Sharrow Marine apparently believes, with good reason, that two are better than one.
Its revolutionary no-blade prop represented the first major design change in fixed propellers in a century when it was introduced in 2020. Now, the Michigan company just announced that it will make an upgrade, the CX contra-rotating prop for outboards and sterndrives. The two props will rotate in opposite directions on a single shaft. Sharrow will offer the CX for Volvo Penta DuoProp sterndrives, Mercury V12 outboards, Bravo 3 sterndrives, and Suzuki 300- and 350-hp outboards.
The basic Sharrow uses loops to produce thrust, not blades. The loops eliminate cavitation and vortices that form around traditional props, reducing their efficiency, power, and control.
Sharrow has won a lot of fans and rave reviews in third-party tests in the past few years. It also has taken home a lot of awards, including a Time Best Inventions last year and an Innovation Award at the Miami show.
Contra-rotating props are not new. Volvo Penta patented the first one in 1982 with its DuoProp; it got the idea from contra-rotating props on Swedish navy torpedoes. The DuoProps were an almost instant hit; I can attest that they helped with docking quite a bit.
Sharrow now is gearing up for deliveries of the contra-rotating CX by next spring. They’re making them with premium stainless steel and backing them with a lifetime guarantee.
And the Sharrow props offer something that most conventional props don’t. When you’re not using them on your boat, you can shine them up and display them in a case at home; they look like a piece of art.
Read more at http://sharrowmarine.com
