Game changer props!!

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Gotwex

Gotwex

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
78
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Sugar
Vessel Make
Vripack
Just came across this and found it very interesting and wanted to share.
Taken from their website:
"The new SHARROW PROPELLER™ Is the first major advancement in propeller technology since the 1930s."

"9 - 15% MORE EFFICIENT,dramatically reducing fuel cost"

"LESS WEAR AND TEAR ON ENGINE SYSTEMS + LESS IMPACT ON THE VESSEL"

If those claims wet your whistle, check out the website:
https://www.sharrowengineering.com/#footer-layout

I can see this post igniting a sh!t storm. Remember I'm just the messenger, not the inventor of this thing.
 
Interesting. It looks like it would flex less than a normal blade and the lack of any blade tips likely means less turbulence which typically means more efficiency. I'd give them a shot if I was buying new props.
 
Always applaud those willing to try to build a better mouse trap. Hope it's everything they say it is. My boat isn't high performance, and I'm not an early adopter. So I'll be content to sit and watch.

Ted
 
Show me some before and after comparisons that back up the sales pitches. Who can fix it when you bump bottom? The factory? We have all seen claims of improved performance with no supporting data. Color me skeptical.
 
I have seen proposed aircraft designs that utilize that concept. The continuous loop surface without tip vortices is supposed to offer incredible gains. Usually called “closed wings.” Very interesting.

I imagine it would really be easier to apply to marine props than aircraft wings, in retrospect.
 
Cost? I'll bet not in my price bracket so even at 15% increased efficiency I would NEVER , not even close, see a payback, never mind get ahead.

This may be one of those things that has little practical use for most pleasure boats but could have significant impact for high fuel use operators.

As asked also repairs could be a real problem for a long time to come untill in wide use.

Interesting idea though but I too will be waiting to see how it fares.
 
There’s more drag from the connecting part of the blade tips. And interference drag similar to what bi-planes experience.

But tip losses are reduced to some degree and that’sa plus.

May be best for small dia props like small outboards.

May be beneficial and may not. I’d guess not if not betting the whole farm.
 
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The Sharrows married into the family, so I've been hearing about this for a few years now. Hoping to get a promotional version, but as somebody mentioned, the $$ from pleasure boaters doesn't touch that spent on fuel between here and China. I'm expecting to wait a couple more years; I'm pretty pumped about it though, and it's hilarious to see it pop up on here.
 
Westiculo said:
The Sharrows married into the family, so I've been hearing about this for a few years now. Hoping to get a promotional version, but as somebody mentioned, the $$ from pleasure boaters doesn't touch that spent on fuel between here and China. I'm expecting to wait a couple more years; I'm pretty pumped about it though, and it's hilarious to see it pop up on here.
Click to expand...

We're all expecting you to pull some strings and get us a group deal. Should be an easy sell to the company...imagine a small herd of very happy computer & social media savvy "pleasure boaters" singing the company praises peppered across the planet :dance:
 
Has anyone here received a quote to compare against a standard Michigan wheel?
 

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Should this be 10% as efficient as claimed the big boys will be all over it.


When fuel burn is measured in tons per day ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
jleonard said:
Wonder how it would do when it gets tangled in trap lines?
Click to expand...

It may knit you a sock or sweater...

The video is a guy boating on a single engine outboard boat. Nothing about props.

Their website says high-performance boats, so that pretty much cuts trawlers out.

I think it would lose to a Walmart plastic bag.
 
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Lots of sales pitch but no published data to back up the claims.
 
We need to see side-by-side performance comparisons. I agree with Simi that a shrouded prop provides better prop protection while minimizing tip turbulence and cavitation.

They claim, "Testing methodology and results were independently analyzed,
reviewed and validated by Applied Universal Engineering of San Diego, CA and HS Marine Propulsion of Ocean Springs, MS."

Why not publish those on the website for all to see?
 
Just marketing with no proof. Color me completely disinterested. I'm not an early adopter and definitely not of a product which doesn't provide relevant test results.

The result details are critical to see what engines in what boats and see if it's in any way relevant to oneself.

The last boating innovation we took a chance on was Sleipner/Sidepower Vector Stabilizers. They presented test results on a boat very similar to the one we were considering them on. Then on top of that Sunseeker had used them on many of the same boat with success.

It may be a great product, but no evidence of that today.
 
"Lots of sales pitch but no published data to back up the claims."


Sounds like the sales dept was recruited from anchor assemblers.
 
If it were my company, and if the product was real; I would have 3rd party test data on a wide variety of vessels. Its not hard to do that.

I don't see that, so either a clueless MBA is involved, or this is a marketing survey to see what size props they actually need to make.
 
How its made: Notice the reference to additive manufacturing. That is a euphemism for 3D printing.

The Dutch 3D printed a tug propeller a couple of years ago, and announced it early last year. https://www.theengineer.co.uk/worlds-first-3d-printed-marine-propeller/

It seems to be a prototype that no one is adopting as a manufacturing method...searches on google for 3d printed or additive manufacturing propellers only reveal the above prototype. They have a video on youtube - its a pretty cool process, basically a wire feed welder married to a 3d robot arm equipped with an aluminum-bronze alloy wire. (I didn't know there was such a wire, does anyone weld props with a wire feed?)

Agreed - it appears the website is for investor attraction. It will be interesting to see what comes of the props in 5-10 years
 
"It will be interesting to see what comes of the props in 5-10 years"

Props have been refined since power boats gave up on the side and stern wheels.

In a decade perhaps there will be a coating that wont let growth occur.
 
Wow. Wonder how this took so many decades to be finally 'invented' ...
 
I wonder if the prop can sustain damage more easily.
 
fractalphreak said:
How its made: Notice the reference to additive manufacturing...

It will be interesting to see what comes of the props in 5-10 years
Click to expand...

Fractal is right. It's not that this couldn't have been invented before, it's that there was no way to make it for any reasonable price. Similar advancements are being made in jet engine and rocket nozzle design. Subtractive machining methods don't allow for weird shapes and internal complexities. A good number of turbine blades are now made with additive manufacturing because it's allowed designers to improve their efficiency without causing cost to skyrocket.
 
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