Ocean Renegade R5 - Performance and ecology aboard the same catamaran

Coming straight from South Africa, the Ocean Renegade R5 is a catamaran which combines performance and ecology, both in terms of the materials used and its hybrid sail/electric propulsion system. An interesting concept on many points, that also hides other good surprises.

Test location: St Petersburg (Florida - USA)
Conditions: 20 knots of wind, slight chop

In the business world of catamarans, there are several schools, each with their own specificities and assets. For several years, South Africa has become one of the Eldorados of multihulls construction with several architects and shipyards competing in terms of talent and performance. One of the assets of African boat building, apart from the attractive prices, is the massive use of carbon fiber, a material that allows to build boats as strong as they are light. The Ocean Renegade brand uses this exact recipe. The company has been building leisure catamarans since 2014, and its roots are in the commercial marine industry, so there’s no shortage of experience at the shipyard. Ocean Renegade was created by Clayton Dee and the catamarans are built by Novaluxe Manufacturing, in Cape Town, South Africa, a shipyard majority-owned by Allan Knight. Sensitive to the environmental cause, the builder produces its own electrical energy using solar panels. The philosophy of the brand is to offer the most adapted boat to the customer’s needs and to offer an excellent compromise between habitability and performance. Right now, the range includes two main sailing models, the R5 and R6 and a powe...