What a great boat! Yep, that’s my impression after spending a day on the bay in the 670HTP from Bar Crusher.

Our last trip to Victoria included a day on the water with the boys from Bar Crusher and we were fortunate enough to get some time in this rig. The HTP version is the Pilot House model of the popular 670 hull, and this model will prove very popular for those looking for a towable boat that will make a meal of adverse ocean conditions and allow skipper and crew to get out of the weather in comfort.

Given that this is the same hull as the other 670 models, let’s take an in-depth look at what the pilothouse offers for anglers. Keep in mind, if you want to have a true overnighter that is set up for this purpose, take a good look at the impressive 780HTP, as it comes with all the bells and whistles for overnighting.

The 670HTP’s pilothouse is functionality at its best. The toughened safety glass windscreen and all-weather pilothouse allows full standing room and an unobstructed 360° view from the helm. At the core of the pilothouse is the ability to completely enclose you from the weather with bar-style rear doors and handle-locked windows up front. These two designs allow excellent airflow when needed, and are completely watertight when needed the other way. The starboard (skipper’s) side of the front windscreen also sports a windscreen wiper to ensure the best visibility at all times.

I really like the helm area of this boat. It’s massive and fits the largest of instrument panels easily. It was designed specifically like this to ensure the skipper had all the tools of his trade within easy reach and easy sight. There are few things worse than looking over to the port side of the boat to check on a GPS or sounder while you’re concentrating on where you’re going. In this case, larger is better.

Both the skipper and the first mate have deluxe helm seating that is confortable in any weather and to add a degree of security, there are foot rests built in for both of these seating positions. The heavy-duty seat boxes are built with tackle storage underneath and you can carry 10 trays of tackle here. This is a handy use of space and allows more-than-you-need tackle storage for most trips out.

Forward of the foot rests is the cabin space, an area that has bench seating with cushions and enough space to have a quick lay down if needed. In fact a couple of kids would easily find a bed on either seat. Underneath the cushions is more storage space suited to safety gear, spare clothes or spare tackle storage.

There is also a very large forward hatch that gives users access to the anchor well, although I would take the option to install the Stress Free Anchor winch. Although this would make the hatch somewhat redundant, it’s nice to know if there is an issue up forward, you can easily access the anchor well and sort it out on the spot.

The working area on the 670HTP has deliberately been made as large as possible. The pilothouse configuration and fold-away rear bench seat creates a huge cockpit fishing area that’s ready for serious action.

Generous internal depth with secure toeholds, step-through transom, marlin board with berley bucket, rod holders, plumbed livebait tank, in-floor fish storage tank and large-volume storage pockets which will easily accommodate tag poles, gaffs and other essential equipment are all there for you. The fully-welded checkerplate deck is extremely easy to clean after a solid day on the water, and with the optional FishMat flooring, there’ll be no slipping at vital times when you’re setting lines or fighting it out with the big one of the day.

I like larger boats that have deck washes included, and the 670HTP has a saltwater deckwash installed to help keep everything clean while you’re on the water. Blood, guts, berley and slime can all be hosed off the flooring and bait station easily and quickly before it dries and becomes a pain to clean when you get back to port.

The bait station drains straight into the berley muncher and bucket that is located on the rear boarding platform within easy reach of anyone wanting to use it. I like berley munchers as it means you can work a fine mist of berley into the water without having to spend hours chopping up pilchards or bait scraps, and the fact that the bait board drains to this means your rig will stay cleaner for longer.

On the other side of the berley pot is the boarding ladder and a step-through transom door. This gives you access to the boarding platform if extra large fish need attention or if you are diving, swimming or retrieving people from the water. It’s simple and convenient and simply not overdone like some can be.

And of course this is all powered by the 200hp Suzuki 4-stroke strapped to the back that simply made this rig fly.

I was impressed with the stability of the 670 at rest and underway. Phil from Bar Crusher has had years of experience in this style of boat and you can tell when he takes the helm and shows you what this lady can do. We managed to do some speed testing and fuel use figures thanks to all the gauges on board, and found that at 4000rpm, the 670HTP ran at around 48km/h (about 26 knots) and used barely any fuel. The boat also ran so smoothly at this speed that it was easy to walk around without holding on to the grab rails anywhere on board.

As an experiment and to prove a point that maybe some people need some boat driving training, Phil showed me the difference using the trim tabs can make. Keep in mind this is Phil’s passion and lifestyle and he can drive a boat bloody well, but as he adjusted the trim tabs at 4000rpm, the incredibly pleasant ride turned into a thumping, noisy and much slower ride that would lead you to think the hull was terrible. It was a real eye opener for me just how much the ride could be influenced.

Phil also took us into a full lock turn at around 2000rpm. This was a tight turn that had the 670 circling in less than 15m. He slowly bumped up the rpms as we spun around and as we hit full noise we were spinning in the same space without cavitation and without the boat feeling like it was out of control. The boat was so in control that as we exited the sharp turning circle, Phil drove us over the cross wakes and the rig stayed true to course and just glided on its merry way.

OK, I was sold!

So to sum up the performance, we maxed out the speed at just under 6000rpm at around 73km/h (around 40 knots) and cruised comfortably and very fuel efficiently at 48km/h (about 26 knots) and never once looked like making this boat skip a beat and put us in danger. I loved it.

Constructed from heavy-duty, high-tensile 5mm (bottom sides) and 4mm (top sides) marine grade plate aluminium, the 670HTP measures 6.70m overall with a 2.35m beam. Its high-tech Waveslicer non-pounding, deep-V hull delivers an ultra-smooth ride, the expertly-engineered Rigideck sub-floor system ensures maximum hull strength and Bar Crusher’s exclusive Quickflow water ballast technology ensures the boat is extremely stable at rest.

All up, it’s a very impressive fishing rig that makes no bones about its purpose, and that’s just fine with me. If you’re going to build a boat for fishing, build a boat for fishing – and this is exactly what Bar Crusher has done with the 670HTP.

I’d happily fish from this boat for anything offshore. Marlin, tuna, deepwater baitfishing, snapper in the bays and offshore, even squidding and whiting fishing a little shallower – I reckon the 670HTP could handle all of it. The fact you have a pilothouse to get out of the weather in is simply a massive bonus.

Check out more about the 670HTP by logging onto the Bar Crusher website at www.barcrusher.com.au or find out your local dealer and ask them all about it. It’s a hell of a nice boat that will meet many fishing requirements.