Crown 23 veers to starboard slightly

[sailbot]

Hi guys,
when I take my hand off the tiller (under power, 8 horse honda) the boat will always turn to starboard, I know the keel is not bent cause with a recent pic (boat dry hauled) it lines up perfectly with mast. Is there any way to make her go straight with hands off the tiller. The boat has never been grounded for sure.
The tiller has some degree of slop fore and aft. (apx 1/2 inch) maybe thats the problem?

[tdw]

Prop Walk. Some boats are worse than others. Comes under the heading of "live with it" I think although some of the feathering prop peoples reckon it less of a problem with a feathering prop.

To give you an idea, run your boat up to max speed under power then knock her into neutral. Give it a moment or two to settle down then hands off the wheel/tiller. You'll find the tendency to veer off course will have either completely disappeard or is very much reduced.

(shite, didn't read your post properly. I'm talking about an inboard engine running through a shaft. An outboard is an unknown quantity for me.)

[camaraderie]

Same deal...just off set the outboard direction a bit to compensate for the direction she wants to go in...the the tiller can be held straight.

[sailbot]

Wow, didnt think of that..I'll try that full speed then to neutral trick. I would think with an outboard (the prop futher aft than inboard) the effect would be or pronounced. one other thing, it seemed worse sinse I just had the bottom cleaned and new bottom paint.

Thanks much for the help !

[ows1id]

Is the engine/prop centered ?

Is the rudder parallel to the tiller?

Try it in and out of gear to check prop effect

[sailingdog]

Umm... check to make sure the OB is vertical. If it isn't it will generate propwalk. If it is perfectly vertical, and on centerline, it shouldn't generate propwalk.

[merttan]

Let me guess, your outboard is on port side? It's normal to have some steering trouble when your prop is not in the center... Just turn the outboard a bit to the right to balance the push... Same deal with twin screw motor boats running on single engine....
Your new bottom paint makes the boat slide easier on the water that's probably why you feel it more...
About the rudder slope, I didn't understand what you mean...

[sailbot]

My OB is in the middle of stern, The boat gets 7.5 knots criusing now, before junk off bottom I only got max 3 knots (there was a huge salad for sure).
Anyway, at cruising speed, the stern seems to ride a lot lower in the water now, with a clean bottom (almost 6 inches lower !)
The rudder has a slight fore aft slop (apx 1.2 inch) this would effect the slope, pushing the rudder back when at full speed.

I guess i just never noticed the starboard pull at that lighting fast 3 knots

I love my Crown 23...

Thanks for all the suggestions

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by sailbot

My OB is in the middle of stern, The boat gets 7.5 knots criusing now, before junk off bottom I only got max 3 knots (there was a huge salad for sure).
Anyway, at cruising speed, the stern seems to ride a lot lower in the water now, with a clean bottom (almost 6 inches lower !)

If you can do 7.5 knots now under OB power, that would probably be because after years of dragging a veggie garden around you've finally got to hull speed!!

I suggest you back off the throttle a bit.. on a 23ft boat, you'll be wasting fuel for sure.

[Plumper]

It will never go straight. Live with it. At least you know which way it is going to go.