Mike McAllen

3b FeatherStream

Bavaria

Fitted this to my boat in 2022, so I’ve had a few seasons now to test it out. The boat is a 43ft Bavaria from 1992 with a 59hp Volvo Penta engine, saildrive and original Volvo fixed prop.

I contacted Darglow Marine looking for an upgrade to get some extra speed while sailing without affecting motoring performance too much. After a few emails, I decided on the 3-blade FeatherStream prop. And what a success this has been.

My boat has gained at least a knot of speed in light airs whilst under sail, and under power, it is much better than before. I get 6 knots at 2k RPM, into chop, the boat just powers forward with much less speed loss than before, and I can haul the boat to a stop with the smallest amount of reverse thrust.

I thought there would be a downside but for me it is all positives. It’s not cheap, but then you get what you pay for.

Couldn’t be happier.

3-Blade FeatherStream Propeller on a Bavaria Yacht