One question that I get asked frequently is ‘what do you think the best boat for fishing around Townsville is?’. Obviously the answer to that question depends somewhat on the type of fishing you intend doing. But what most people are after is a good all-round boat that will be well suited to creek work, but still be capable of running off shore when the weather is right. Well if that sounds like you, then this might well be the boat your have been waiting for!
The Renegade 520 by Quintrex is a ‘no frills’ aluminium boat designed with the serious fisherman in mind. The test boat has an unpainted hull that won’t show the knocks from sinkers and rough fishing. However, it does feature a stylish vinyl wrap that makes it look pretty swish on the water. A painted hull is an option if you prefer. The total length is 5.48m with a hull length of 5.23m and beam of 2.21m. Topsides are made from 2.00mm aluminium, and bottomsides 3.00mm. The boat weight (boat only) is 450kg, and with a BMT mass of well under 1000kg this package is easily towed by any 6 cylinder car.
The famous Quintrex Millennium Hull is standard, but there is no Maxi Transom that most Quintrex owners would be familiar with. Rather, the engine is mounted directly onto the transom with a motor well to protect from wash and waves entering from the back of the boat. This didn’t seem to effect performance at all, and in fact it was much easier to work lines around the back of the boat as the motor is closer to the transom. The intrusion into the fishing space by the well is very minimal and hardly worth considering.
As there is no pod or maxi transom, a small boarding platform has been included on the port side. A handrail runs down either side of the platform and would provide reasonable access from the water. However, there is no boarding ladder that extends off this platform.
Buoyancy is only ‘basic’ compared to the positive flotation that has become more popular among manufacturers (including Quintrex) in recent years. This is probably owing largely to the lack of enclosed side pockets found in the fancy moulded or carpeted sides of other Quintrex models.
The Renegade is an open boat design with a nice compact side console. The side console is a very popular option for fisherman in North Queensland, especially those that lure fish around the creeks and islands. It gives a very comfortable driving position without taking up too much deck space. It’s very easy to move around the full length of the boat without running into things and people. The console is large enough to house the required electronics, and even features a small glove box and cup holder. The glove box is great to throw a wallet and keys into, while the cup holder is a must for some fishermen! A switch panel for onboard electronics and warning lights for the motor are also mounted on the dash. A perspex screen provides some protection for the driver, and a grab rail over the screen is ideal for those that like to stand and drive. The engine controls are neatly mounted to the side of the Gunwale. This boat features a Garmin GPSmap 556s GPS/Sounder combo unit and Garmin GMI-10 electronic gauge. The Garmin 556s is a very basic combo unit, I would consider upgrading it to something a little more powerful. Split screening on such a small unit is real pain in the neck. But it’s adequate for basic fishing and will get you to your marks no worries.
The deck of the boat is carpeted and features a raised front casting platform. While the casting deck doesn’t exactly get you flush to the gunwales like a bass boat, it’s still adequate for throwing a cast net or working lures. Built into the front deck are two storage hatches that gain entry to a massive amount of storage space. There is more than enough room in here for all safety gear and anything else you might need to store away. None of the storage is considered dry, but it would be easy to fit in a plastic tub or two with waterproof lids.
Thanks to the Millennium Hull the ride from the boat was very impressive. Like any light aluminium boat there is the occasional hard hit from the short sharp swell, but generally the entry is very soft. On the test day we ran to West Point with a 10knot Westerly breeze on the water. We sat very comfortably on 40km/hr all the way. From West Point the run wide was in 15knots of white capping water. This is where we did slow back to 30-35km/hr, just to take the edge off the re-entry. On the way back in we ran down along side the channel markers from the back of the island. From the island to the harbour we hit the usual ‘washing machine’ effect of the bay. This again brought us back to about 30km/hr. But we were comfortable and NEVER got wet the whole day! I did a bit of a run around at various speeds in Horseshoe Bay and found the performance excellent. The boat corners at high speed like it’s on rails! In fact, corner hard and you can feel the g-forces on your body just about pushing you out of the seat. But it never slipped or cavitated at all. Given the lack of maxi transom, and the extra rear buoyancy this normally provides, if would be easy to assume the boat rides bow up. But this simply wasn’t the case. Even with two heavy weights (combined mass of about 200kg) and the maximum hp 4-stroke on the back, the boat planed easily at low speeds and sat nice and flat on the water at speeds over 30km/hr. Below is a little video footage take of the boat running around Horseshoe Bay.
The Hull is rated to take motors up to 90hp. Quintrex have the boat recommended to be fitted with a 60hp motor. But I fear this would be well under powered. I would consider a 70hp absolute minimum. The test boat is fitted with the maximum rated 90hp Suzuki 4-stroke. This is probably the best motor you could fit to the boat. For its power it is very light and incredibly fuel efficient. This is a brand new model for Suzuki and features the new ‘lean burn’ technology. Fuel consumption form the test was nothing short of unbelievable. After running from the Harbour to West Point, fishing around West Point for a couple of hours and then running to Bay Rock the GMI-10 showed that we had used just 5lts of fuel. Now that is economical fishing! In fact, we found the most economical cruise speed was 40km/hr at 4000rpm. At this very comfortable speed the Suzuki just sipped away at the juice using a very admirable 10lts per hr (0.3lts per km). However, at full noise (6000rpm) the boat topped out at almost 70km/hr using 30lts per hour. Given the fuel tank size in the Renegade is 118lts, the range of this boat is phenomenal. 300km would be very conservative, and almost 400km could be gained from economical running. That’s multiple trips in the creeks, or more than enough to reach all of the reefs commonly fishing off Townsville.
At the moment Townsville Marine is offering a free upgrade to the Garmin GMI-10 on all Suzuki 4-stroke motors purchased. The GMI-10 is a hight resolution full colour multi-function display that connects directly to your Suzuki motor via NMEA2000. This gives you real time data such as engine revs, speeds, economy (l/km), fuel consumption (lts/hr), range, fuel remaining, engine hours, trim and more. The screen is fully customisable to display any combination of data you like. And given it’s connected directly to the engine computer, the data is instant and accurate. The video below explains all about the GMI-10.
The test boat had 2 plastic rod holders flush mounted in each side of the gunwales. The first set is about 2/3 back from the front of the boat, about level with the side console, and the second set in the rear corner. The rear set of rod holders are very badly positioned right beside an aluminum grab rail. It didn’t seem to matter what length butt I put in the holder, the reel was always in danger of banging against the rail when underway. This is particularly bad on the port side when the handle of the reel (assuming right handedness) is against the rail. As most people carry more than 4 rods when out fishing, the boat could do with some kind of rod storage. This could easily be solved with a vertical rod rack mounted to the front of the side console. Without this we tended to have rods laying all over the floor.
Storage in the side pockets is very generous with this boat. The pockets are deep and very wide. A small gap under the pockets allows your toes to go under when leaning against the sides. My only criticism is that with the pockets being wider than the top of the gunwale there is a tendency to knock your shins against the top of the pocket. But I would hate to see the pockets made any narrower. Perhaps the solution would be to widen the gunwale like the rest of the quintrex range. But no doubt this would add to the cost of the boat.
The steering fitted to the boat is a standard non return mechanical type. Even with a 90hp motor I found this firm to use. It is very direct and there isn’t any play. But I would be very tempted to have hydraulic steering fitted. Just for the added comfort and ease of use.
The boat sits on a beautiful single axle breaked Quintrex Aluminium trailer. Being an aluminium construction, rust should never be an issue. But the trailer also features ‘I’ frame that does not contain any ‘hollow’ sections for saltwater to enter and hide. The whole trailer can easily be hosed down. However, aluminium is also know to be a softer metal than steel and can flex under load. Flexing can lead to cracking of welded joins. So to counteract this, the trailer sections are bolted together rather than welded. The boat sits very comfortably on the skids of the trailer and launching was very smooth. However I would not consider this a drive on drive off style trailer. It does have a nice V built into the back to help guide the nose in, but you would have to sink the trailer a fair way to drive on comfortably. As the boat comes up onto the trailer the nose goes up in the air and the back drops down. It would be very easy to hit the motor on the ramp if not careful. But winching with the motor up isn’t a drama. Lighting on the trailer is good quality waterproof LED’s. These should give many years of fault free operation.
The nose of the boat features a standard anchor well and built in bow roller. The anchor well is large enough to hold plenty of rope, chain and a large anchor. There is also an electric motor mounting plate welded to the port side. This is a very handy inclusion as the majority of people who purchase a boat of this style will want to mount some kind of electric motor. An electric motor is a real asset in many fishing scenarios, not just luring the creeks. Imagine using an electric to hold position throwing plastics to Fingermark around the island, or even working a reef edge for Coral Trout. But the question of which electric to put on this boat would be an interesting one. A 55lb thrust would work ok for most situations, but this is a fairly big boat! An 80lb would probably be a better choice, plenty of power to move the boat around against wind and tide, especially offshore. But this means the addition of a 24v system. That’s 2 extra batteries to find a home for, not to mention the added expense. So it would be a difficult decision to have to make.
There are three folding pedestal seats included in the package. These are really neat as they can be moved around in several positions in the boat. And when not needed they can be removed completely and a plastic plug placed to cover the hole. This makes the seating arrangements very flexible, and extra seating not required can be completely left out of the boat for a trip. The seats themselves have good padding and are quite comfortable to sit on. However, having two seats at the back of the boat does get crowded if thats where the fishing action is taking place. But there is no reason why the seats couldn’t be removed and placed up the front out of the way once a fishing destination was reached.
If I was to purchase this particular boat there are a few options that I would consider adding. Given the type of fishing that I like to do, a bow mount electric motor would be the first thing to be installed. This boat is more than capable of runs wide to the reef, so a good quality VHF radio should also be fitted before the boat leaves the show room. I would probably also add a live bait tank, just for the few times I fish live squid for Fingermark or even live baits occasionally in the creeks.
This style of boat is a popular choice for fisherman in north Queensland. Coupled with a fuel efficient 4-stroke motor like the Suzuki and good quality electric motor this boat would be as equally suited to lure fishing the creeks for Barra and Jack as to chasing Fingermark around the island or for targeting trout and emperor out at the reef. This exact boat as tested is currently in stock at Townsville Marine and ready to go for the JUST REDUCED price of $39,750. Contact Emmanuel and I’m sure he would be happy to take any serious customer for a test run. This package will not disappoint. I know I was very impressed and throughly enjoyed my day on the water with it.
One question that I get asked frequently is ‘what do you think the best boat for fishing around Townsville is?’. Obviously the answer to that question depends somewhat on the type of fishing you intend doing. But what most people are after is a good all-round boat that will be well suited to creek work, but still be capable of running off shore when the weather is right. Well if that sounds like you, then this might well be the boat your have been waiting for!
The Renegade is an open boat design with a nice compact side console. The side console is a very popular option for fisherman in North Queensland, especially those that lure fish around the creeks and islands. It gives a very comfortable driving position without taking up too much deck space. It’s very easy to move around the full length of the boat without running into things and people. The console is large enough to house the required electronics, and even features a small glove box and cup holder. The glove box is great to throw a wallet and keys into, while the cup holder is a must for some fishermen! A switch panel for onboard electronics and warning lights for the motor are also mounted on the dash. A perspex screen provides some protection for the driver, and a grab rail over the screen is ideal for those that like to stand and drive. The engine controls are neatly mounted to the side of the Gunwale. This boat features a Garmin GPSmap 556s GPS/Sounder combo unit and Garmin GMI-10 electronic gauge. The Garmin 556s is a very basic combo unit, I would consider upgrading it to something a little more powerful. Split screening on such a small unit is real pain in the neck. But it’s adequate for basic fishing and will get you to your marks no worries.
