Re: Boat pulls to right!
Length for length, American sport boats tend to have a wider beam than their European counter-<br />parts. Beamy boats wander more readily than narrow-beam craft. You pays your money ...<br /><br />Back to the subject ...Dhadley has hit the nail right on the head as always.<br /><br />This is the sequence we usually follow:<br /><br />First off, eliminate the red herring of normal torque-steer - does the owner know that a boat with a single prop will naturally tend to describe a large circle? (That’s another reason for a kill-switch - it stops the boat arcing around and finishing you off!) Adjustment would include correct setting of the torque tab as has so rightly been said. Bear in mind here that the pitch and diameter of the prop will also affect the degree of torque-steer.<br /><br />Next, if fitted, verify the correct operation of the power steering system. Some systems can exert a huge one-sided pull if not working right.<br /><br />Still not running straight? Then go for the three fundamentals - balance, symmetry and wear - in that order. <br /><br />Checking balance is easy - see if the boat has any list when sitting in still water. Correcting it might be as simple as rearranging gear in the boat, or as problematical as locating and curing water egress in one or more of the foam compartments.<br /><br />Symmetry basically means striking an imaginary line along the boat bows to stern, including the <br />outboard, and confirming that everything shapes up identically, port to starboard. Is there underwa-<br />ter hull damage, or uneven hull growth, or motor misalignment on the transom (up or down, port or <br />starboard, not at right-angles to transom)? If fitted, are trim tabs adjusted right and operational? Has the skeg been hit and bent? <br /><br />Here, algae growth is a big problem. Algae love sunshine and warm water, and a boat habitually <br />moored in the same direction alongside a quay with one side in comparative shadow, can get more <br />growth on one side of the hull than the other by the end of the season.<br /><br />Wear is self-explanatory. Is the steering system or outboard old or heavily-used? Wear in the mounts of either will allow the torque-steer to become magnified and exert an annoying pull.<br /><br />It’s amazing what boat-owners do. Some use old tires as fenders here. Leave them hanging over the <br />side when the boat’s underway, and it will almost spin on its own axis - and the guy wonders why <br />his motor’s tugging!<br /><br />Ciao
