Ocean Alexander 45 Divergence Coupe
As we idled up to Alabama Jacks, the famous waterside restaurant in Key Largo, dozens of patrons turned to stare at our ride. Some snapped cell phone photos and one yelled out, “Hey, what kind of boat is that?”
“It’s an Ocean Alexander,” the captain replied.
The man shot a thumbs up skyward before turning back to his fried fish lunch.
It was no ordinary Ocean Alexander, but the new-at-the-time Divergence 45 Sport that had just enjoyed a wildly successful debut at the Miami Yacht Show.
Striking, with a high level of finish, the boat stood apart in a crowded market of outboard-powered cruisers because of the myriad features offered. “Still,” says Ocean Alexander’s Vice President of Marketing Sally Doleski, “it was an uphill battle at the start.”
“It was unique for a big-boat builder to come down to this market. We’re competing with serious center console builders,” says Doleski. “Brand loyalty is helping us go up against the likes of Boston Whaler and Pursuit, but it’s not easy. We’re trying to show features that those boats don’t have. We want people to compare our boats with those other brands and go feature-for-feature to see how much our boats have.”
Doubling down on the Divergence line, the builder was set to debut the 45 Divergence Coupe at the Palm Beach show that would go on to be canceled.
The Coupe version is similar in profile view to its center console sistership. She sports huge fold-down gunwales, wide side decks and quad Mercury outboards. Looking forward from the cockpit is where you really get a sense of how different this boat’s mission is—a large sliding door leads you to an entirely protected and climate-controlled salon and helm.
Down below, this model takes another, well, divergence. Where the Sport model was a true weekend warrior with a berth forward, the Coupe is a true two-stateroom cruiser. How long you spend aboard is in the eye of the boater; one man’s weekender is another man’s liveaboard, but I could reasonably see a small family spending a couple weeks aboard at a time.
“We were asked for it immediately,” says Doleski. “As soon as the center console came out, we knew there was demand for it. Even 15 years ago we were building in the 40- to 50-foot range. There are hundreds of OAs in that range, and while the Coupe is totally different in terms of performance and styling—she has a 47-mph top speed with quad 400-hp Mercs—she’s twice as fast as any of our older OAs.”
While the builder is disappointed they didn’t get to debut this model at Palm Beach, they’re adapting and leaning into various virtual boat shows offered industry-wide. While it appears the boat is getting a nice amount of digital exposure, Dolseki hopes that in the future serious boaters will visit their Merritt Island, Florida facility and get a behind the scenes look at how they build these boats.
“We’re always offering tours. One owner visited eight or nine times. Our customers love seeing their boats come to fruition, and we’re happy to share it with them,” says Doleski. “It’s similar to building a house; how many times do you visit the site and see the framing go up and then the doors and windows? It’s very exciting. They can start to picture themselves in there.”
Picturing yourself aboard the family-friendly cruiser in a remote cove somewhere doesn’t take much imagination from where I’m sitting. I think it’s just the kind of Divergence we can all use right now.
Ocean Alexander 45 Divergence Coupe Specifications:
LOA: 47’5”
Beam: 13’9”
Draft: 3’11”
Displ.: 40,100 lbs.
Fuel: 500 gal.
Water: 82 gal.
Standard power: 4/400-hp Mercury
Cruise speed: 26 knots
Top speed: 41 knots
