I am running a 4 Blade OFX Sabre-X Performance Prop. The reason I am surprised that Bill swears this prop gave the boat the best performance of all the Honda props by powertech that Judge tested, is that it is a bow lifing prop and a prop made primarily for performance boats. Here is Hondas description of the prop:
"Maximum bowlift is provided by the full 15.25 inch diameter in a narrowed blade profile with double cupped tip. Excellent
performance with a jackplate or high transom mount. This prop provides great handling on bass and bay boats. May also be used
on offshore applications where maximum bow lift is required."
(
http://www.honda-marine.com/catalog/pdf ... ellers.pdf )
As you can see the prop is designed for a high motor mount. (Judge raised my motor about 1" than their traditional setting too because I was questioning the motor height) But, a bow lifting prop surprised me because I have had a tendency to think a transom lifting prop like a Merc Rev 4 would be more ideal for quicker planing and maintaining plane at slower speeds... However, while I havent had a Rev 4 on the Judge, one of the disappointing things about it on my Maycraft was that it wouldnt hold plane at slow speeds and the prop would lose bite and ventilate (something it wouldnt do running at good speed at all). It was one of the reasons I switched to an Enertia on the boat and was more happy. This Honda prop holds bite from off plane all the way up to full planing speed. Even one night with megabyte I think we were doing somewhere between 10 and 12mph holding plane with little tab with the prop.
The other thing I like about the prop is that I I have less prop slip when I calculate it over any of the Merc props I ran on myt last boat. I am not sure if this is due to the slightly larger diameter of the prop, the fact that I am stepping down to a 15" pitch prop due to the Honda needing more rpms than the merc and pushing a slightly larger boat, or what. I certainly think that the Merc gear case was more hydrodynamic than the Honda as the Honda gear case is kind of big and bulky and a little more "sloppy" through the water. It is also strange in the sense that they are "thinner blades" as described by Honda. I would have thought that a larger surface area would have helped in this area. (the props do have A LOT of cup though)
I will say that I certainly have to trim the motor down more when running for max speed and efficiency than the merc props I ran. This took a bit of time getting used to as I ran with the motor trimmed fairly high with the merc props on my last boat. However having the motor trimmed down more makes sense to me being that it is a bow liftin prop and by tucking the motor down a little more I see more energy going forward. The bow lifting feature may also help with the efficiency in the fact that the Judge has a deep v entry of 45 degrees, a 24 degree mid ship before flattening out to like 10 degrees at the transom and by getting the bow up slighly I am creating less water drag. However I dont notice that the boat runs bow high and I have no problem getting the bow down especially with the QL tabs.
Like I said it is not a prop that I would have thought would work well on the boat and probably would have been the last one I tested but it really works well and I dont have a lof of desire to test others right now as I am pretty satisfied with the performance. Bill Judge told me he tested nearly every Honda prop on the list as he really wanted to make sure he sold the boats with the right prop and found this one to work the best. He also said of all the props he tested it held the water the best too. Of course he limited his testing to the Honda props available but powertech is said to make pretty good props for Honda. I guess prop testing really is a science that will never be figured out and it just takes trial and error to get it right.
Here is an image of the performance prop I am using:
) There was 5 on board, nearly full fuel, cooler filled with our limit of striped bass and ice, full fishing gear for running a full spread with planer boards (17 poles and tackle to go with it) and misc. stuff.
