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Radical New Propeller Design... Sharrow?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by cleanslate, Oct 23, 2019.

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  1. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    I went for a beer yesterday in my dry town of Haddonfield ( but if you make it in town and only sell it in town, you can serve it for sale to the public) to the only bar in town, a brew pub....got it?
    Anyway two guys walk into a bar and sit next to me. After some chit chat between us I learn that they are brothers. One lives here in town and the other is visiting from California. More chit chat, and I learn that the both went to U of C, Berkley. Ok so they are smart, Ole Cleanslate has half a brain to you know!

    Cali brother works for NASA and he is a big deal with the JUNO spacecraft...my reply was "Wha' Juno?" Turns out I Juno nothing, but was nicely reminded what it is , a craft which is orbiting Jupiter...Cool.

    Ok, some how we get on the topic of boats! Yay, now I'm excited !
    I ask the local brother, what do you do? To my shock he says, "I design/build marine propellers"..I'm like really?
    I work at ''Sharrow Engineering" in Philadelphia..he then pulls up their sight on shows me an Outboard prop with holes in the blades...hmm..very cool. Evidently their new design is for all boats, to small outboards to ships and all of OUR boats. I was blown away by running into such nautical interesting people in my little town!

    Ok, who on YF has Sharrow props on their boat? And who has heard of them? I searched here on YF and found nothing. I did find their site on the internet.

    Attached Files:

  2. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Interesting design, wishing them success:http://www.sharrowengineering.com/the-propeller/

    I noted that they have been at it since 2013, and while their claims are " Sharrow Propeller is 9%-15% more efficient than the industry standard Wageningen B-series design", it should be noted that Wageningen B-series propellers are rather old school and not considered todays state of the art.

    I'd like to see how they would do on the Outboard Market, lots of opportunity in that arena, looks like they have product for Inboard and Commercial applications at the moment.
  3. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    He showed me an actual picture of an outboard prop. So they have them now , I would say. They are very expensive as compared to the other props on the market. He was kind of talking me into a new prop for my CC Dory..lol. I never did get a price. I'm happy with my new ACME prop.
  4. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    From a propulsion engineering perspective, everything about this blade configuration makes sense to me. Assuming it's a lost wax, investment cast process, I'd love to see how the molds were engineered???

    Attached Files:

  5. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    Well I guess you are going to have to come up to Philly, you can sleep on my sofa and we will go over to the office/factory and find out..Lol.

    My first though was , Ding, Dong, Dun...when you whack a submerged object..,then who can fix such a prop locally?
  6. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I was just reading about this wheel. Was day dreaming about it till $$ came to mind.
  7. Sea Gull

    Sea Gull Member

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    I saw the a video review of the outboard props on another site. They also claim to be putting these things on ships, with recreation inboards soon to come. I sent them an inquiry last week, but haven’t heard back anything but an automated response. I’ll update if/when I hear more.
  8. GhostriderIII

    GhostriderIII Senior Member

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    I dunno. Haven't seen it over here in the shipyards. I showed the website to a couple of engineers and they said it wouldn't replace the existing systems. Maybe for outboards. The reference to more costly LNG is bogus. We're having a new tractor tug built using LNG - the cost of the build is the same as if we had used an EMD engine. LNG is cheaper than bunker C.
  9. SDE48

    SDE48 New Member

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    I’m new to the forum and always looking for info…..I have a 2005 Mainship pilot 34 single engine 370 hp. Has anyone looked into Sharrow props for this application? I’m familiar with these props for outboards but not inboards. Sharrow will build to suit one off custom props…thanks in advance.
  10. SDE48

    SDE48 New Member

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    Thanks for the info…I’m looking at increasing the diameter of the prop in the tunnel without increasing any vibration. Just wondering if anyone has done it, I’m planning to try it.
  11. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Please keep us updated with your trials.
    ,rc
  12. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    This article might be helpful.
    Prop Tunnels | Yachting Mag (yachtingmagazine.com)
  13. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Good luck with the trials, but my concern is that the closer you get the tip of the blade to the hull, the more vibration you'll encounter. I recall once being told that the blade should clear the hull by the diameter of the shaft. Now, I'm not certain of that science, but I have seen hulls worn clean of bottom paint at the prop wash point of high impact with blades passing too closely to the hull.

    Again, I've never had tunnels, so I am not certain...
  14. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    ...and having posted that, I'm wondering if the design of the Sharrow might lessen that impact. Interesting to hear.
  15. mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    So, am I right in understanding that there's no abnormal vibration with your current traditional prop?
    And neither other problems of sort, probably?
    If so, it looks like you're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist...

    That said, I'm as interested as the previous posters to hear about the results.
    Also because AIUI, Sharrow props are pretty expensive to manufacture, so they would be pointless unless they really prove better in one way or another.

    Good luck!
  16. Kapn

    Kapn Member

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    I looked into them. They have some good results with the props they've built and they've had some amazing advertising to get their name out there. However, they are looking for a manufacturer to foot the bill for development and then they can sell a lot of props. There are too many variables to just buy a prop and try it out. So unless Mainship has already paid them to develop the prop, you're probably out of luck.
  17. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    Curious what you are trying to correct or gain with this type of prop on your Mainship? You mention larger diameter but why do you need/want that? What is your current prop diameter and tip clearance?
  18. SDE48

    SDE48 New Member

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    I guess I can’t leave well enough alone….I am intrigued by the closed tip design. Boat is on the hard for a few more weeks and doing some measurements.
    Capt Ralph likes this.
  19. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Nothing wrong with wanting to improve performance, but who could repair this brand prop, likely have to ship to the manufacturer?
  20. SDE48

    SDE48 New Member

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    First year damage is repaired for free and a extended 3 year plan is available. Next week I’m planning to get some real measurements and performance numbers. I’m not looking for max speed just mid range mileage.