Boat pulls to port

[bjames]

The lake was calm the other night and noticed after doing a few sets that the boat was pulling to the left. The pull is exagerated as the speed increases. I dont recal experiencing this before. If I take my hands off the wheel at high speeds, the wheel will imediatly turn to the left.

I checked the rudder position at neutral and appears straight, but I did notice that there is a little bit of play (up and down and side to side), about enought to slide a peice of paper between the top of the rudder and nylon washer and hull.

I checked the tracking fins for alingment and noticed the center fin appears to be slightly less than 1/8" off from the others. No signes of damage, just the tip appears to be slightly off.

[Double D]

My brothers front scag was bent when he got his boat and it definitely pulled to one side because of it. The little variation could do it.

[Hogwild]

I thought a little pull to the left was natural for these boats. Mine does this

[dpolen]

Mine does too...about to take the boat in for the 20hr checkup, others please advise if this is not normal. :-)

[XStar08]

My 2 cents:
- the problem with the steering wheel turning to the left no hands on is due to configuration of the steering cablee and how rudder is set up. My friends identical Star turns, mine not... Not a big deal imo.

- I guess that the boat is pulling to the left cause of slightly diff. weight of boat itselfe but not to much because of fins/rudder.

[FrankSchwab]

The boats are normally set up to have a slight pull to one side in order to keep the steering precise. If you file one edge of the rudder (search for "file rudder" and you'll find lots of threads about which side, and how much), you can reduce or eliminate the pull - but then there will be a "dead spot" in the steering where moving the wheel slightly left or right does nothing. This isn't good for being able to precisely place the boat down the center of a slalom course.

I'd read the old threads and decide if you want to eliminate the pull or not. This is one of those things where you don't have to accept the decisions made by the boat designer - tune it the way you want it.

[willyt]

Originally Posted by FrankSchwab

The boats are normally set up to have a slight pull to one side in order to keep the steering precise. If you file one edge of the rudder (search for "file rudder" and you'll find lots of threads about which side, and how much), you can reduce or eliminate the pull - but then there will be a "dead spot" in the steering where moving the wheel slightly left or right does nothing. This isn't good for being able to precisely place the boat down the center of a slalom course.

hmmmm....

xstar + slalom course = disastrous results

[bjames]

Kind of what I read as well about a little pull to port is normal. The boat was pretty balanced and all ballast was empty. But i guess now the question is weather the amount of pulling im experiencing is considered normal.