What is bow steering?

[adfluvial angler]

What is bow steering?
How do you know when it is happening?
What causes it?
How do you correct it?

My wife and I are demo'ing an '04 Duckworth Navigator tomorrow and I've heard that some boats do this ...
Thanks.

[Rip'N'Lips]

Adfluvial-

I honestly have no idea about bow steering, but I did want to get your opinions on the Navigator. I am interested as I think it would handle the water I fish better than my Duckworth Advantage.

Thanks,

Rip'N'Lips

[adfluvial angler]

RnL,
I'll let you know after tomorrow. We've crawled around in both the Advantage and Navigator but haven't been on the water in either. We have 3 youngsters that may crowd us out of a 72" wide boat as the years pass; that's why we're considering the Navigator.

We're going to demo a NR Seahawk on 1-31 as a comparison. I can pass on that info too if interested.
aa

[Miss B Haven]

Bow steering occurs when the bow is too flat in the water at high (planing) speeds. The chines will "grab" and pull the boat to one side, often when encountering a wake from the side.

Usually a problem if you are trimmed to flat with the trim tabs or the tabs aren't balanced side to side.

It can be subtle or fairly scary under the right(wrong) circumstances. Don't ask me how I know this!

A hull that does this without any tab action would probably due to poor design or to much weight forward.

[adfluvial angler]

Thanks for the info Miss B Haven. Do you know if reverse chines increase the tendency to bow steer?

[Miss B Haven]

Sorry- beyond my knowledge base.

[willierower]

Bow steering can be a scary ordeal! I found that out the hard way. :shocked: Good thing I was in a tiller boat when it happened or I would have some explaining to do to my dad for wrecking his new sled.

Bow steering happens when the bow is plowing too much at higher speeds. Trimming out the boat will usually stop it from happening. Slowing down in the rough stuff helps too.

Its not a big problem once you figure out how it happens and what to do if it happens.

[greenbuttskunk]

bow steering can give you a code brown for sure.
It's like miss b haven said. Trimmed out too flat can cause it, or too much weight up front I've encountered it before a few times in my boat or others and it does tend to wake you up. Make sure to pay attenttion steering when this occures. :shocked:

[zipper]

AA - I have owned my Advantage (19') for almost a year. I love this boat. I have 3 kids and with the wife and the dog it handles the action just fine. It's not too big to get into some of the smaller places and yet big enough to go wherever I want. I've had it in some serious rough water and it handles it beautifully. Of coarse, in the winter, with the top up it gets a little tight but most often it's just me and one or two others that want to brave the weather to fish. I would advise however that the dealer packages with the 115hsp is not enough... get as much motor as you can afford if you're thinkin' outboards. Good luck with your shopping! zip

[diehard2]

I have a 20' sliverwing with a 3/4 hardtop and a 115 suzki 4 stroke. It has more than a enough power for me, 35 to 38 mph.