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[cJAY]

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[231CALIFORNIA]

does the trim affect it at all ,for better or worse?, and are you planning and running down wave faces /surfing and then nosing into the trough or back of next wave or swell?  are the following seas sharp or rounded ?
sometimes you can only adjust speed and hope it improves.
someone with a similar hull and engines may have  ideas  but bow steer isnt that uncommon but unmanageble bow steer is.

[231CALIFORNIA]

THERE IS a new member here with a 26 walk ,that seems to have excessive   bow steer also , let hear form any other 26 owners if they have dealt with it.
If I get time I will look into Bowsteer postings over at THT ,especially solved ones if any. Im pretty sure this shows up with all kids of Deep V powerboats from time to time. Maybe need a naval architect or engeneers perspective.?

[231CALIFORNIA]

If you have outboard/s and they arent all the way down try to drop them one notch /hole -- longer leverage arm will have a  slightly higher lifting moment  on bow, also some prop types seem to have more "bowlift" at planing speeds. althoug this stuff wont likely affect guys with low speed /low power issues.
If stern drive, is the cav plate at or below the bottom or at recommended "Z" position?.  see an install manual  for that info.
keep chcecking here as other owners find this site one may have had similar issue.

[231CALIFORNIA]

From what Ive been reading there are several conditions that may or may not be related. Any experts or personal experience please feel free to Contradict any of this if you think you have  an answer.

Bow steer,  often experienced  in V hulls , worse when bow is either trimmed or weighed down, not descriptive of low speed condition (see wander). (hook in hull could be agravating by holding the bow down/stern up.  Trim tabs down may magnify effect also. trimming drive/OB  to  out/ bow Up may help some by lifting bow. redistributing weight to stern may also help . sterring at an angle to swells either direction may initiate.  may steer either direction.
to view hull profile attach a string at transom and pull tight forward for straight line revealing contour of hull relateive to straight. a straight edge will show either  hook or rocker also.
In rare cases motor misalignemnt from center will cause asymetrical thrust and favor 1 direction. easy to measure and see  if significant.

Wander    At slow speed boat may stray from steered course a bit, often correcting itself  in the other dirrection after a few moments  if helm steady.  if correction needed make slight correction and avoid overcorrection. may seem like loseness in steering.  most small boats do this a bit at low speed.   If steering forces are very uneven examine any steering torque adj  tab on cavitation plate behind prop.

prop walking. only at very high planing speeds, top of prop out of water, lower portion "paddles" stern to  side of prop rotation. not likely on heavy deep v at under 70mph.

Self steer  to one side, if hull is symetrical and nothing is dragging
examine torque tab, engine centering, skeg for damage, if helm is not low feedback adjust tension Nut if any. adjust load side to side at rest if not balanced.

Hull seriously  "Tweaked",  Very Very Rare,  Causes ,Extremely bad trailer attachment and support,  with transom tied down and excessive force downward on bow eye or other attachment. uneven support
hull can become distorted some. Most likely in alluminum or wood boats that may hold the bend. In a fiberglass boat possible mold imbalances or hull removed GReen/uncured , Measure hull symetry and fair hull as required. 

Hull design Characteristic.   Particualr Boat designs  have different handling characteristics with certain engines at certain speeds, if so other boats of same design will handle similarly. Deep V  lightly loaded may be better or worse than one heavily laden.  Boats with deep V Pound less But some Wander More, part of the tradeoff. You dont  take a flatbottom very fast in rough water but they plane at minimal speed and power. tabs down may help instead of hurt sometimes.

Final point, you arent alone even if it drives you crazy, many very expensive boats with Much higher prices seem to have concerns just like yours.

borrow a different prop, adjust your load, make sure everythign is ship shape
experiment , maybe try a foil/fin, try triming engine up a bit at a tiem until prop ventilates and keep looking for a boat just like yours and talk to its owner.

In the mean time maybe someone else has your same ecxperience.

[231CALIFORNIA]

listing?
if its sitting uneven at rest or low speed  its "listing", and thats a weigh /balance issue normally.
hook =like a trim tab,  did they do both sides or just one?
rocker is the opposite i believe.
measure it and see what they actually acheived

[brad1951]

It sounds like what they did was tab the hull, A small "lip" on the rear edge of the trailing edge of the transom. This is much differant than the hull having a hook. I did this to my hull before installing smart tabs to cure a porpousing problem at high speed. After the smart tabs were installed I removed the tabs.

• apenny
• Intrepid