• Fred Kiekhaefer Awarded Patent For New Surface Drive

    by
    Scream And Fly
    Published on 04-25-2022 12:42 AM
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    Drive Features Cockpit-Controlled Variable-Pitch Propeller ▼
    Most of us know Fred Kiekaefer, as not only the son of the founder of Mercury Marine, Carl Kiekaefer, but as the former president of Mercury Racing. And we all know his engineering and design accomplishments there represent the very soul of Mercury Racing.

    After leaving from Mercury Racing, Fred started his own company, K.Lab Design Works, and has just received a patent for a surfacing drive with a cockpit-controlled variable-pitch propeller. Originally known as Project Dolphin, this drive is intended for larger, heaver performance boats, and the prototype unit shown below was tested on a 39-foot deep V-bottom hull.

    Back at the Mercury Marine press event in Miami for the introduction of the 3.4-liter four-stroke V6, Kiekhaefer was there and he showed me drawings for what would become this new drive. Moving forward, I'm sure we can expect some really groundbreaking innovations from K.Lab Design Works, and I am definitely looking forward to that!

    This article was originally published in forum thread: Fred Kiekhaefer's Awarded Patent For New Surface Drive started by Scream And Fly View original post
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