With the new gearing recommended by Beta, we need to replace the prop. The traditional route would be the Michigan Wheel 15×10. When looking to buy this prop, the lead times were crazy long, and if we needed to re-pitch it would also take a long time.
While looking at alternatives, I came across the Campbell Sailer. It is a completely different design that seems to be more efficient, better balanced and has less drag. The lead times were 1-2 weeks, and they include free re-pitch with quick turnarounds. Everyone who installed one seemed to be impressed, so I decided to give it a try. After working with the team at West by North who makes the prop, they recommended a 15×8, since their prop design has much less slip than a traditional prop.
On paper, this seems like it is under pitched, but they assured me that it would work for this application.
During sea trials, it seemed to work well, and if anything was slightly over pitched. I was only able to get the engine RPMs up to 3500, instead of the expected 3700-3800. However, the speed on flat water was better than expected. I was able to get to 7kts at 3500 RPM, which was much better than I ever got with the old prop.
I expect I will use 2800 as a cruise setting, and that provides 6.1 kts on flat water. I did not have an opportunity to see how it drives through waves.
Handling at the slip was good. I was glad to see that it still had prop walk, since I use prop walk a lot for close-quarter maneuvering. It might be slightly less than the old prop, but not enough to make a significant difference.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the new prop.
