Renegade Brave 5.2

Once again I'll admit bias from the very beginning - when it comes to fishing platforms I'm a real fan of plate aluminium boats. With their almost limitless customising options and their tough and sturdy hulls, these big brothers of the venerable pressed alloy tinnies are hard to beat.

Alas, I'm also a stickler for aesthetics. I'm a great believer that a boat should not only work well, it should look good too. After all, when you're laying out thousands of your hard earneds for your fishing boat, you want it to say something about you.

Until recent years, the message plate alloy craft have sent about their owners has been something along the lines of: "I'm going fishing and I don't care what I look like". Today, it's boats from specialist plate manufacturers like Renegade and Pacific Sportfish (builder of Trailer Boat's sister magazine BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing's latest centre-cab project boat) that are rapidly changing this perception.

"Dressed to impress and ready for action" is the tune Renegade's range of craft is playing nowadays, as one look at the salty sweeping trademark sheer of the craft will confirm.

Built to Renegade's specifications in WA and shipped eastward for final delivery at the company's headquarters in Sydney's south, these craft are seriously good-looking fishing boats. Based on the designs of David Jackman of Hampton Yachts' fame, they look the business before they even touch the water, from their dimple-free sides to their high rakish bows.

Having stepped onboard a couple of Renegade's larger craft at boat shows over the past 12 months, Trailer Boat recently sampled the maker's most recent addition to the range - the 5.2m Brave - and came away impressed.

Renegade says that this is a boat built to attack freshwater impoundments and estuaries. However, one look at the craft will tell most fishos that it has the credentials to venture much further afield.

Make no mistake, this is a big 5.2m craft. Incorporating big-boat features such as fully sealed decks, a self-draining cockpit and a high bow with fine entry and pronounced flare, means the Brave will make a fine bay boat or even a pocket offshore sportsfisher. Add to this the centre-console layout and the maximum fishing room this provides and you end up with a very attractive package.

PERSONAL PLAYTHING
Boasting a boatload of modifications and options and a hefty as-tested price over $38,000, the testboat was the personal plaything of league legend, Andrew 'ET' Ettingshausen.

This is no standard Brave. Forward there is a bi-level raised casting platform that runs from the pulpit to the forward edge of the wider-than-standard centre console. As well as anchor and warp storage, three large bins are concealed under this carpeted section (one plumbed as a livebait or catch tank), all accessible via flush-mounted hatch pulls. On the forward end is a casting post.

Behind the console are two closely mated helm chairs and a large removable storage unit which incorporates rod holders, etc. Sidepockets are also fitted.

I'm not about to argue with ET (he's bigger than me... come to think of it, he's bigger than anybody I know!), but for most fishing applications this fitout is a little over the top. In fact, while the multitude of dry and wet storage areas are very well executed, in my book the changes actually detracted from the general fishability of the boat.

Still, it's indicative of the sort of custom work Renegade can do when given its head - and I'm sure it suits ET's needs.

So what do you actually get in 'standard' form then?

As Renegade's Darryl Kelly told Trailer Boat: "It's hard to say... Most purchasers of this type of boat want to add and subtract fittings here and there."

Indeed, with a substantial options list and no fear of custom work, the sky's the limit if a well-heeled Renegade customer so desires.

Kelly says that most Braves delivered so far have incorporated flush floors with a semi-raised forward section and some underfloor storage, cockpit carpets and a livebait tank. Another popular option is a stainless steel T-top with rocket launcher, though many anglers opt for the standard width console.

Look at the pictures of our testboat and imagine your own craft equipped like this. If you're a gear nut like me, it's enough to make your mouth water.

And when you consider that basic hull/motor/trailer Brave packages are available from around $24,800, the boat is priced within most anglers' reach.

TRADEMARK PERFORMANCE
However long your list of options, what is delivered standard is a soft-riding hull that proved both seakindly and dry in our short trial on a choppy Botany Bay.

A variable deadrise design, the hull incorporates heavy 'trak-rail' style chines that help reduce spray and give the boat good directional stability.

Like the range-topping Chief, Renegade's Brave features a trademark reverse sheer at the transom and a full-width duckboard with integral berley bucket.

Underneath, the running surface of the hull is extended to form a pod (available to suit single or dual outboard versions). A three-quarter height transom incorporates two storage bins and a cutting board.

With a beam of almost 2.4m, this is an exceptionally wide craft given its length. As you'd expect with around 16° deadrise at the transom and those heavy chines, it's quite stable at rest. For a while we drifted beam on in the chop and would have quite happily fished for a spell, had I not forgotten the gear.

Transfer to plane was a little bow high in the case of the testboat, however this may have as much to do with the added weight of the fitout and the rear location of the helm as anything else.

With a boatload of marine-grade ply making up all those hatches, you can be sure ET's Brave is a damn sight heavier than most craft this size. Nonetheless, mated to a Honda 90hp, it showed a good turn of speed, and was spritely out of the hole and fuss-free on the plane.

So-equipped, this is a craft that could happily cover plenty of miles in a day. Indeed, with a standard 140lt tank underfloor, there's probably two or three days fishing between fill-ups for most bay anglers.

I'll admit I'm an unashamed fan of the 90hp Honda, especially when mated to alloy platforms such as the Brave. Sure, plenty of crap has been written about these powerplants (from both sides!). But take it from us, this is an excellent fishing powerplant - smooth, quiet and above all, economical.

Our 6.4m BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing Sportfish project boat has a pair of the fours bolted to its transom, and though we have had some dramas propping the motors for around 2000kg of boat, we have nothing but praise for the set-up.

If you feel the need for a little more speed, however, the Brave is rated to 115hp. Indeed, one Renegade customer was due to take delivery of a fuel-injected Suzuki 115hp-powered Brave just a day or two after we tested ET's boat. With this much power on hand, you could expect a genuine 80kmh craft.

BUILT TO LAST
There's no doubting the strength and durability of well-built plate alloy boats.

With hull and sides fashioned from 4mm DNV-certified alloy sheet, 3mm material gracing the decks, and substantial bottom and deck stringers, the Brave is a small boat only in length, and this is one of its main attractions. Though relatively compact, the new Renegade gives every indication that it is built to take on the rough and tumble.

The vast majority of boaties and anglers have to settle for a compromise boat - one that's not too big for a day or two on Eucumbene or Tinaroo, but will still take the family out to wet a line on the harbour or near inshore reefs. With the Brave, Renegade has satisfied these needs, but by aiming that little bit higher has opened up a lot more water to its customers.

In fact, with a degree of commonsense and some well thought out options, the Brave has the potential to service anglers across the whole spectrum of boat-fishing environments - from the placid lakes of the Snowy all the way to those blissfully calm autumn days out on the continental shelf.

Comfortably towed on a single-axle trailer behind a six-cylinder car, this is an exciting package. Could it be the trailerable fishing boat that can do it all?