Are Sharrow Marine propellers worth a try.

[fishin_magician]

I’m going to put my .02 in and yep- people are going to get mad.

1. Why are no engine or boat manufacturers running these? If they were a no brainer- someone would have bought them out
2. Insurance companies are going to go broke replacing these and they’re going to Jack your premiums.
3. The Chinese are going to make knockoffs and come in under half the money. No one is going to buy them still because all the folks with the real long distance offshore boats buying 500 hundreds of gallons at a time which theoretically would benefit the most aren’t buying them because they’re not generating the savings.
4. Boat Manufacturers would be all over these if they truly made the difference and gave their product a competitive edge.

 

[kaelc]

I’m going to put my .02 in and yep- people are going to get mad.

1. Why are no engine or boat manufacturers running these? If they were a no brainer- someone would have bought them out
2. Insurance companies are going to go broke replacing these and they’re going to Jack your premiums.
3. The Chinese are going to make knockoffs and come in under half the money. No one is going to buy them still because all the folks with the real long distance offshore boats buying 500 hundreds of gallons at a time which theoretically would benefit the most aren’t buying them because they’re not generating the savings.
4. Boat Manufacturers would be all over these if they truly made the difference and gave their product a competitive edge.

Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers, Sharrow Marine Agreement - Yamaha Outboards

Yamaha’s U.S. Marine Business Unit announced a new manufacturing and limited supply agreement between Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers (YPPI) and Sharrow Marine.

yamahaoutboards.com

Sharrow sell an insurance product for them.

 

[pescador]

The problem is they’re too expensive. It’s scaring away everyone.

 

[Squire]

Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers, Sharrow Marine Agreement - Yamaha Outboards

Yamaha’s U.S. Marine Business Unit announced a new manufacturing and limited supply agreement between Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers (YPPI) and Sharrow Marine.

yamahaoutboards.com

Sharrow sell an insurance product for them.

First pic in the announcement shows the molds they are getting cast in. This should be the process that brings the price down compared to the current C&C from a solid block of material.

Even if they come down to CAN$1500 each I can’t see enough of an improvement over my OFS4 prop to bother.
I can see folks with big boats with the high slip numbers in the mid rpm’s like BarryA giving them a go though.

 

[TMan]

I think they have branched put into large props too. For the tug market...recreational. and possibly larger

 

[Wax]

First pic in the announcement shows the molds they are getting cast in. This should be the process that brings the price down compared to the current C&C from a solid block of material.

Even if they come down to CAN$1500 each I can’t see enough of an improvement over my OFS4 prop to bother.
I can see folks with big boats with the high slip numbers in the mid rpm’s like BarryA giving them a go though.

They are cast, then machined as shown in the attached video

 

[kaelc]

$1,500 cad is the price of a new stainless prop these days. The aluminum ones they are making at $2,500 and 2,000 usd are a pretty good reduction in price for the 200hp and down. Getting a custom built prop for your boat is never going to be cheap. Glad they are making a business out of it, and as much as I love Chinese manufacturers, Sharrow is using some good automation that will make it hard for others to replicate a lot cheaper unless you want an off the shelf toroidal prop.

 

[Max123]

I've been following this for quite a while. Originally I was inclined to think that these were total snake oil, and that the comparisons weren't genuine (eg setup a comparison with a boat that hadn't been prop'd correct and use it as a straw-man to compare the sharrow). I no longer think that's the entirely the case - there are enough of them out there that it seems like they are the real deal (possibly/likely that the benefits are oversold, but not an outright sham). I'd still love to see a good back-to-back comparison. Take two identical/common boats like a 22' Outrage and set a performace target (say 30mph cruise for 100miles), give one boat to Sharrow - give the other to someone like Ken at Propgods (so he can pick the prop), and then do multiple runs with both boats running side-by side at the same speed in mixed conditions. Compare fuel consumption. That would tell you a lot. The current tests always seem like they were setup by some doofus and have such obvious holes in methodology.

That said, if the tech really is that great Sharrow is doing themselves no favors in terms of tranforming the prop market. They are behaving like a lot of patent holders - they hold it too tight to their chest, price too high, and become an overpriced niche product until the patent expires, and then disappear into obsurity as larger manufactures just absorb the tech when it comes off patent (cough, cough: Fein oscillating saw, Sawstop...).

Feels the same here. Sharrow has entered a bloated/stagnant market that is ripe for disruption with a seemingly genuine innovation, but instead of taking advantage of the bloated pricing structure to offer a better product at an equivalent or better price - they just piled on to the existing pricing model. Sharrow is offering a 5-15% improvement at a 5x price premium. Seems 'niche' to me.

If Sharrow took their genuine innovation, and then worked their manufacturing process so that they could sell at sub $1000/each, they would/should own the entire market. Sharrow filed their patent in 2018, so they have 20 years - unless they do something different, in 2037 Sharrow will still be a niche product with 1-5% of the market, and in 2038 Mercury will happily announce a new toroidal prop wiping out any remaining competitive advantage they have.

 

[Doug]

1. 1.40 Canadian Dollar
   Last updated · November 18 at 7:26 PM UTC
   USD $ - US Dollar
   
   With the exchange rate today being 1.40. $2,000usd is $2,800c or $2,500usd is $3,500c, for a aluminum prop. How much is a aluminum prop for a 200hp in Victoria?

To produce a Sharrow prop costs a lot in the US and also using a C&C machine. You would think if there was money to be made, someone would buy a prop and send it to China to be copied and mass-produced.

Who is the local Sharrow dealers in BC?

I agree with Max123, do a comparison side by side so you can see the comparison. It is a great invention but how long before you get a return on your investment? A side by side test would give you a base line to calculated the return on your investment.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Any one want some herbal life or a kagen water machine

 

[fishin_magician]

I’m going to go with the physics part of the equation- the volumetric equation of a cylinder combusting a mixture of air/fuel. If you are running 3500 RPM on any engine regardless of prop- you need a fuel/air equation within the design parameters of the engine to produce power. These Sharrow props assert they can go further on the same amount of mixture. There are many variables which affect the efficiency of a propeller not directly provided for in the prop. The real litmus test of these propellers is over long distances in variable boat load and water conditions as well as bottom service intervals.

If these props do offer a no brainer return- all the offshore outboard fishing boats 33’ to 55’ running triples and quads will be wearing them. $1 million to $3million dollar boats are not wearing these.

I think the next push will be to big HP diesel outboards but even Mercury hasn’t come up with a commercial line for the pleasure market yet. The market just isn’t there.

 

[zloy]

I have a set of Sharrows on my twin 300 yamahas. Definitely not snake oil, though agree they are expensive. Spent over $500K USD on my boat so what's another $10K, really. Didn't buy them for the increased fuel economy, though that was a bonus. I was having issues staying on plane at lower RPMs, tried multiple different props (3 vs 4 blades, mutiple pitches, longer tunnels, etc). Nothing got me where I wanted to be so ordered a set of Sharrows and was beyond happy with the improvement. Better grip was needed for 3-5' following seas, better tracking in the slop (reduced bow steer), and much quieter cruising. Better grip in reverse is also real, docking is moderately better and a bonus.

As for prop repair, I purchased the Sharrow Care support for $700 USD per year to get full replacements for any damage incurred. Sharrow is a small company but sells a solid product and has excellent customer service. I wasn't sold by all the online paid endorsements. Friend of mine have a set on their water taxi and convinced me they're real.

Here's why I bought them: better hole shot, lower planing and cruising speed, and quieter cruising at much lower RPMs. Improved safety and comfort. This graph -- based on data collected in both directions and averaged -- best demonstrates why I bought them. The hole is gone, replaced with a straight line.

View attachment 112511

If they ever introduce Sharrows for the 25hp motors, I'll buy one for my kicker. Better maneuverability while getting broadside to a fish is worth it to me.

Barry

I am very intrigued by Sharrows but so far it doesn't seem like they provide any fuel economy gains at cruising (most important to me).
My boat is likely significantly heavier than yours, but on my twin Yamaha 300s I can get the same speed as Sharrows show at 4000 RPM on the above graph.
Actually, I don't even know what I need to do to be able to achieve such a low speed as your graph shows for non-sharrow props.
Just saying.

 

[kaelc]

Any one want some herbal life or a kagen water machine

I see your smoke and mirrors and raise you a politician.

 

[Aquaholic]

Jasper Marine is now carrying these props. He has one at the boat show beside his beautiful boats.

He’s also coming out with a big single and a kicker for those people who want to use the Jasper more for fishing. It will most likely come with a bow thruster.