposite cabin liner. The fire extinguisher and EPIRB can be mounted in a rebate in an inside edge of this module, while a 70-odd-litre Isotherm stainless steel fridge is flush-mounted in the aft end.

The finishing touch to the inside of the helm area is a very smart-looking dark carpet and a flat-black paint finish.

Bar Crusher boats generally have an angular design and the windscreen of the 780HT is no exception, featuring five toughened-glass panes. The pane in front of the skipper even comes with a wiper blade and freshwater rinse jet. The windows on the cabin sides slide open with the apertures well forward of the seating positions, offering good ventilation when underway.

The dash narrows in toward the screen leaving a compact top with a full-width grabrail that doubles as a retaining fence for goods and chattels stowed behind. A console built into the underside of the hardtop hosts a pair of radios while two handrails running under the roof toward the aft end of the shelter offer safe hand-holds in rough seas.

The aperture leading to the cabin is large and airy. Take a single step and you’re standing in the leg well between two berths that feature stowage under the cushions.

There is plenty of head height at this entrance, with minimal stooping required for someone who is 180cm tall. The cabin roof then slopes down from that point toward the bow where a portable toilet sits loose on the deck.

As mentioned earlier, the cabin roof also sports a long rectangular hatch for accessing the anchor winch if you’re not too keen to step around the bow.

At 3500rpm the Suzuki purred along at 19.44kts and a WOT of 6200rpm sent the 780HT across the top at an impressive 40.5kts. The only disappointment on the day was the fact that we didn’t get to flog this boat in the type of waters it was designed to tame!

Overall, it's a true fisherman's dreamboat capable of ocean voyages as well as the best the bays can throw at it.

For more information go to: www.barcrusher.com.au