bbladesprops

I spent the last 4 days in Miami at the worlds largest boat show. Now this wasn't the first time. I've been attending the Miami show for most of the last decade. In years past, I spent the entire week in the Mercury booth explaining the finer attributes of the Mercury Racing and main line of propellers. For the last 2 years I have been doing the same type of thing but, doing it for my own company BBLADES. I can now reach out and communicate with OEM boat builders and dealers that I have known and worked with for years on a quicker basis.

I left this year wondering what the show had to bring to the consumer. What would the new offerings be? Would there be anything worth reporting? There were some propeller changes and releases that I was aware of, but what about boats and other fun stuff? Is there anything to peek ones interest? Is there anything better than before? Well let me tell you, if you are looking to get into performance boating, the sky is the limit!

First let's mention my favorite toys, PROPELLERS!
Mercury Racing is in the process of perfecting their CNC machining. They will be offering 5 blade CNC'd propellers in 26 to a reported 40 inches of pitch. The diameters will range from the standard 15"-18" size. The next fun toy will be the long awaited 4 blade outboard prop know as the Pro ET. This is a prop was developed and tested about 6 years ago but was never released. Hopefully it will make it to the market this summer (some times the wheels move slowly in big business). This prop runs great on a number of different OB applications. It did 6 years ago too.

Next, and very exciting, Turbo propellers, a company with a long standing tradition of building top of the line propellers, has designed and developed a excellent line of new propellers. BBLADES looks forward to working with Turbo in the future, offering some remarkable products that perform fantastic right out of the box! These props will also have some Lab Finishing options to outfit and increase performance on specific boat and engine set ups.

New drives are available from a few groups. Mercury has the new "ACE" drive. This is the 600-800 hp drive they have been working on for the last 3 years. Kind of looks like a mini #6 drive. It has a internal transmission working off clutch technology. This drive will have the capacity to run Bravo and #6 style propellers. Reportedly the boys at Konrad also released a new drive called the Ace. I don't have much info on this drive yet.

As far as engines and boats, the list is extensive. If you have never been to the Miami boat show before, it should become a must on your list of performance boating related venues. Besides the 3 in water shows, the convention center indoor and outdoor show, you can't beat the local food, entertainment and of course the beach!

See you next year.

bbladesprops

Here is a link to more info on the Konrad ACE drive.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...wpost&t=123126