Savage 455 Bay Cruiser
You don't have to shell out heaps of hard earned cash to enjoy yourself on the water; just slide into this 455 from Savage- The high moulding of the fibreglass at the aft end of the topside might prove an issue for some as far as comfortable elbow placement is concerned.
Other than a small percentage of plastic or polyethylene hulls and an even lesser percentage of wood, the majority are made of fibreglass or aluminium.
Talk to owners of either of these last two and you get various replies as to why they chose that particular build material. Alloy boat owners will tell you it is the types of water they inhabit that calls the shots. Rock bars, snags, shallow water strewn with structure all play havoc with gelcoat so alloy gets a good run there.
Fibreglass boat owners will tell you it is the heavier weight per size of boat that gives them a better ride. They also enjoy the quietness offered by a glass hull which equates to a feeling of warmth. That is, less wave-slap noise coming though the hull on a cold winter night at anchor makes for a psychologically more comfortable stay aboard. And they like the smooth lines.
It is the latter that puts a touch of class on Savage’s 455 Bay Cruiser but you still get to dish out the rough treatment to the hull should you wish to stray into the domain haunted by the alloy boat.
The single cranking battery is installed in a plastic box which is fixed to the deck on the port side of centre.
The aft end of the bulkhead slopes away and down to a narrow checker-plate boarding platform. This sloping design rather than a vertical construction has reduced the amount of intrusion the battery box and any other aftermarket installation has or will have, on the available cockpit space.
The overall result is nice lines around the aft end and a very narrow transom bulkhead coaming which makes for easy leg over when boarding or disembarking via the boarding platform.
Grab rails running along the last of the gunwales and down toward the transom proper further assist those boarding or alighting over the stern.
At the helm you will notice the upswept aft ends of the fibreglass section of the cuddy cabin moulding are in contact with the body when resting the right elbow while the hand is on the throttle. Those short in stature might find issue with this as the elbow will be cocked up unnaturally high. Sitting higher on a cushion would alleviate this problem but it might be annoying to some. The passenger in the port side seat will have the same issue with their left elbow.
The cuddy top has a good-size passageway through the windscreen once the centre of the windscreen is folded back and the small glass hatch in the roof of the small cuddy forward of that is opened.
A rebate in the front edge of this aperture allows the rope on the deployed anchor to insert so that the cabin-top hatch and windscreen may be closed to keep out the weather.
The ground tackle and safety gear may be stowed in the forward section of the cuddy area behind a fence running across from one forequarter to the other. This would be an ideal place to stash an old milk crate the likes of which find favour in lots of marine applications such as ground tackle stowage.
There is not a lot of available space inside the cuddy when it is closed up but down the track, pockets and shelves for tackle stowage could be implemented to make practical use of this area.
The bulkheads that make the helm and passenger dashboards are supported on aluminium stanchions down to the deck while the windscreen each side of the opening section are supported by struts to the bulkhead.
Strengthening braces spanning from the front to the side screen panels, act as grab handles for the skipper and the passenger standing in front of the port-side swivel chair.
At the helm, available space for small cabinet depth sounders, chart plotters or combinations of both is limited by the near, sloping windscreen. Their installation on the flat area forward of the helm wheel would block view to the instrument panel and that brow behind is too shallow for fitment. So fitting of electronics cabinets could take place on the bulkhead in front of the passenger provided the windscreen support strut did not block clear view.
This offside area would be the only option for installing any units with large cabinets.
A side pocket runs down each side of the inner hull and on the aft end a bracket is fixed, into which a supporting bar of a removable swing-down bench seat may be installed with a retaining clip keeping it secure.
The bench seat has fold down legs and the entire assembly is light enough to easily get it in and out of the boat to maximise cockpit fishing room.
The rear rest for this seat system is the forward edge of the transom bulkhead which has permanent padding along its beam which makes for a comfortable lean when standing at the stern to fish.
The battery isolator switch is located on the starboard side aft corner and may be accessed with the seat installed and in the seating or collapsed position.
We thought the lines and hoses covered with convoluted protective casing could have been more neatly secured as slack looms were hanging loose there.
The fuel filter is installed nearby under the transom bulkhead and easily checked and drained during maintenance procedures.
If you don’t need to tow skiers or people on water toys you won’t have a problem with this package as tested and the economy of the relatively low horsepower will outweigh any issues you have getting on the plane.
Even though fitted with a manual cable steer, operations at the helm wheel at various levels of trim was a one-handed affair with very little torque requiring extra effort on the part of the skipper.
Manual steering really has come a long way in recent years and we were impressed with this setup for sure.
At WOT and 5900rpm you can expect a little over 55km/h from this boat and back at a 4000rpm cruise speed is around 36km/h.
Mechanical/Equipment/Rig.etc: 3.2/5.0
Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
On the water performance: 3.5/5.0
Value for money: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.5/5.0
Comparable boats
Nothing available with fibreglass composite build but look at their 435 if you want to go all alloy.
Options fitted: nil
GENERAL
Type: mono hull
Material: Aluminium 3mm bottom sides and 1.6mm topsides
Length: 4.65m
Beam: 2.06m
Weight: 358kg hull only
CAPACITIES
Fuel: 70l
Max. people: 5
Max. load people, luggage engine: 612kg
Rec. minimum hp: 40
Rec. maximum hp: 60
ENGINE
Make/model: Mercury EFI
Type: four-cylinder, four-stroke
Rated hp: 50
Displacement: 995cc
Weight: 112kg
Gearbox ratio: 1.83:1
Propeller: 13-inch alloy
Supplied by: Bay Marine Sales and Service
Telephone: (03) 9772 – 1800
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