Review of Pearson Renegade

Pearson Renegade. Starboard quarter cockpit view

Basic specs.

The Pearson Renegade also known as Pearson Renegade 27 is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect William Harold Shaw in the late sixties. Less than 200 boats have been built. The Pearson Renegade is built by the American yard Pearson Yachts.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Pearson Renegade or similar boat for sale

Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

Floor plan of Pearson Renegade.

The boat is equipped with one cabin, 5 berths, 75 liters (19 US gallons, 16 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity and toilet facility.

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.

Galley of Pearson Renegade. Galley view (c. 2017)

Rig

Rig of Pearson Renegade. Port side profile view

The Pearson Renegade is built with a masthead rig. The sail area for the mailsail + jib is 31.6 m² (340.5 ft²). The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

Vertical profile of Pearson Renegade. The inbord motor was optional.

Keel of Pearson Renegade. Starboard quarter hull form view

Fin keel

The Pearson Renegade is built with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.30 - 1.40 meter (4.27 - 4.57 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The fuel tank has a capacity of 60 liters (15 US gallons, 13 imperial gallons).

The Pearson Renegade has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

Pearson Renegade may be equipped with an inboard Universal Atomic 4 gasoline engine at 30 hp (22 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.3 knots

The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.

Alternative 2:

An outboard motor is often used on this boat for docking and maneuvering. In that case the boat will typically require a power of 6 - 7 hp, alternatively 131 - 157 lbs thrust if you prefer an electrical motor. Electric outboards are becoming popular among sailboat owners who want clean instant power with less noise and no exhaust fumes.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Pearson Renegade is 1.84, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.1 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Pearson Renegade is about 112 kg/cm, alternatively 629 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 112 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 629 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Pearson Renegade is 24.9.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 76% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Pearson Renegade is 3.16.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Pearson Renegade is 32%.

This ballast ratio is higher than 15% of all similar sailboat designs. Since the ballast ratio and the righting moment (i.e. better ability to resist heeling) is strongly correlated, a ballast ratio significantly below average indicates a very low ability to resist heeling.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Pearson Renegade is 314 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

21% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Pearson Renegade with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 46% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Pearson Renegade has more rig than 96% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 19m² (204 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	22.6 m	(74.2 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	22.6 m	(74.2 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	22.6 m	(74.2 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet	8.3 m	(27.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	8.3 m	(27.2 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet	20.7 m	(67.9 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	18.2 m	(59.8 feet)	10 mm	(3/8 inch)
Cunningham	3.8 m	(12.3 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap	7.5 m	(24.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul	7.5 m	(24.7 feet)	8 mm	(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Pearson Renegade it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.