Boat pulls to the right when I stop

[Hit It]

I'm hoping you guys can help me out with this one and see if my line of thinking is correct. When I'm cruising in my boat and cut the throttle to stop it pulls to the right pretty hard. I don't really notice any pulling when accelerating or cruising. I noticed that the little anode thing above the prop on the outdrive with the trim tab hanging down is broken off. Would that cause this problem? My thinking is that the I'm probably compensating for the prop rotation by having the wheel turned to right, and that when I cut the throttle the boat will then go the way the wheel is pointing since there is no prop rotation to counteract it. Does this make sense, or do you think I need to look in a different direction? I've spoken to people who don't even have these trim tabs and it has no noticeable effect on the boats handling.

BTW, the boat is a 21 foot bowrider with a merc 4.3 engine, alpha one outdrive.

Thanks!

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Boat pulls to the right when I stop

Replace the anode and test your theory.

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: Boat pulls to the right when I stop

I'd look at how you have the boat loaded with people and gear. Seams to me the port side bow is digging in when the bow wake catches the boat from behind causing the boat to want to turn right.

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Boat pulls to the right when I stop

Hit it , your theory of the prop rotation sounds valid. If I'm thinking right the prop rotation would twist the port side of boat into the water, letting up on the throttle would allow the boat to rock back to the starboard, but I wouldn't think it would be that pronounced. To be safe I would check motor mounts to make sure they aren't loose, and make sure theres no water in the boat.

 

[Hit It]

Re: Boat pulls to the right when I stop

Well, I installed a new trim tab anode and took the boat for a test run this weekend. It took some fine tuning, but I'm happy to report that this seems to have solved the problem. Thanks for the help.