Good Service - West by North

Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Hi All,

As I am on vacation I have been researching new props. After a thorough reading of the M.I.T. Prop Study and hours of research and reading I have decided to not buy a mechanical prop, was leaning towards a Max Prop or Auto Stream and instead will be most likely purchasing a Campbell Sailer Prop. I do not race my boat...

I called Norm this morning at West by North, the makers of the Campbell Sailer Prop and what a great guy. On Christmas eve he insisted on working out my numbers when all I wanted was a ball park price for a 16" wheel. Though I have not yet purchased from Norm I found him to be very professional and thorough and to go above and beyond (Christmas Eve) in getting me a quote. The price of the Campbell is slight higher than the Michigan Sailor prop but seems to me to be worth the price difference.

I also got a question answered that has been nagging me for a while. My three blade prop, with my tranny and engine, at WOT will develop 880 lbs. of pull or thrust in reverse. I like to know this because I set my anchor at 80% throttle. Even at wide open throttle any anchor that can be dragged by 880 pounds of pull is not enough..
 
Dec 24, 2005
62
Hunter 30_74-83 Dartmouth, NS
Re: Good service

The Campbell Sailer is a highly popular prop at my club. I've spoken with about 20 sailboat owners there who praise it highly. The 3 bladed version seemed most recommended and reduced prop walk and response time seems to be the highlights of their input. I will be ordering one as well right after Christmas and as stated, Norm is outstanding to deal with.
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Re: Good service

Maine et al: A friend of mine has a Jeanneau 35 which "HAD" a two bladed prop. He made a trip down the Cal. coast from SF Bay to Half Moon bay. When motoring into the harbor, the boat lost one of it's two blades. In retrospect he claims it was the best thing that ever happened to the boat. He was going to go for a fancy folder/feathering prop and I mentioned to him that he may also want to look at a couple of other options like the Kiwi & Campbell. After speaking with the folks at West by North he decided to go with the Campbell.

I must tell you that all of the vibration that is normally associated with a Yanmar 3GM, his is completely gone. The boat is so much quiter down below that it is almost unbelieveable. He also has noticed better speed and backing ability.
 
Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
Re: Good service

Maine Sail—

Have you considered the Kiwi Feathering Prop. It's supposed to be quite good, and reasonably priced. I've been on one boat with one, but don't have enough experience with it to say one way or another... :)
 

paulj

.
Mar 16, 2007
1,361
Catalina 310 Anacortes,Wa
I also got a question answered that has been nagging me for a while. My three blade prop, with my tranny and engine, at WOT will develop 880 lbs. of pull or thrust in reverse. I like to know this because I set my anchor at 80% throttle. Even at wide open throttle any anchor that can be dragged by 880 pounds of pull is not enough..


I would like to hear more about this........to check the calculations tie in a fish scale between the boat and the dock.
Ahh maybe a shark scale or put in a couple of blocks to reduce the load on the scale.

paulj:troll:
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
West by North sells the Kiwi too!
I like the Kiwi, but in Maine with all the floating line and lobster pots Norm was worried, as was I, about the plastic (Zytel) blades. Some of the floating line wraps can be pretty sever as you never see them coming..

Merry X-Mas
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Maine Sail said:
]I also got a question answered that has been nagging me for a while. My three blade prop, with my tranny and engine, at WOT will develop 880 lbs. of pull or thrust in reverse. I like to know this because I set my anchor at 80% throttle. Even at wide open throttle any anchor that can be dragged by 880 pounds of pull is not enough..
PaulJ said:
I would like to hear more about this........to check the calculations tie in a fish scale between the boat and the dock.
Ahh maybe a shark scale or put in a couple of blocks to reduce the load on the scale.

paulj:troll:
That number represents a moving boat. While setting an anchor there will be slippage and thus less reverse thrust. The absolute max would be about 700 lbs. at 80% throttle but with slippage probably closer to the high 4's or 500 range.

Regardless, you can generally apply less pressure with your prop, even at WOT, to set the anchor, than a 30 knot wind will in terms of windage force. The anchor I use has held in the 5000lb range, in quite a few tests, so 500-700 lbs of reverse setting force is nothing...
 

RAD

.
Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
Campbell Sailer Prop

I have one and the performance is outstanding compared to a 2 blade but unfortunately I had to remove mine because it needs to be re pitched (is on my to do list) but I will tell you is that reverse is much better with almost no prop walk and thrust in both forward and reverse is powerful
Oh and by the way the cost is reasonable compared to other 3 blade props and doing business with Norm was a pleasure
 
Dec 19, 2006
5,809
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
Flex o Fold

I added a three blade Flex o Fold last year and very happy with it,every one at the marina and people that go sailing with me think I am such a good sailor
after seeing how easy I back my Hunter 36 into my slip,the forward performance is also very good but when sailing it is where I see the big improvement since I added it.
On the trip down to Florida from NY my crew could not get over how well she handled in close quarters and docking.
I am very happy with my Flex o Fold and well worth the money,well built easy to install and they Flex o Fold were very helpful picking the right prop for my boat.
Nick
 
Aug 19, 2004
239
Hunter 35 Vancouver, BC
WOT is WOT?

Regardless, you can generally apply less pressure with your prop, even at WOT, to set the anchor, than a 30 knot wind will in terms of windage force
Not trying (at least not very hard) to be funny, but WOT is WOT?
 

shorty

.
Apr 14, 2005
298
Pearson P34 Mt Desert, ME
Kiwi

I've had a Kiwi on my Pearson 34, 21hp Yanmar, for two years downeast of you. First June I christened it on a small log in the Damariscotta River and took a nickel sized chunk out of one tip. Did not noticeably affect performance. Later in the summer hit a smaller piece of flotsam, likewise. Still later, wrapped the dinghy painter when anchoring at Deer Il. NB. (Pretty talented, aren't we?) Still fine. After hauling last year, sent photos of nickel chunk to Kiwi and he said if it ain't broke don't fix it, so I faired the slight raggedness with a utility knife, greased it and ran it all last summer (without further incidence fortunately). Because the blades are so light there is not (noticable anyway) vibration from out-of-balance. It's a pretty tough prop. I love it. Way better backing down & docking than my previous fixed two blade.