Outboards are getting all the attention nowadays but it’s easy to forget there are still plenty of high-performance boat owners with sterndrive engines. Mercury Racing hasn’t forgotten them and released a surface-piercing 5-blade CNC cleaver propeller for applications up to 600 horsepower.
The new propeller is designed to maximize top-end speed on high-performance hulls powered by Mercury Racing 520, 525, 540, 565 and 600 SCI when mated to the Bravo XR Sport and Sport Master drives.
According to Mercury Racing, the new five-blade propeller reduces prop slip on average of 4.5 percent at wide-open throttle for Bravo XR Sport and Sport Master applications. The new prop reportedly runs pitch for pitch with a MAX5 propeller but users can run a larger diameter for increased top-end performance.
Mercury Racing said while the MAX5 is often the choice for all-around performance, the CNC is unmatched in top-end speed and handling. The CNC propeller makes the most of the Sport Master gearcase and elevated engine heights, the company said.
Mercury Racing is selling the five-blade propeller in quarter-inch diameter and 1-inch pitch increments for precise tuning. Available dimensions are 14-3/4” to 15-1/2” diameter, 26” to 40” pitch and a 15- and 18-degree rake. The CNC Cleaver will be produced on the same CNC machines used to mill Mercury Racing’s M6 and M8 drive Cleavers at the plant in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
All 600-hp-rated CNC Cleavers will be custom made and ordered through a registered Mercury dealer. Each CNC propeller is delivered in a Mercury Racing propeller case. The prop, which was introduced at the Los Angeles Boat Show in early January, is available now.
