Pull to starboard when under power

[John O'Donald]

Is it normal for the boat to have a significant pull to starboard when under power? I've been told this is normal but I have sailed many boats that do not exhibit this tendency. Can it be adjusted?

 

[Mickey McHugh]

Significant Pull to Port on H40.5

because the prop was a Right Handed 2 blade 18"x16P. But I replaced the prop with a RH 3 blade feathering prop from Martec/Autostream and it is alot less now. I also lost the significant prop walk to port in reverse that I used before to my advanage when docking. However, the boat now stopped very quickly but I usually maneuver at dead slow anyway. It really helps with backing out and going in reverse.

 

[Les Blackwell]

Possible rudder problems

I have commented on this in the past. You may have a rudder problem. When you next haul out, Take two 1X4"X5' boards. Put a 3X4" block of wood between them at one end. Put this end at the beginning of your keel and bend the 1X4 boards around your keel.If you keel is symetrical, the boards will touch pretty much to the stern of the keel. If it doesn't, you need to take some drawing board and lay it up on your measurement device. Take a scribber and measure when it doesn't touch. You can do this several times until you have the curve of your rudder on one side. Then turn it upside down and place it against the other side of the rudder. It should fit. If it doesn't your rudder is not symetrical and will affect you steering.Either talk to Hunter or get a local fibreglass person to fair it out.Good luck

 

[Don Alexander]

Only when Dirty

My 376 only pulls to starboard when it, or its prop, is very dirty.Don't know why but after a scrub the tendency to pull disappears.

 

[jcherubini]

Wheel walk.

A 'significant' pull to starboard is a weird one. Most RH-turning motors will exhibit a turn to port due to 'wheel walk' (the tendency of a propeller in a viscuous fluid to behave as a wheel does on ground and 'travel' to one side). The prop tends towards starboard, thus pushing the bow to port. On our Cherubini 44 it was exactly one spoke-width of the wheel and thus easily gauged. So corrected the boat would track under power all day on a perfectly straight course.A tendency to port indicates either a LH-turning motor (rare) or a RH-turning motor mounted with 2:1 reduction (except when with a V-drive which in this case nets RH anyway). I don't know the configuration of the boat in question here. I would guess at a mismatched (wrong dia.) prop. But without these answers everything else may just be speculation.By the way-- an off-centre prop shaft set on an angle (as on C-44) will NOT adversely affect the boat's steering but in fact will counteract wheel walk-- in well-designed boats with the right set-up there will be NO prop walk effect at all. Odd as it seems to most people only boats with on-centre prop shafts exhibit wheel walk problems by design.Look at the flywheel of the running engine. If (when facing aft at the motor) the top of the flyhwheel goes to YOUR left (boat's starboard), it's a RH motor. The prop thus turns top to starboard and bottom to port, so when acting as a wheel it kicks the stern to starboard (bow to port). Check it out.I'll be interested to see what anyone else can suggest here.JC II