Propeller Sales Surge For Hering

Sales of new propellers from Hering Propellers of Marysville, Wash., have been strong in the past two months according to Jeff Johnston, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. Johnston said that since the 2012 Miami International Boat Show orders for new propellers have nearly doubled, and that the orders have been split equally between high-performance powerboat boat builders and existing customers who already have boats.

“The types of propellers we’re getting orders for are pretty spread out,” Johnston said. “We’re getting orders for outboard props, Bravo-style props and offshore props. It’s pretty much all across the board.

“Last year, we built about 700 props,” he added. “So far this year we’re on pace to eclipse that. One nice thing we’re seeing is that in general the boat builders are optimistic about how the market is doing so far this year.”

In terms of ongoing and upcoming projects, Johnson said Hering is continuing to work with the Miss GEICO offshore racing team, which is collaborating with Carpenter Technology on a new alloy, on a line of forged propellers.

“We’re working with stronger forged materials,” said Johnston, who added that he did not know when the new line of props would be available.