www.iFourWinns.com

We bought our first boat last summer, a 2004 Funship 214 and have always had difficulty maneuvering at slow speeds - the boat will not stay straight. I had always assumed the problem was with us being new to boats and we would eventually learn how. After several hours of boating and observing other boats, I am now convinced there is a problem with this boat and/or this is natural for the Funship.

Any input?

Well... How slow is slow. Are you in any current or out on a lake? Wind or no wind?

There are numerous factors. I find every time I let someone drive my boat that they constantly over correct. Which gets you swinging back and forth. Small corrections a little at a time help with this. This is 6 mph goin down a river with about 2 mph current. It's worse goin upstream than downstream.

Not to be elementary, but if you are fairly new to boating it takes awhile to get the hang of it. Defiantly different than driving a car where the response is immediate when a correction is made

Wind is more of a factor for a cruiser with most the canvas up than a fun ship, but its still a factor.

Hope that helps

_________________
Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

How do you have your boat loaded? Is it leaning to one side. I notice our horizon will curve off if not balanced. Add this with wind and trim practice and this could be the culprit.

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1997 Horizon RS 180
5.7 GL Volvo Penta /SX drive. (1.60)
2018 Ford F-150 super crew 4x4

Boats will always torque steer slightly, due to the rotation of the prop'.
IIRC, prop's with more blades have less tendancy to torque steer the boat.

Easy fix = Go faster!

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2011 Four Winns H180 SS.
Aussie built Mustang 2800.
SOLD - 1997 Four Winns Horizon RS

Ya What he says, Go Faster .
There are so many variables when boating, you also have to remember waves hitting the bow, are you straight on or taking them at an angle.

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1997 Horizon RS 180
5.7 GL Volvo Penta /SX drive. (1.60)
2018 Ford F-150 super crew 4x4

My previous boat (Chaparal 19' cuddy) would wander left & right a great deal at "no-wake" speed or at idle speed. Back and forth about once every 5-10 seconds. Just a characteristic of the hull (particularly a short-wide hull with an I/O). It would take more than 1/4 turn of the steering wheel to counteract, and I had to turn the wheel in anticipation of the movement. The admiral wouldn't even try to drive that boat. It was rock steady at cruising speed, and there were no issues with the steering...just a characteristic of the hull.

I don't know if the load makes much difference, but I suspect that a bow-heavy load would make it worse.

Now my FW Horizon 240 hardly has any of this back and forth. You can only see it if you are looking for it. The admiral is fine with driving the Horizon.

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Set of smart tabs will not only help with bow rise but they also help eliminate low speed wander.

What kind of drive do you have? That alone will make a big difference.

Would have to guess single prop - if he had a dual prop there would be no wander

I asked because it was not mentioned. But he could of ordered it with a dual prop?

Does your drive have a alignment tab on it. May need to be adjusted. Is the skeg bent.

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'96 200 Horizon 5.8l VP/SX

Fiz ya beat me to the question. Is the skeg bent at all. twisted ?

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1997 Horizon RS 180
5.7 GL Volvo Penta /SX drive. (1.60)
2018 Ford F-150 super crew 4x4

I will now try to answer:

I would define slow as "no wake" speed
Wind, load, etc... does not make a difference
Bravo 1 drive
Skeg is fine

What is a trim tab?

I guess it is just a characteristic of the boat and more practice will help.

This would be your cheapest way to add tabs

http://www.nauticusinc.com/

Everyone i know that added them loves them

I apologize for the miscommunication the tab I was talking about is on the drive that acts like a rudder that you can make small adjustments either direction to straighten out any wander. My old OMC drive had one but my SX does not so it may not be any help to you anyway. I'm sure LouC has one on his drive so maybe he can explain it better than I can.

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'96 200 Horizon 5.8l VP/SX