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Sharrow props

NCLakeGuy

NCLakeGuy

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Ok the last buzz, great reviews and awards, and I was just starting to investigate for my Cobalt 220 BR, the Sharrow Marine prop. Now that I went pontoon I need to start over in my research. FYI on V hull all excellent feedback but a high, high price point. Any experience or knowledge here?
 
They have been discussed here a few times. You can do a search in the upper right corner .
 
Got it, thanks, about what I expected to hear but still no real data. Not shopping just curious.
 
Although many pontoons have a drag profile similar to a typical center console, the payback for most pontoon usage is vanishingly small. There simply is no way to make the numbers make sense for the vast majority of pontoon ops. That's why you won't find much about those props here.
 
I’m also very skeptical of their efficiency “data”. Seems to come from them directly or a sponsored source, so not much truly independently reliable data (if any) available.
 
Even if they were that efficent (and that effective on tritoons), priced at literally TEN TIMES that of a high end SS prop kind of ruins it.

I might be off base on that 10 times higher thing IF they've lowered their prices since they released them to the market because I haven't been paying attention. They would need to be no more than 3 times the price of a good, conventional SS prop for me to start considering one and I'm sure they're not there yet.
 
Given that there is some sort of business relationship with Yamaha I think there is something there. Cost is a barrier currently to get market penetration
 
Nautical said:
Even if they were that efficent (and that effective on tritoons), priced at literally TEN TIMES that of a high end SS prop kind of ruins it.

I might be off base on that 10 times higher thing IF they've lowered their prices since they released them to the market because I haven't been paying attention. They would need to be no more than 3 times the price of a good, conventional SS prop for me to start considering one and I'm sure they're not there yet.
Click to expand...

Let me put it another way... If you have invented a prop that can back up 5% improvement in efficiency with data (let alone what they claim)...

You go sell it to Maersk or other massive cargo lines and charge a bajillion dollars cause it is worth it.... last i checked, those ships still use conventional screws... the recreational market isn't where you'd go to make money... unless you are shilling a load of bs and aren't actually in the fertilizer business... :rolleyes:
 
I have yet to finish a season without smacking my prop on something.... I have read one or two actual TriToon user reviews that have said the improvements were noticeable. As noted - not sure the cost is worth it, especially in a lake with all sorts of "challenges". Open Sea, deep water lakes with no shore stops, consistent long range cruising - certainly value there.
 
Yup, numerous on-target comment above. The early claims for the design were, let's say, notoriously flawed. More recent test are much more carefully run in selected applications (both equipment and use). Gains in those seem to be real and useful. I would expect that the association with Yamaha has prompted more reliable data, but still only for selected applications.

Certainly improved ops could be noted at some speed range in most uses, but is there any overall upside? For most pontooning/boating, the advanced design is an expensive curio good for lots of armchair discussion.
 
PartyBarge said:
Yup, numerous on-target comment above. The early claims for the design were, let's say, notoriously flawed. More recent test are much more carefully run in selected applications (both equipment and use). Gains in those seem to be real and useful. I would expect that the association with Yamaha has prompted more reliable data, but still only for selected applications.

Certainly improved ops could be noted at some speed range in most uses, but is there any overall upside? For most pontooning/boating, the advanced design is an expensive curio good for lots of armchair discussion.
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Sadly, I think a lot more folks would take a chance if it was 2x-3x a good stainless prop... boats are easy to sink money... but at the current price, meh...

I mean, I pay an extra $300 each service for concierge where they come and get my boat at the dock, take it to the ramp (35 min from the dock), take it to service on a trailer, and then return to my dock. I'd easily throw $1k-$1.5k on a prop that could perform the way they claim. maybe in a few years if they can build up some real data, and drop the price...
 
I'm in the shilling a load of BS camp.

Billions of dollars at stake in the propeller world and some guy with a music degree playing with drones (Greg Sharrow) somehow figures out something no other mega R&D budget could? If you look at the data in the Boattest reports much of it is cherry picked data where even the Sharrow data can't beat the manyfacturers own data with a standard prop.

Add in price tag, unknown performance after striking debris, costs to repair, resale value, etc etc and it looks to appeal to a very, very narrow demographic. More power to those charter sport fisher boats that cruise hundreds of miles offshore every day and can hit a potential sub 5-year payback, but for the rest of us schlubbs it doesn't make any sense.
 
There have been some inventive souls that made knockoffs to use as pumps or air screws. The ones I've seen have not been worth the effort, but they sure look weird on a model airplane. Ducted fans do have very useful qualities. The Sharrow design does seem a bit like a prop that carries it's own moving shroud rather than using a fixed high-drag structure to cancel tip issues.

That said, it does seem the design has some advantage in certain water applications, but is a bust in air. Other than ducted fans (think high-bypass jet engines), open props tend to be strongly related to rotating speed brakes.
 
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