FLEXOFOLD Two-blade Prop

By Jay Paris

January 20, 2017

Flexofold’s newest two-blade saildrive propeller includes a number of technically interesting features that serve to set it apart from the competition. First and foremost, its patented hub is fabricated using a thermo-hardened polyurethane that electrically isolates the propeller from the saildrive unit. This, in turn, protects the blades and their associated bits from electrolysis due either to a fault in a boat’s wiring or a marina with defective shorepower. (The blade assembly itself is also further protected from galvanic corrosion by a number of replaceable anodes in the blade roots.) Beyond that, the hub is designed to be torsionally protective of a boat’s saildrive leg and gearbox, while a set of shock absorbers helps smooth the opening of the blades. The hub diameter is slightly enlarged to make it a good match for a saildrive’s lower end, and while the blade tips don’t quite meet when folded (to ensure that they open effectively) the prop still offers a minimum of form drag when sailing. The hub can be fitted with blades of various pitches for diameters of 15 to 18in. Overall workmanship is outstanding.