Tranona
Well-Known Member
Kiwi seems to have gone off the boil in the last few years, I suspect partly because the Featherstream has taken a big chunk of the market offering a really good feathering prop much cheaper than earlier ones such as Maxprop. Featherstream has good features (for some boats) like the ability to have a different pitch in forward and reverse, really easy to change pitch if needed and good quality alloys and stainless with better anode arrangement than most competitors. Made in the UK as well. The Kiwi sold on the basis, in part, of being a 3 blade feathering prop for not much more than a 2 blade folder. That differential has been squeezed by improvements in folders and lower prices of conventional feathering.
Bruntons are popular with those who do a lot of motoring or motorsaiing as it ensures the engine is loaded according to the conditions, in most cases significantly reducing engine revs for a given speed. Does not necessarily improve fuel consumption as the same power is demanded from the engine but the lower revs is more relaxing. You could also argue that it can reduce the hours of light load running which you usually get when motorsailing with a fixed pitch prop. There are some boats that it does not seem to suit, and of course it is expensive and needs more maintenance than others.
I have had both feathering props (a JF, predecessor of the Featherstream) and now a FlexoFold 2 blade. The first was on an old wooden boat with a small engine and it was a way of getting a large diameter prop to make best use of the meagre power it produced. The feathering aspect was a bonus, but to be honest I never really found much change in sailing speed. The folder I have had on both my Bavarias and I like it, but although I can just about measure the small improvement in sailing speed at low speed in light airs, it is small. The motoring performance is little different from the fixed prop. I fitted the folder on my first Bavaria after being involved in some extensive trials (using the boat) of a number of different types of props and was fortunate that it was the right size for the new boat. Probably would have kept the factory fixed prop rather than buy a new folder though!
While I think the benefits of expensive props are real, I suspect that many overstate the improvements (confirmation bias?) as a way of rationalising the purchase. I also believe that many people buy them (and other expensive products like nav systems) because they have run out of things to spend money on and don't want or can't change their boats! You have to do an awful lot of sailing and motoring to utilise the benefits in a meaningful way. For example a 5% improvement in sailing speed only really makes a difference if you are doing long distance sailing - might improve daily runs by 5-7 miles. For some, though there can be other benefits, like better low speed handling or getting more out of a slightly underpowered engine.
Perhaps the above explains the reasoning behind my suggestion in post#8. Hope this helps.
Bruntons are popular with those who do a lot of motoring or motorsaiing as it ensures the engine is loaded according to the conditions, in most cases significantly reducing engine revs for a given speed. Does not necessarily improve fuel consumption as the same power is demanded from the engine but the lower revs is more relaxing. You could also argue that it can reduce the hours of light load running which you usually get when motorsailing with a fixed pitch prop. There are some boats that it does not seem to suit, and of course it is expensive and needs more maintenance than others.
I have had both feathering props (a JF, predecessor of the Featherstream) and now a FlexoFold 2 blade. The first was on an old wooden boat with a small engine and it was a way of getting a large diameter prop to make best use of the meagre power it produced. The feathering aspect was a bonus, but to be honest I never really found much change in sailing speed. The folder I have had on both my Bavarias and I like it, but although I can just about measure the small improvement in sailing speed at low speed in light airs, it is small. The motoring performance is little different from the fixed prop. I fitted the folder on my first Bavaria after being involved in some extensive trials (using the boat) of a number of different types of props and was fortunate that it was the right size for the new boat. Probably would have kept the factory fixed prop rather than buy a new folder though!
While I think the benefits of expensive props are real, I suspect that many overstate the improvements (confirmation bias?) as a way of rationalising the purchase. I also believe that many people buy them (and other expensive products like nav systems) because they have run out of things to spend money on and don't want or can't change their boats! You have to do an awful lot of sailing and motoring to utilise the benefits in a meaningful way. For example a 5% improvement in sailing speed only really makes a difference if you are doing long distance sailing - might improve daily runs by 5-7 miles. For some, though there can be other benefits, like better low speed handling or getting more out of a slightly underpowered engine.
Perhaps the above explains the reasoning behind my suggestion in post#8. Hope this helps.
