Dear Steve, I have a Kelly Peterson 46 with a fixed 3-blade prop. I want to change it to a feathering prop. I am intrigued by the continuously adjusting Autoprop which is supposed to match pitch to engine rpm and twist more or less flat to cut drag under sail to 85% of a fixed blade prop. I wonder what happens to the independently adjusting blades when barnacles form and they become unbalanced. Maxprop has less drag under sail but its pitch is optimized for max rpm and falls off (like fixed props) at lower engine rpm. Do you know how well these things work in the field? Any kudos or horror stories. Thanks, Carl
Hi Carl: Whatever you decide on, you will get a hhuge boost in sailing performance, and probably some help under power too. Re: Autoprop, I have no direct experience. I know a lot of their users like them. There are some maintenance issues with bearings and underwater growth, but they do not seem to be insurmountable. Max Prop is probably better in reverse, not as good forward, but will have less drag under sail. Best thing to do is find folks with Peterson 44/46s that have real world experience and compare. Let us know what you learn. Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
