3 Blade RH Propeller fitted to Twister 28
Mr. Taylor, the owner of the Brigand Chief, a Twister 28 sail boat was kind enough to send us some great comments when he upgraded his 12 x 8 fixed prop to a 13 x 10 FeatherStream.
Dear Nick,
It has been a while since I picked the new prop up and wanted to communicate the pleasing results the upgrade has brought.
The boat came out of the water in middle of March for an annual shave, wash and brush-up! One of the upgrades was changing out the old 12×8 inch fixed prop with the new 13inch feathering unit.
Twisters are slightly problematic in the confines the prop has to fit in, our earlier haul out to remove the old prop demonstrated that we would need to remove 20mm of the current 75mm length cutlass/outer bearing to allow it to fit and give adequate clearance when the helm was hard over, we particularly did not want to take material off the rudder to achieve this as this would be done at its thinnest and weakest point.
Prop templates
The templates supplied demonstrated that the 13 inch FeatherStream prop would fit nicely and also the 14 inch but the latter would be a little tight hence our reasoning to go for the 13inch.
Tailored the template to fit the edge of the 1”shaft – made it easier to assess.
Tailored the template to fit the edge of the 1”shaft – made it easier to assess.
The work went very smoothly, the rudder was removed to allow access and removal of the main prop shaft and cutlass/outer bearing, both had 20mm removed from them and then reinstated along with refitting the rudder, with the shaft clamp coupler slacked back we were then able to adjust the new prop for its optimum position with the rudder hard over.
Dismantling the outer bearing & shaft
Dismantling the outer bearing & Shaft to machine 20mmm off both
Fitting the new FeatherStream propeller
New prop fitted and moved to the optimal position note rudder in hard over position
With this completed it was then a case of tightening up the clamp coupler and fitting the prop as per your clear instructions.
The boat was put back in the water in early April and initial motoring back to the berth confirmed far better power both ahead and astern however we were unable to do further trials till I returned to the Boat in Early May.
On returning at the beginning of May we have had 2 weeks of bedding in and testing the boat and are very pleased with the results. I’m not a fan of full revs but what I can report is an increase of 3/4knot in the 2300 -2400 rev range ( 4.6 – 4.8knots), in Astern mode the yacht is a different animal and provides more than enough thrust in a short burst to stop or take way off when manoeuvring which has the added benefit of reducing stern walk.
Under sail we have no prop vibration and speed has increased but it is difficult to compare particularly as the prop that came off was so small.
All told we are very pleased with the result. It’s made what is a difficult boat to manoeuvre under power much easier, has matched the prop revs produced by the 20hp Beta to increased speed and eliminated the cavitation we had previously experienced and finally eliminated prop vibration under sail.
A satisfied customer!
Regards,
Mr. Taylor
If you would like a quote for your boat please do not hesitate to contact us here… https://www.darglow.co.uk/get-a-quote/
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