Birchwood 22 steering

[mickm]

Hi,

Have my first boat, a Birchwood 22 with Volvo inboard and leg. Having problems keeping her in a straight line without constantly adjusting the wheel. It feels like there is play in the steering which prevents her staying on a straight course at river speed. It may, of course, be that I'm over compensating and just need more practise? When I watch other craft they don't seem to suffer with the same problem. Any suggestions would be very gratefully received...

[ChrisH]

My 20ft Mariah with 4.3 mercruiser and Alpha leg is the same below 10 knots. I think it is pretty common

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[Bigplumbs]

Yes I posted the same thing on my Mercruiser with alpha 1 gen 2 leg. I am told all boats with legs do this. If you don't adjust the steering it actually does by itself. You will get used to it

Dennis

[Xboatboyx]

As said above this is normal on boats with sterndrives, particularly on sportier boats as they don't like low speeds.

[Ianfs]

I looked at the hull design of the Birchwood 22 and it looks like you have a planning hull. What you have is a sharp entry quickly shaping to a flatter bottom of maybe 20 - 22 degrees dead rise. As the guys have said, its not uncommon for this to happen but must make you wonder why a river boat wanders.

What is happening to your boat is that the engine is a long way back on the stern. Under way the bow wave is trying to move towards the stern assisted by the weight of the engine. Even at 5knts the bow wave is trying to move towards the stern. Stern heavy, bow light your boat will wander.

Displacement hulls don't have this problem simply that they are designed to push water aside when moving and will not exede their design speed no matter how much power you provide.

Try trimming the drive in to its maximum, this will kid the hull into thinking its a displacement hull. It may work, it may not, but worth a try.

[betty boop]

and try smart tabs, previous postings on the forum report steering improvements at slow speed but I haven't got around to fitting mine yet. But you'll get used to it. so much so that when you change boats you'll constantly try to correct the steering - doesn't go down to well when you're on a lifeboat though