[Fr. Frank]

Without getting into too much detail, the higher the percentage of generated thrust is produced closer to the center of propeller rotation, the greater the amount of stern-lift is produced.

This is why, generally speaking, 4 blade props and cleaver props produce more stern-lift. The inner 50% of thrusting surface on the propeller produces greater than 50% of the thrust produced.

A caveat: for some reason, unknown to me, every now and then a prop defies the expectations even of the design engineers. FOr instance, the Mirage, Mirage +, and PowerTech Offshore series 3-blades are all pretty-much diametrically balanced props, yet all produce good stern-lift.

Still, the best way to find just the right prop for your boat is to try 'em all, or at least as many as possible, making sure to take advantage of the experience of others who have used those propeller types.

Believe it or not, the major boat manufacturers still use the "Hey! Let's try that one" method of finding and selecting the prop to be included or suggested for their new boats. Sometimes even the experts are surprised by what ends up working well.