Boat test for the 2004 Ocean 50 Super Sport with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2004 Ocean 50 Super Sport.

My cellphone rang as I stared at the ocean out the window of my hotel room on Singer Island, Florida, which is about 15 miles north and east of West Palm Beach. Ocean Yachts’ captain Gene Hawn was calling. We were scheduled to meet in a short time to test the Ocean 50 Super Sport. However, a 20- to 25-mph-plus wind had been blowing east and sometimes east-northeast for several days, and the ocean was frothing like the mouth of a rabid dog.

“Patrick, can you see the ocean from where you are?” asked Hawn. “Yeah, I can see it,” I replied. “What does it look like there?” he inquired. “It’s pretty ugly, Gene,” I said, adding, “but we’ll do what we can.” “Okay, see you in a little while,” Hawn concluded. Within a few minutes, I was off to South Florida Yachts, the Ocean dealer in Riviera Beach, to see how the 50 would handle the frothing mouth.

Hawn and I decided that we’d try speed runs first and concurred they were best performed on the calmer Lake Worth. The 50’s twin 1,015-mhp Caterpillar C18 diesel inboards, the largest powerplants available on the 50, were warmed up and ready to go. Her top speed of 41.7 mph at 2360 rpm and a comfortable cruise of 37.2 mph at 2000 rpm seemed an admirable performance with a full complement of diesel (780 gallons) and water (150 gallons). I calculated a range of 298 NM at cruise speed, plenty for a weekend outing or fishing trip to the edge.

Other than an occasional breeze requiring some tab to get her nose down, the 50 was beating back the wind with a vengeance. “Want to go outside?” asked Hawn. “Let’s take a look,” I replied. It was time to play.

The steady wind had the ocean teaming with six- to nine-footers. As we made our way through the confused inlet, Hawn stepped out of the helm chair, and I took the wheel. The standard Hynautic hydraulic steering and optional ($7,075) Glendinning single-lever electronic controls were as smooth as the 50’s tracking. With her 54,000-pound displacement, due in part to a heavily built, 3/4-inch solid-fiberglass hull bottom, the 50 plowed through the inlet. Adding to her toughness is Divinycell H80 coring in her sides, which stiffens the hull while enhancing the strength-to-weight ratio.

Once we ventured into the ocean, I was able to run the 50 at 1500 rpm into the seas with wind-driven spray frequently hitting the optional ($6,240) EZ2CY enclosure. At 22 knots, she ran without so much as a slap, and she performed equally well beam-to. Her deadrise varies from a maximum of 50 degrees forward to 15.5 degrees at her transom. This could lead one to believe she might dig in and have poor down-sea tracking, but she proved me wrong, and I was actually able to pick up an extra 50 rpm after I trimmed her bow up. In addition, her planing hull and flattened deadrise aft helps reduce roll underway and should do the same while drifting.

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