wrote in message
oups.com...
Dear all

We are changing our propeller to our 32 ft sailing boat and wondering
weather to choose folding or feathering propeller? What kind of
practical experience do you have from these feathering ones and what
are the benefits and disbenefits comparing to folding ones?

Are you competing at a high level in regattas? If not, then buy a fixed prop
and use the saved money for something else more important.

If you really want to throw money at a fancy prop, get a Brunton Autoprop. A
brilliant piece of kit that permits low drag sailing and efficient
motor-sailing.

"Ric" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Dear all

We are changing our propeller to our 32 ft sailing boat and wondering
weather to choose folding or feathering propeller? What kind of
practical experience do you have from these feathering ones and what
are the benefits and disbenefits comparing to folding ones?

Are you competing at a high level in regattas? If not, then buy a fixed
prop and use the saved money for something else more important.

If you really want to throw money at a fancy prop, get a Brunton Autoprop.
A brilliant piece of kit that permits low drag sailing and efficient
motor-sailing.



I think that really is the key question. My experience has mostly been with
fixed-blade. I'm sure a quick google search will produce the +/- for the
different options. A quick search produced this, which gives some decent
info... http://www.endeavourowners.com/dscsn...ion/props.html


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Any sailboat will benifit from a folding prop. It's a 1/2 kt gain.
There is no downside. When docking etc. you just plan in advance.
There's a little less power in reverse. You should never approach a
dock harder than yo'ur willing to hit it anyway.

"Ringmaster" wrote in message
oups.com...
Any sailboat will benifit from a folding prop. It's a 1/2 kt gain.
There is no downside. When docking etc. you just plan in advance.
There's a little less power in reverse. You should never approach a
dock harder than yo'ur willing to hit it anyway.

If you get a Brunton, it works equally efficiently in reverse. Same can be
said for Maxprop and other feathering (as opposed tofolding) props. But the
big advantage of the Brunton is that it is self-pitching and adjusts itself
to best pitch no matter what the engine regime or boat speed.

Folding props are not much good on a cruising boat. Terrible reverse
braking, and no significant speed advantage over a feathering prop.

If you google around you will find a very good pdf tabular comparison of all
props done by a German university. Somebody else may have a reference. The
police nicked my old computer eight months ago so I no longer have a
reference to it...