Propeller Guards – Must have for sailing club and school boats

by Brendan Maxwell on 13 Jan 2012 ‘I’ve spent my life in around powerboats, but as a parent, you really worry. The kids are being taught to capsize boats and they love being in the water. You starting thinking to yourself, just one little mistake of the coach or support boat driver believing he is doing the right thing by reversing in or coming in close to a kid and a that kid not anticipating, ends up with a hand or a foot or a body into the propeller.’

David Eickmeyer from Racer X Marine in Melbourne is very passionate about one of the key products in his expanding line of Racer X Marine products. Dave spends his life in and around boats but believes sometimes you need a wakeup call.

‘It was the middle of last year when our kids were training in Opti’s etc and the coach boats were getting quite close with open propellers.’

‘Around the world there are propeller accidents week after week, with loss of life or loss of limbs.’

‘It does not just happen to kids. Last month a South Australian doctor was doing a dolphin dive in New Zealand. As she was climbing into the water here legs became entangled in the propeller. The damage to her legs were extensive severed ligaments, broken bones and cut major arteries. The court heard that the Tour company had not taken all steps it could have to protect its clients, such as installing Propeller Guards. There were substantial fines involved for the Tour company.

‘As we were putting together our Racer X Marine line, I decided to bring this whole subject into focus.’

‘We were able to secure Australian and New Zealand distribution rights for the best propeller guards around.’

‘There is a polycarbonate Prop Guard for every sort of boat. It is easy to fit and is not expensive.’

‘For boating clubs, propeller guards are a simple solution and it seems the courts are likely to find them negligent if they don’t do something about it. It’s a no brainer from coaching purposes and for all yacht clubs and all boats.’

The Precedent has been set by the most important yachting regatta on the planet for one reason. At the Beijing Olympics it was mandatory for all of the coach boats, media boats and all the race officials’ boats to have propeller guards. Prop Guards were the selected brand for the 2008 Olympics and the organizers have signed a deal with Prop Guard to do the same thing for London 2012.

‘The Prop Guards are very simple to fit and might take you 20 minutes or less to fit onto the outboard. Being a polypropylene unit, there is no rust or corrosion and there are no moving parts, no hydraulics or electrics. To fit, you just need a few basic tools. There are nine bolts that are all supplied in the kit and they bolt on solidly. In the past I have bolted them on in 15 minutes.

‘We have five different units ranging from 9.9 horsepower all the way up to a 350 horse power stern drive or Volvo twin screw. All units have a distinct bright color for a better visual view of where the prop is under water.’.

‘There are stainless steel and aluminium propeller guards on the market but the benefits of a polycarbonate one is that it does not degrade performance, whereas there are regular complaints that the stainless and aluminium guards taking a lot of performance from the engine.’

‘But astonishingly there are huge benefits beyond the improved safety factor.’

‘The Prop Guard is a high tech development of the basic systems used worldwide by canal boats, river boats and commercial fishing vessels to achieve greater propeller thrust and hence substantial fuel savings.’

The Prop Guard is manufactured to rigid specification in state of the art polypropylene. It reduces pounding, reduces wake, reduces propeller torque, reduces engine stress, increases thrust, and increases acceleration, increases propeller efficiency.

‘Now that really makes it an easy choice.’

Detailed information at RacerXMarine and Propguard

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Racer X Marine is a ever expanding Marine web shop.

We have the dealership for the Prop Guard in Australia and New Zealand.

Also on the site is all of the Magic Marine clothing and accessories and expanding into many more brands.

There will be a full range of clothing and sailing gear also Yacht fittings like Seldon fittings, booms and furler, Ronstan and Harken also.

There will be a Cruising section shortly.

There will be a range of sails accessories like Battens, Sail repair kits, flopper stoppers ect.

Safety gear will be next and One Design kits for off the beach classes line Moth, Minnow, Sabre and then Etchells, Flying 15 and expanding to other classes.

There will be a range of Racer X Boys Toys soon, right now we have a really cool I Phone 4/4S cover with a bottle opener in it with the Racer X Logo lasered on.

The web shop has free shipping to Australia and we are keen to have competitive pricing and something for everyone to make getting the right product for your boat easer .

More information at RacerXMarine and Propguard