Another common question among prospective boat buyers: “What does water ballast do?”
Firstly, back to basics: flatter hulls provide great stability at rest, but pound and bang in rough conditions; whereas deep-V hulls can handle the rough stuff, but are typically very rocky at rest.
Water ballast technology is the perfect way to combine the soft-riding benefits of a deep V hull and great stability at rest.
FACT: High-performance hull design is a science and all Bar Crusher hulls are fine-tuned with just the right amount of V, planing area and weight distribution…
Many boat manufacturers have to compromise by building flatter hulls to achieve the required stability at rest. You may have ridden in some of these aluminium boats on windy days and found the ride to be almost unbearable.
Bar Crusher boats deliver the best of both worlds – our Waveslicer® deep V hull for a smooth, non-pounding ride; and Quickflow® water ballast technology for excellent stability at rest.
Here’s how it works: a cavity running the full length of the keel, open at the transom, fills with water when the boat stops and lowers the chines into the water for increased stability. The moment the boat accelerates, this water ballast is jettisoned from the hull and the deep-V hull does its job to eat up whatever’s thrown its way.
FACT: Through continued innovation, we’ve perfected our water ballast system to ensure there’s no lag when accelerating – just a smooth and fast transition onto the plane…
Centreline keel water ballast technology is well proven. Effective water ballast technology is about placing the right volume (mass of water) in the right place to optimise stability at rest. It’s about understanding the interaction between ballast and buoyancy to ensure best performance. (You can’t fake it, although many try!)
Every now and then, the odd boat manufacturer brings out something claimed to rival our Quickflow® system, such as multiple water ballast cavities in a hull. Unfortunately, welding a few bits of C-channel to the bottom plate of a boat doesn’t create an effective water ballast system.
For over 20 years, we’ve worked hard to promote the benefits of water ballast technology in Australia. As a result, many thousands of experienced boaters know a Bar Crusher boat’s performance while underway and stability at rest is hard to beat.
