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If you’re looking for more speed or want to explore different performance options, talk to your dealer about shopping for different propellers. The testing showed the Sharrow put the boat on plane quicker, was faster at all RPM settings, was more fuel efficient at all RPM settings, produced the highest top speed, and significantly cut prop noise and vibration. The Sharrow Propeller was invented by engineer Gregory Sharrow and developed by his company, Sharrow Engineering LLC, a Philadelphia-based nautical and aeronautical design firm.
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Boats still use screw-style propellers, variants of which can be found as far back as the 1700s. Underwater footage of a Sharrow (top) and a regular propeller (bottom) shows the difference in tip vortex cavitation between the two types of props (visible in the circles of bubbles swirling off the regular prop’s blade tips). In working to make its unique propeller design available to a wider range of marine drives and, thereby, boats, Sharrow launched the all-new CX for preorder this week. The latest Sharrow features two propellers that rotate around a single shaft in opposite directions. Sharrow offers CX variants built to spec for the Volvo Penta DuoProp sterndrive, Mercury V12 outboard and Bravo III sterndrive, and Suzuki 300 and 350 outboards.

Performance Reports
Small nicks and dings on the blades are usually no cause for concern, but larger damages should always be inspected by your dealer and either repaired or replaced. You’re doing a whole lot of pedaling but it’s not helping move the bike any faster. Then, if you don’t shift down to go back up the hill, you’ll nearly come to a stop.
New propellers with looped blades could help make the oceans quiet again, sparing both marine life and the climate
The pitch of the propeller will dictate how far it moves with each thrust. "We have been actively designing propellers of 10 meters in diameter for many years and working collaboratively with shipping-container companies around the world to apply the technology for container ships," Sharrow said. Testing led by the company BoatTEST found that the Sharrow Propeller was up to 30% more efficient than a standard blade propeller.
Sharrow and VEEM Team-Up To Conquer the Inboard Market - BoatTEST.com
Sharrow and VEEM Team-Up To Conquer the Inboard Market.
Posted: Mon, 02 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
We utilize a network of the best prop makers in the movie, commercial, trade show, event, advertising, marketing and themed entertainment industries to create amazing props. If you’re interested in changing up your propeller, talk to a dealer about the next steps for choosing the one that meets your needs. If you find that the boat has lost acceleration, top-end speed, and has any vibrations that are abnormal, it could be a sign that you need to take a closer look at the prop.
Price point
You generally want to find the comfort zone for props on your specific boat. Think of this as a 10-speed bike and you’re going downhill on the highest gear. Once the boat is loaded with people and gear, this method typically provides good all-around performance. Some boaters may have different performance goals such as better hole shot or faster top-end speed, which will require a change in the pitch and diameter. If you’re new to boating or don’t have a strong opinion on the type of speed and performance you’re getting out of the ride, then you might have the dealer recommend a prop or roll with what the boat manufacturer provides.
Built as an enclosed, twisted design, the MIT invention allows multirotor, unpiloted aircraft like drones, known for their pestering buzz, to fly almost noiselessly. While each blade on a regular propeller provides one surface area, each loop actually provides two. The more blades a propeller has, generally speaking, the better balanced it is and the less vibration it creates. Since a three-loop Sharrow really has six blade surface areas, vibrations are notably muted in comparison to those created by a regular three-blade propeller. The additional blade area also means the prop can do better at getting a heavy load onto a plane (Sharrow points out that boats equipped with one of their props can get onto a plane at significantly lower rpm) and has more bite on the water when operating in reverse.
The Wärtsilä Efficiency Upgrade with new propeller design – improve efficiency and reduce emissions
Specifically, tip cavitation and vortices have been eliminated or significantly reduced, transforming your entire boating experience,’ explains the company. Sharrow is already selling its looped props, CNC machined to fit a wide range of common outboard motors from most major manufacturers. The drawback here is price; they cost US$4,999 a pop regardless of which model, where a regular propeller might go for closer to US$500. Moving from water to air, a team of researchers at MIT Lincoln Laboratory proposed a toroidal propeller prototype among the 2022 winners of the R&D 100 awards.
New Prop Design Delivers More Power, Less Noise
Like with anything, if you take care of your propeller, it should last the lifetime of your boat. Props do not have an expiration date as long as they aren’t damaged from impacts with foreign objects. Aluminum is a softer and less expensive metal, so these props are usually more budget-friendly.
The contra-rotating propeller is an already-efficient platform for Sharrow's twisty looped blades to call home, dating back over a century in aircraft and over four decades in maritime vessels. Volvo Penta is credited with patenting the first nautical contra-rotating propeller application in 1982 with the DuoProp drive that still serves as one of its brands today. Inspired by the contra-rotating propellers the Swedish navy was using to prevent unwanted rotational movement in torpedoes and improve speed and directional stability, Volvo Penta adapted the design for boat drives. New Atlas' Loz Blain did an excellent job diving into the newly energized world of looped air and sea propellers in a primer just over a year ago.
Our team of experienced, creative professionals are committed to each and every client we have, both big and small. When there’s no room for error and the job has to get done right the first time, look no further than DesignTown USA™. If for some reason your boat is not performing as expected, it could be an easy fix of changing the pitch or switching out the propeller altogether. Explain what’s going on with the ride and your dealer should be able to tell if the issue is coming from the prop pretty easily. If you’re in a shallow area, trim the engine up to avoid hitting the propeller on inanimate objects like rocks and lake debris. In deeper spots, you can trim the engine down without the threat of propeller damage.
Propeller noise can be somewhat addressed by placing rings of acoustic treatment around the circumference of a prop's path, which can also act as prop guards from a safety perspective. But these add parasitic mass, reducing battery life, and they can also catch the wind in outdoor situations, making the drone work harder to stay stable. The performance of the current propeller as well as the interaction between the propeller and hull is analysed by using computational fluid design (CFD). Sharrow Marine’s propeller is without question the most unique boat prop we’ve seen to date. Until we can sea trial one of these new Sharrow Propellers for ourselves we won’t know for sure whether the claims being made for it are as game changing as they seem. Although we have every confidence in boattest.com’s findings, they were only performed on one boat, and unlike Motor Boat & Yachting’s sea trials, its tests are paid for by the manufacturer.
The Marine Power Innovation (MPI) awards recognizes those manufacturers who advance the state-of-the-art in marine propulsion and, in so doing, change the recreational boating experience for the better. "You can improve your energy efficiency and reduce your underwater noise with the same kind of things." The high- and low-pressure regions meet along the edge of the loop, distributing the vortices more widely so that they dissipate faster and therefore more quietly. When a blade propeller spins in the air (like the one on the left in the above image), it generates regions of high and low pressure that meet at the blade's tip to create a vortex. In the age of the energy transition, these things must also be of extreme interest to anyone making electrified boats, where a 20% boost in range from a five-grand accessory would be an absolute no-brainer. Check out a fairly concise presentation from Sharrow in the video below.
The question there, really, is what kind of frequencies these larger props will occupy in the audio spectrum, and whether the toroidal props shift the sound in a human-friendly direction. Sharrow's single props have seen plenty of testing on various marine drives equipped to different vessels, including by third parties such as BoatTest.com. Specific numbers vary by test, but Sharrow claims that its patented props can improve efficiency to the tune of 30 percent more range, boost reverse thrust by 50 percent, and reduce noise dramatically. It has taken home several awards since introducing the propeller in 2020, including a 2023 TIME Best Inventions award and a 2022 Marine Power Innovation Award from Boating magazine.
Rather than conventional blades, this machined prop has what appears to be a more-or-less continuous ribbon of steel or aluminum wrapping around a central hub. Strategies with such synergy include reshaping bows and hulls, maintaining a clean hull and undamaged propellers, and adding extra structures to decrease cavitation around the propeller. Some of those options are operational, and some involve retrofitting the ship.
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