Boat dives off to one side under power crossing wake

[snake91876]

i have an older imperial 18' deep v with chines about halfway up the v sides, the boat has alpha one outdrive and 3.0l mercruiser, it has one of those stingray fins on the outdrive. When underway the boat i guess you would say walks to one side or list bad i can trim up the motor and get it fairly level but then the bow is real high. If someone moves around to one side or we cross a big wake the boat will dive off to the right uncontrollaby and be leaning real bad. Could this be from that stingray fin or is this typical of an older deep v , just chinewalking. Please help im really frustrated. i know the fix would be tabs but i dont have the money for that right now. what do you think?

 

[tommays]

Re: Boat dives off to one side under power crossing wake

It sounds like the fin is doing evil things


BUT when your crossing a wake you cant really go into it real easy you need to cross it at a 45deg angle or you can kinda of get stuck

On most wakes i have slow down a LOT as there to big to cross at speed

 

[Maclin]

Re: Boat dives off to one side under power crossing wake

That can be one of the symptoms of a fin on the outdrive. The lift they provide pushes at the middle of the boat when the best place to push is at the edges like with real trim tabs. This lift can cause some boats to want to "fall" one way or the other while turning or taking wakes or waves. My brother's boat, 19 foot closed bow stern drive Ski boat, used to practically fall into it's own depression as it turned at speed, his kid ended up not ever wanting to ride in it. I convinced him to try it without the fin and it was much better in the turns. Again, it is a boat-by-boat thing, the only way to tell on yours is to take it off and try the same conditions.