88 Martinique B/R balance problem

bryanandmissy wrote: However, I am wondering if the problem is actually a left turning issue and I am correcting it by turning the wheel right which causes a lean to the right. Because when I place the wheel in a manner as to where the boat is level laterally I have a very slight turn left, even while its perfectly level.

bryanandmissy wrote: Again when I level the boat, by turning the wheel to the center, the boat has a slight turn to the left. So naturally to go straight I have to turn the wheel right which leans the boat right to counter the left turning tendency.

If the tracking fins are visually straight I'd leave them alone.

I think you should be looking at your rudder. You may not have an original rudder which is throwing off your boat's handling. You could LIGHTLY file the starboard side down to reverse the current load you have, so you'll then be turning left to go straight, which will then help level the boat. Rudder tuning is common practice with tournament slalom boats. The MasterCraft forums as well as WaterSki Magazine have had several threads and articles.

Irregardless you should verify your running gear is straight and aligned, else you are chasing your tail. You could call them upside down dorsal fins if you wanted, but technically speaking they are tracking fins.

I thought we verified he's got the "right" prop on page 1...

You've got the "a" team on the case now. But maybe a few pics showing the alignment of the running gear could be helpful. And thanks for the updates on the 912. Sounds like the right prop. I am a little surprised that you're seeing 41 at 4100 with a 10.5 pitch on that big ol' boat. GPS'd?

1989SN2001 wrote: Perhaps the rudder is from a boat with a LH prop? I know the rudder on a lot of inboards is beveled/shaped in a non-symmetric way, almost like a vertical airplane wing. I would assume this bevel is to counter the propwalk effect, so one that is shaped wrong could make that problem even worse, right? Pics of the running gear would help.

A RH prop will walk to starboard going forward, so naturally you'd be turning right to counter this. Unfortunately turning right lists his boat even worse. I'm actually suggesting tuning the rudder as if it were on a LH boat, which might be a tall task to completely overcome the prop walk.

Hollywood wrote: A RH prop will walk to starboard going forward, so naturally you'd be turning right to counter this. Unfortunately turning right lists his boat even worse. I'm actually suggesting tuning the rudder as if it were on a LH boat, which might be a tall task to completely overcome the prop walk.

I don't understand why you're suggesting tuning it to be more like a LH rudder? If a RH prop is walking the stern to starboard, then a RH rudder would tend to push the stern to port, when running straight, right?

So if he has an incorrect EDIT: rudder :: that is for a LH boat, wouldn't it tend to push the stern starboard as well as the prop, making him have to steer starboard even more to go straight, thus listing the boat further?

Hollywood, I made a typo, that should have read "incorrect RUDDER", not prop. My mistake, I'll correct the post. I know he has the correct prop. The question still stands though, why try to correct this issue by tuning towards a LH rudder?

I wonder if the back end of the drive shaft is directly in front of the rudder or if it's off to one side a little.

I also wonder if there's more wet foam on one side. It may be showing up as he has less boat in the water to support it?

Wow, that is scary! I am very thankful for all the brain power going into this discussion. I will post some good pictures of the gear later this evening, as i must travel out to my storage unit to take them.

Also, I do agree if I could somehow tune something to steer the bow starboard, that would help me to level the boat on plane.

I will post pics in a little while!

Valid. Could be the perfect storm here.

Ok. Sorry for the delay as I was distracted by my job. I hate when that happens.
Anyway, I took many pictures and am going to try to post them with comments below if needed.

In this Picture you can definitely see that the rudder has a shaved spot on the port side where the arm meets the paddle by the curve.

Port Side View

View of guide fins from rear

View of guide fins from side

Looking back from in front of the guide fins

Looking at shaft/strut

With this view I laid down a 4' level and aligned it to be flush against both guide fins to show the angle in reference to the shaft. You can see that it does not dissect the shaft in the middle, rather the angle passes just off the port side of the shaft. I was very careful in taking this picture to align my camera lens with the long end of the level.

In this picture I was trying to let you see the amount of lean/turn I have to have in order to maintain a straight path. Note the position of the steering wheel and compare to the next picture.

Here the boat is laterally level, however it is now in a large arcing left turn. Note the steering wheel as compared to the previous picture. This steering wheel postion is just slightly left of what I would call centered when I took the very first picture I posted of the rudder and prop.

Here you can see how much turn I experience when I turn the wheel so as the boat is level as discussed in the two previous pictures.

That is all I have for pictures now. If I missed an angle, please let me know and I will go take more. Any thoughts?

You should probably try posting larger pictures...those are too small to see anything...

That was a joke. Try downsizing the pictures so they're easier to see.

800x600 pixels would be a "large" picture for on here.

Ouch! More ridicule please! LOL...I thought they seemed quite big. I will repost new ones resized in a bit.

Thanks