johnalison
Well-known member
I wouldn’t say that it could never happen, but I’ve not experienced it myself or among many club-mates. I think that, other than bad luck in picking up a rope, failure is usually caused by lack of service.
Propeller 2 blade v 3
- Thread starter Trident
- Start date
Tranona
Well-known member
I have had both feathering and folding props and never worried about them not working properly. Not totally true of all designs - there is one in particular that is prone to not rotating properly when required. For me they are the very best improvement you can make to a boat's performance under both sail and motor, particularly on a boat like yours and mine - heavy displacement long keel, modest sailing performance.. The typical 10% reduction is passage times under sail is not to be sniffed at, particularly as you have to do nothing but fit the prop to benefit and the possibilities of improving motoring and close quarters handling by running a larger diameter propeller with different pitch in forward and reverse is an added bonus.
The first one I had made for my old Eventide with its puny 1GM10 was a revelation. With the 3:1 reduction we managed a 15" diameter compared with the normal 13" which got the blade area out further from the dead area around the keel, but still gave the benefit of reduced drag when sailing. Followed the same ideas with my GH going up to a 17" rather than the more normal 16" for a 30hp engine and a lower pitch in reverse for greater control and less prop walk. The difference in blade area between the 16 and 17 is significant and out where it makes the most difference. Photo shows the final result which does what it says on the tin. In particular the 0.5knot+ improvement in sailing speed means that entering the critical 5.6-6 knots zone when the bilge plates start vibrating is a common occurrence rather than a cause for celebration! All that for little more than the cost of a new mainsail.
