Offshore racing sailboats

Offshore racing sailboats

About thirty years ago, we designed custom folding-blade propellers for Laurent Bourgnon. Since then, we have supplied hundreds of propellers to the best skippers, on monohulls and multihulls alike.

Your propeller should never hold back your sailboat.

© Eneour Léost

In racing, a propeller is drag before it is thrust

Under sail, a fixed propeller works against the boat: it brakes. Over an offshore course, that drag is paid for in hours. This is the very purpose of folding and feathering propellers: the blades fold into the shaft axis as soon as the engine is off, and pick up their pitch again on the first revolution.

The trade-off is always the same — how well the blades fold away under sail against efficiency under power, and behaviour astern. It is settled case by case, according to the boat, the programme and the engine. That is our design office’s work.

Our ranges for racing

  • GORI PROPELLERS and VARIFOLD — folding-blade propellers, the range most used in offshore racing.
  • VARIPROP — feathering propellers, for programmes that need efficiency under power without giving up the fold under sail.
  • Aluminium propellers for saildrive units.
  • Standard fixed range for production boats racing inshore.

The shaft line that goes with it

A racing propeller is never chosen on its own. We supply the complete propulsion package:

  • Propeller shafts — diameters under 50 mm in duplex Temet 26, an alloy significantly superior to the 316L, F16PH and V174 offered by other manufacturers.
  • Seals — rubber, stuffing boxes or ERCEM mechanical seals, recognised for over fifty years.
  • B2MB hydrolube bearings — our own range: elastomer, phenolic, bronze.

Custom design

For specific projects we use CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to determine the best design according to your specifications: performance, noise, vibration, fuel consumption. CNC machining, hand finishing, inspection after every production run.

Present in the biggest races

Our complete range of folding-blade propellers (GORI PROPELLERS / VARIFOLD) equips boats racing in the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum and the other major offshore events.

Some of the boats we equip: CLASS 40 PAPREC ARKÉA · IMOCA PAPREC · IMOCA 60 MAÎTRE COQ V · IMOCA JEAN LE CAM · IMOCA 60 HUBLOT · IMOCA 60 BIOTHERM · IMOCA CHARAL.

A racing project, a pre-season optimisation?

Our design office reviews your programme and proposes the propulsion package to match. You get an answer from an engineer, not from a form.

Request a studyor call us on +33 2 40 92 16 36

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