poor handling

[Bradbury]

I have a 1960 Sportsman 24' with a 283. It is located in a no wake cove. It is very hard to handle at low speeds. In reverse there is no control and the wind takes it wherever it wants. Going forward control is still limited, and the wind still pushes the boat around. I usually keep the RPMs about 2,000 to help with handling.

Any thoughts?

Steve Bradbury

[Captain Nemo]

If you are turning a right hand prop, due to torque, in reverse it will pull to port. Best to aim and compensate for that. If you cramp your wheel hard over to starboard and throttle up you will back up fairly straight.
Slow maneuvering in forward requires rudder and throttle control. Best I can say is practice, you will find what works for you.

[Bradbury]

Thanks for the suggestion

[JimF]

A friend of mine had a similar problem. The rudder is just not big enough. While this is not an easy fix, we removed the rudder and found another that was a similar size. We cut 5 or 6 inches off the bottom of the second rudder and had it welded to the bottom of the original. It made a huge difference in slow maneuvering and had no effect on top end performance.