RENEGADE R6
Design
The R6 appears at first to be the natural evolution of the R5 where input from clients and visitors pointed to the need for a bigger platform in the R-series and whilst the R6 certainly traces its DNA from the R5, she is very much her own beast. The brief was for a 60 footer that shares the R5’s ease of handling, has great performance but enjoys greater volume in the hulls, and has the length to support full-sized forward and aft cockpits. So after literally dozens of layout options, we arrived at what we feel is a great balance of versatility, flow, and ease of living.
Life on planet R6
The R6 features 3 cabins, all with king-size bunks and en-suite bathrooms with separate stall showers. In addition, the starboard owners hull features a separate aft cabin that can be configured either as a fully equipped office that doubles as an overflow cabin with a convertible queen bunk or as an equipment storeroom/garage with a convertible bunk. Her layout is user-friendly, spacious, and features a huge galley that can seat 4 on bar stools with its countertop overhang hence serves as its own meals or entertainment area. The salon sofa can feature either a dining table or a coffee table. Moving aft we have our new innovation which is a davit system that is integrated into a multifunctional aft beam seat & platform that has four deployment modes (1 at sea and 3 at anchor). This allows the aft cockpit to comfortably seat 12 people at anchor. Looking further forward, the R6 gets a new forward cockpit design with twin seating areas and improved access to the deck.
Versatility
The R6 features seven distinct or combinable social areas (without a performance-killing flybridge): Beginning from the bows she has her large knotless trampolines along with removable backrest cushions, after that there is the forward sailing cockpit and its integrated seats. The salon sofa area follows along with the huge galley and its seated area. Going aft we reach the huge aft cockpit with its deployable aft seat and platform. Then to round things off she has her twin outboard sailing lounges on the aft quarters.
Performance
The R5 has proven to be a mile eating machine and the R6 is a little different – she just has a bigger appetite. Like the R5 she features carbon spars, carbon daggerboards, and significant carbon reinforcing in all her high load areas. Her mast and boom are also carbon and her spar package is supplied by Marstrom. Her main bulkheads are all carbon as well. We have stuck with a very similar sail control system as on the R5 (as it is very simple and works so well) using a self-tacking jib and line driver on the mainsheet traveler. In terms of propulsion, the standard R6 also gets a Torqeedo Deep Blue system, this time with shaft drives where the motors are fitted under the hull floors. This is great for weight distribution and negates the need for an engine room bulkhead in the starboard aft cabin – meaning quite long items can be stored there when in garage configuration.
Technology
We are returning to the Torqeedo Deep Blue system as we have found it to be the most efficient, reliable, and innovative electric propulsion system available at the moment. The 2 x 25kw drive system features the proven BMW I3 battery with its 9-year warranty and it is backed up by a 20kw Fisher Panda generator for those times when you need to extend your motoring range or when you need to use all of the drive's output for short periods. As we have found on the R5, most of the time you will be motoring on far less than the drive's capacity, however, it's always good to have a bit of extra grunt in your back pocket. The deep blue system allows great flexibility of onboard systems as you have a lot of DC power on hand.
For the joy of sailing
The R6 features the same great transmission steering system found on the R5 however we’ve added removable tillers and an electronic disengage clutch to the system to allow the R6 to be steered from her outboard sailing lounges. Last, but certainly not least, the R6 will also feature our new ‘sail by wire’ system. The R5 was the genesis of this with her electric line driver using rocker switches in various locations to control the mainsheet traveler and this has been very popular with all who’ve sailed the R5’s. The R6 takes this further with the addition of reversible electric primary winches where the jib and mainsheets can be loaded onto the winches and then controlled remotely. This has allowed us to integrate the main and jib sheet trimming controls along with the traveler control into a control switching system with rocker switches mounted at the internal helm position, as well as on the tillers themselves for genuine one-handed steering and sail trimming.
