I test drove a boat over the weekend. We were on a small lake, max depth ~10', Shallow lake. The boat is 17'6" welded aluminum with suzuki 60hp 4 stroke motor (~300hrs), both year=2001. Boat weighs ~1000 dry. Anyhow, I noticed that while accelerating the steering wheel would swing clockwise around in a circle causing the boat the make a u turn. Note that my hands are not on the steering wheel at this time. This would occur when the rpm was between 3k-4k. I estimate the speed was ~20mph. There was a slight breeze ~5-10mph but I don't think this was the issue, as I accelerated in opposite directions on the lake with the same results. At full throttle (~28mph), the boat rides straight without my hands on the steering wheel. The guy owned it for 2 years and said he recently changed out the lower impeller on the outboard per the manufacturer's recommended schedule, which is every other year. Don't know if this is true or not. Sounds like alot of maintenance, but I'm a newbie. Is this steering phenomenom normal?
