BAR CRUSHER 780HT BOAT REVIEW

Regular readers will probably recall that the magazine ran a Bar Crusher 780HT as our project boat for three years before replacing it back in 2019 with the current 670XT. We caught some great fish out of the 780, and I only moved it on because it wouldn’t fit in the shed of the new property I bought on Yorke Peninsula. It’s a big boat with big offshore credentials, and there have been many times I’ve missed it, particularly on days when conditions have been less than ideal. The 670 is incredibly versatile and eats up the lumpy stuff, but it simply doesn’t provide the level of protection and comfort that the big hard top delivered in spades.

I hadn’t been in a 780HT since the departure of the magazine boat, and was excited to jump back on board recently when given the opportunity. Pacific Marine had just finished fitting up a new one for a keen local angler, and I thought it would be timely to take a look at what (if anything) has changed. The fact that this boat had been fitted with a brand new Honda BF350 V8 four stroke heightened my interest further; our boat was powered by a BF250, and I was keen to discover how those extra 100 horses would affect performance.

Immediately obvious as I climbed aboard at North Haven was that not a lot has changed in 780HT layout. It’s still a big, beamy boat with a great blend of cockpit space and cabin room. The berths are full length (2.1m), there’s oodles of dry storage up front, and fishing four out back is as comfortable as it gets. In fact, I had forgotten just how much room there is in that cockpit – something our 670XT doesn’t have in copious amounts.

The 780’s hard top is about as well designed as any you’ll find in the current crop of offshore trailer boats. There is plenty of head room, even for taller guys, and all-round vision from beneath the top is unequalled. Access to the cabin is unobstructed, and the dash is pretty much the same as it has always been – spacious, uncluttered and comfortable to work with, either from the helm seat or standing.

Honda’s new BF350 is a cracking engine

Checking through the current inventory of factory-fitted inclusions, I noticed that there are now a few standard items that were once optional extras. Most switched-on boat builders will incorporate useful bits and pieces as their products develop and evolve, and Bar Crusher designers have a finger on the pulse that never comes off. Traditionally, they have been both keen and willing to listen to customer feedback, and I’m sure this trend will continue.

The centre windscreen panel now comes with an opening section that enables flow-through ventilation on a warm day, and the aft bait table now comes with a couple of handy drawers. In the original model this space beneath the bait board was simply an empty void, which offered little in the way of secure storage. Also standard now are a 12v DC power outlet and a flush-mounted 2.3A universal USB charging point for mobile phones and GoPro cameras etc.

The Wave Slicer hull is extremely efficient

The dash console is neat and spacious

There’s a heap of room in the cockpit

The current model 780HT really does come nicely equipped from the factory, but there are plenty of optional extras available for serious offshore fishing. Having now used the optional ballast flap on our 670 for five years, I would never order a Bar Crusher without one. This electronically-activated flap shuts off the sub-deck ballast chamber when desired, making the boat far easier to launch from a beach or a dodgy ramp around low tide. That ballast tank holds around 700 litres of water, which is prevented from entering when the flap is closed, reducing launch weight by 700kg. That ballast flap also enables you to trap and hold 700 litres of water beneath the deck, which can make a significant difference to ride on a rough day. I use this feature regularly, and now swear by it.

Another optional extra worth considering is a salt-water deck wash, which is pretty much a mandatory inclusion if you take your boat tuna fishing. With the standard transom scuppers open and the boat slowly underway, a deck wash system enables quick clean up and disposal of tuna blood.

One of the major drawcards for me during the recent 780 test was the chance to get up close and personal with Honda’s all-new BF350 V8. This engine was released on the Gold Coast just a few months ago, and is already making quite a splash in the big trailer boat marketplace. This is Honda’s first foray into V8 territory and, according to the experts, it has been well worth the wait.

The BF350 is fitted with a micro-computer programmed ignition system, programmed fuel injection, and the powerhead features 32 valves and 60-degree V8 configuration. It’s a big engine, tipping the scales at 347kg, but seems to balance nicely on the transom of the 780HT. This makes it around 50kg heavier than Suzuki’s DP300 (another popular choice for the 780HT), but we’re talking V8 over V6 here, so a few extra kilos are to be expected.

As I’d anticipated, the big Bar Crusher is a flying machine with this much horsepower on the back. I had always been happy enough with the way our old 780 got out of the hole with the Honda 250, but this was a whole new and very different experience. There wasn’t much chop around for the whole morning of the test run, enabling us to run fast and long, and I can tell you this engine makes the whole outfit feel quite different. At one point we had seven on board, and there was little, if any, difference in top speed between a light load and near full capacity. The big Bar Crusher simply adores this much ‘grunt’!

In all other aspects the 780HT behaved in much the same way as our original boat. Handling was identical, and stability at rest was exceptional – courtesy of that substantial sub-deck ballast tank. It’s simply a great offshore boat that’s built with Aussie conditions in mind, and fitted out the way demanding sportfishers expect!