The sharrow propeller is reportedly 9 percent to 15 percent more efficient than a standard Wageningen B-Series design. It is also said to deliver faster top-end speeds, greater thrust, higher-performance steering, reduced fuel burn and a smoother ride than traditional propellers. This performance comes courtesy of reduced tip vortices, less cavitation and more-balanced blade loading.
Greg Sharrow, Sharrow Engineering’s CEO, says the propeller’s design delivers these advantages across a range of speeds, and it can be scaled to work on vessels ranging from runabouts to supertankers.
Sharrow says the research and development process involved 641 prototypes. “We had to reinvent how the fundamental geometry of a propeller is created,” he says.
Strength of Design
In addition to greater efficiency, the Sharrow Propeller’s design is said to yield a stronger and more rigid form factor than traditional wheels offer. “We’ve hit logs, rocks, weeds, debris, sandbars—we even hit a buoy once—and we’ve never damaged the prop or lower unit other than cosmetic scratches,” says CEO Greg Sharrow. The props are available in diameters from 25 to 98 inches for inboard drives. Outboard props are expected soon. And while any propeller can tangle with lobster pots, Sharrow Propellers are compatible with shaft cutters.
Take the next step: sharrowengineering.com
