At 26’2” long and 3350 pounds, along with an 18-dergree transom deadrise, the Bay Crusher is aptly named. I spent a day of cobia fishing on one, which included forays both inside and outside of the inlet while it was blowing a stiff 15 knots. The seas were thoroughly riled, yet we were able to cruise through the nasty at 25 to 30 miles per hour without taking a beating. Why go so fast, one might ask? Heck, that was holding her back in a big way. Running in the lee with the protection of a close shoreline, we cruised in the low to mid 40s and hit a top-end of 61.9 miles per hour. Efficiency was good, too, running at a hair under three miles to the gallon at cruise. And that was with the maximum available powerplant, an F 350 Yamaha four-stroke. Opt for an F250, and you’ll still get plenty of speed, along with an even lower fuel burn.
Part of the reason why the Bay Crusher runs smoother and faster than one might expect for a boat of this size and length is the hull design. It’s thoroughly tricked-out, with a pair of longitudinal steps running from the chine to the keel. Another reason is the boat’s stout construction. All belowdecks voids are foam-filled. Pathfinder makes use of Phenolic backing plates (made with resin-impregnated sheets of paper and/or glass which are cured under heat and pressure), and hatches and latches all dog down tight to eliminate rattles and vibrations.
Wait a sec—can a Bay boat this brawny still creep into the shallows? You bet. Draft (engine up) is 1’3”. Granted, that’s a bit much for the genre, and it may discourage some of the flats aficionados down in Florida. But for those of us up here on the Chesapeake, it’s a worthy trade-off. And you don’t have to sacrifice one iota of fishability. The Bay Crusher hauls 63 gallons of livewell capacity split between an aft well and a forward well, four flush-mount rodholders, vertical console rodracks, a raw water washdown, and forward and aft casting decks. Oh yeah, and there’s also an 80-gallon integrated and insulated fishbox, which I can personally verify is large enough to chill down a pair of cobia in the 40 pound range, with plenty of room to spare.
Are you waiting for the “but”? There’s always a but. And in this case, it comes when you look at the bottom line. The boat’s base price is around $70,000, which seems like an awful lot to pay for a 26-footer. Of course, you get what you pay for—there’s very little to knock about this boat. One other potential down-side is the beam, which stretches out to 8’10”. That means you’ll need a permit to tow her around Bay Country. Then again, considering this boat’s speeds, relative efficiency, the traffic on the roads around here, and those bridge tolls we all love paying so much, why tow her in the first place? With a boat like the Pathfinder 2600 Bay Crusher underfoot, cruising by water sounds like a lot more fun—even when the wind’s blowing a stiff 15 knots.
By Lenny Rudow. Video courtesy of boats.com YouTube channel.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 - 08:29
Modern Bay boats are a great concept and an absolute pleasure to fish from, especially for light tackle casting and jigging, but let’s face the facts: Most of them are designed for southern markets with waters that are far more protected than our open Chesapeake. They have low deadrise V-hulls, and since most are 24-feet or under, barely enough beef to keep you secure when the chop kicks up. Die-hard anglers who love casting light tackle to rip-rap and points as much as they love trolling for trophies will be stoked to find out that at least one manufacturer has answered the call for a bigger, smoother-running Bay boat—it comes in the form of the Pathfinder 2600 HPS Bay Crusher.
At 26’2” long and 3350 pounds, along with an 18-dergree transom deadrise, the Bay Crusher is aptly named. I spent a day of cobia fishing on one, which included forays both inside and outside of the inlet while it was blowing a stiff 15 knots. The seas were thoroughly riled, yet we were able to cruise through the nasty at 25 to 30 miles per hour without taking a beating. Why go so fast, one might ask? Heck, that was holding her back in a big way. Running in the lee with the protection of a close shoreline, we cruised in the low to mid 40s and hit a top-end of 61.9 miles per hour. Efficiency was good, too, running at a hair under three miles to the gallon at cruise. And that was with the maximum available powerplant, an F 350 Yamaha four-stroke. Opt for an F250, and you’ll still get plenty of speed, along with an even lower fuel burn.
Part of the reason why the Bay Crusher runs smoother and faster than one might expect for a boat of this size and length is the hull design. It’s thoroughly tricked-out, with a pair of longitudinal steps running from the chine to the keel. Another reason is the boat’s stout construction. All belowdecks voids are foam-filled. Pathfinder makes use of Phenolic backing plates (made with resin-impregnated sheets of paper and/or glass which are cured under heat and pressure), and hatches and latches all dog down tight to eliminate rattles and vibrations.
Wait a sec—can a Bay boat this brawny still creep into the shallows? You bet. Draft (engine up) is 1’3”. Granted, that’s a bit much for the genre, and it may discourage some of the flats aficionados down in Florida. But for those of us up here on the Chesapeake, it’s a worthy trade-off. And you don’t have to sacrifice one iota of fishability. The Bay Crusher hauls 63 gallons of livewell capacity split between an aft well and a forward well, four flush-mount rodholders, vertical console rodracks, a raw water washdown, and forward and aft casting decks. Oh yeah, and there’s also an 80-gallon integrated and insulated fishbox, which I can personally verify is large enough to chill down a pair of cobia in the 40 pound range, with plenty of room to spare.
Are you waiting for the “but”? There’s always a but. And in this case, it comes when you look at the bottom line. The boat’s base price is around $70,000, which seems like an awful lot to pay for a 26-footer. Of course, you get what you pay for—there’s very little to knock about this boat. One other potential down-side is the beam, which stretches out to 8’10”. That means you’ll need a permit to tow her around Bay Country. Then again, considering this boat’s speeds, relative efficiency, the traffic on the roads around here, and those bridge tolls we all love paying so much, why tow her in the first place? With a boat like the Pathfinder 2600 Bay Crusher underfoot, cruising by water sounds like a lot more fun—even when the wind’s blowing a stiff 15 knots.
By Lenny Rudow. Video courtesy of boats.com YouTube channel.
At 26’2” long and 3350 pounds, along with an 18-dergree transom deadrise, the Bay Crusher is aptly named. I spent a day of cobia fishing on one, which included forays both inside and outside of the inlet while it was blowing a stiff 15 knots. The seas were thoroughly riled, yet we were able to cruise through the nasty at 25 to 30 miles per hour without taking a beating. Why go so fast, one might ask? Heck, that was holding her back in a big way. Running in the lee with the protection of a close shoreline, we cruised in the low to mid 40s and hit a top-end of 61.9 miles per hour. Efficiency was good, too, running at a hair under three miles to the gallon at cruise. And that was with the maximum available powerplant, an F 350 Yamaha four-stroke. Opt for an F250, and you’ll still get plenty of speed, along with an even lower fuel burn.
Part of the reason why the Bay Crusher runs smoother and faster than one might expect for a boat of this size and length is the hull design. It’s thoroughly tricked-out, with a pair of longitudinal steps running from the chine to the keel. Another reason is the boat’s stout construction. All belowdecks voids are foam-filled. Pathfinder makes use of Phenolic backing plates (made with resin-impregnated sheets of paper and/or glass which are cured under heat and pressure), and hatches and latches all dog down tight to eliminate rattles and vibrations.
Wait a sec—can a Bay boat this brawny still creep into the shallows? You bet. Draft (engine up) is 1’3”. Granted, that’s a bit much for the genre, and it may discourage some of the flats aficionados down in Florida. But for those of us up here on the Chesapeake, it’s a worthy trade-off. And you don’t have to sacrifice one iota of fishability. The Bay Crusher hauls 63 gallons of livewell capacity split between an aft well and a forward well, four flush-mount rodholders, vertical console rodracks, a raw water washdown, and forward and aft casting decks. Oh yeah, and there’s also an 80-gallon integrated and insulated fishbox, which I can personally verify is large enough to chill down a pair of cobia in the 40 pound range, with plenty of room to spare.
Are you waiting for the “but”? There’s always a but. And in this case, it comes when you look at the bottom line. The boat’s base price is around $70,000, which seems like an awful lot to pay for a 26-footer. Of course, you get what you pay for—there’s very little to knock about this boat. One other potential down-side is the beam, which stretches out to 8’10”. That means you’ll need a permit to tow her around Bay Country. Then again, considering this boat’s speeds, relative efficiency, the traffic on the roads around here, and those bridge tolls we all love paying so much, why tow her in the first place? With a boat like the Pathfinder 2600 Bay Crusher underfoot, cruising by water sounds like a lot more fun—even when the wind’s blowing a stiff 15 knots.
By Lenny Rudow. Video courtesy of boats.com YouTube channel.