Whether you’re chasing marlin offshore or targeting snapper inshore, sooner or later you’ll be faced with a run back to the boat ramp in less than favourable conditions.
As part of your pre-purchase research, it’s important to consider whether the boat you plan to buy is engineered to handle big swell and messy sea conditions caused by a metre or two of wind chop.
FACT: Bar Crusher boats are among the best performing boats on the water. If anyone suggests otherwise, invite them to test run any other aluminium trailer boat alongside a Bar Crusher on a rough day!
The only way to prove any boat’s performance in rough sea conditions is to take one out on the water.
FOLLOWING SEA PERFORMANCE
A boat’s following sea performance is something salespeople don’t often speak about… but they should.
When running with the sea you need to know 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 4m swell offshore, your boat must perform well in a following sea.
If you’re looking at a brand of boat and the salesperson isn’t keen to prove its 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.)
WHAT IS BROACHING?
This is a dangerous phenomenon that sees the nose of a 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.
If you’ve ever experienced this in a boat, you’ll know what we’re talking about.
BEWARE: Boats that are wider at the transom compared with boats of similar length, and especially those with a shallower deadrise and a sharp nose, should set-off alarm bells. This is a formula for a broaching hull and the boat should be driven down the face of a wave with great care.
A boat needs to be of balanced design. It needs to have a length-to-beam ratio that delivers safe handling, good deadrise (or V) in the right place, the optimum amount of lift and support at varying speeds 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, a downright dangerous boat that really shouldn’t be on the water.)
PREDICTABLE AND SAFE
We take great care to ensure Bar Crusher boats perform predictably and safely.
Every Bar Crusher boat features our exclusive Waveslicer® hull design, which incorporates a smooth, deep-V hull that slices beautifully through waves. The hull allows the boat to hold in the water during tight turns, without the aeration or cavitation experienced in other hulls.
The design work and testing that’s been carried out on every model ensures every Bar Crusher boat is predictable to drive, which instils real confidence – even in a following sea.
When running down the face of a wave in a Bar Crusher, you’re very unlikely to experience that awful broaching action that skews a boat side on and tries to throw everyone overboard, which adds a real margin of safety when tracking home in rougher conditions.
