My 270 amberjack not sail straight but turn left and right

[giovannic2071]

help me.steering and cable are ok.
what should I check

 

[Molson]

At slow speeds? At around idle speed, bow wander is common.

 

[giovannic2071]

Only after the plane my boat turns out of control while I keep fixed wheel in my hands. Often the boat sails on one side until I lift the bow using the trim. When the boat is stationary or low speed there is no stability problem. Thank you for your advice.

 

[CW2008]

Trying to make sure I understand and nothing is lost in translation. The 270 has a narrow beam and tends to lean port or starboard due to wind, weight. current or whatever. When I was new to the boat I had a hard time getting used to the trim tabs, but after a little practice I hardly notice. It is worse if you have weight aft, such as passengers on the rear bench seat, or dive tanks stored near the stern. Try distributing weight more evenly and go easy on the tabs, (assuming you are new to the boat.) Please forgive me if I am overstating the obvious and you are talking about something else. I know that I was concerned about the stability early on, but now actually enjoy how it handles.

 

[giovannic2071]

Thank you for your advice. I noticed that the boat sailing at low speeds it is not easy to navigate straight. I left the wheel after planing:
the wheel (and the boat) ran alone to the right and left alternately, but if I stopped the wheel in the center, the boat Tends to lean or port or starboard and turned permanently.

 

[CW2008]

Sounds like proper trim will fix most of it, but this model is a little more difficult to keep level at slow speeds than it is on plane. I was embarrassed at how poorly I kept her straight the first few times I took her out, especially while leaving the marina at idle speed. With practice you won't notice it nearly as much. You may have the trim set perfectly and then any weight shifting or change in relative wind direction will change everything. Play with trimming the stern drive and adjusting the trim tabs until you get the feel you want. As Scott said, make sure to find the right trim to avoid porpoising and plowing.

 

[Zoo]

A couple comments. I have a 2006 AJ270. It will not go straight at low speeds. Period. And I'm not talking about a little wiggle. I mean 45 degree turns unless you constantly work the wheel. Before anyone says it's bow wander and to be patient and that it will wander back, don't bother. I've owned boats for 25 years and this one isn’t coming back. Further, it does not matter how you configure the trim tabs. I've tried it all. Both down, both up, one down, the other one down, with not the slightest effect. And as for trimming the drive, well that really does not have much of an impact at trolling/maneuvering-around-the-marina speeds anyway. Nevertheless, I've tried every conceivable drive trim setting too. I spend a lot of time trolling and in creeks with with traffic and 6 kt speed limits and frankly trying to keep this thing in a straight line is wearing me out. I also get a lot of, "what the heck is this guy doing" looks from other boats in the tight channels. Maneuvering is extremely difficult until I hit maybe 8 or 9 kts and start plowing water. Now about high speeds, the boat sis really, really tender. She lays left, then right, then left again unless the wind and seas are consistent (are they ever?). And God forbid someone should get up and move around. As several people have pointed out, it’s a whole lot worse until you trim the outdrive out well. Here is what I think is going on, the very deep (44") vee, narrow beam, single screw, and shape of this hull make it painfully given to bow steer and nothing is going to fix it except a for sale sign. So, all that being said, is anyone else besides Giovanni and I having the same problem? Anyone got a solution? Wish I could take a ride with CW2008. It sounds like he has cracked the code and I simply cannot.

And here is my advice to Giovanni. Do this in a straight line, no turning. Start with the trim tabs all the way up and the outdrive trimmed all the way in. Push the throttle all the way down. As the speed increases the bow will start to come down. As it does throttle back to whatever RPM's you cruise at (4K for me). Keep enough speed to stay on plane. The boat will likely be leaning left or right a bit, but don’t touch the trim tabs yet. Trim the outdrive out about 1/3 and let that take effect. When things start to feel stable, when they smooth out, use the trim tabs to level the boat left and right. That is what they're really good for. Use them in one or two second bursts and wait 15 seconds or so to see what happens between bursts.

 

[dan313]

I have the same issue with my amberjack. As Zoo has stated you have to get use to the way the boat handles. Once you have mastered it you wont give it a second thought. Good Luck,

 

[IslandTime]

Sounds like you might be plowing. Try triming the drive up some at cruise speed. If the bow starts bouncing up and down even though there is no wave, you went too far. There is a sweet spot as you trim the drive up, where you will hear the engine RPM increase, your speed will also increase, and as I said, if you go to far with it, you will know as the bow starts to porpoise, or bounce up and down.

When you don't trim up, and also use trim tabs, you set yourself up for the boat to plow and in some cases can cause bow steer, which is a scary thing when you don't know what is going on.

Almost bought a 2006 or 2007 27AJ this spring
Dealer who will go nameless had same problem with the boat he was brokering and had to make fiberglass modifications to the transom end of hull ( bottom) to correct the scary turn to port at planing speeds
To their credit they disclosed this and showed me the mods before painting the bottom
Needles to say I did not buy that boat
I really wonder if this is a design flaw in the hull ?
In this case an aftermarket generator had been installed and that was blamed .

 

[OldMasterTech]

I agree that 270AJ models are sensitive to drive trim and tab trim but once you are familiar with manipulating these settings the vessel is comfortably maneuverable.
The "keel walk" you are experiencing results from your drive trim too far down after reaching plane, just as she comes on plane zero the drive trim to keep her straight. After that continue fine tuning until you find your vessel's "sweet spot" settings.

I installed a Simrad autopilot system on my 270AJ and it will keep my boat straight trolling into a 10 - 15 mph wind at 1.5 to 2 mph. Obviously this has nothing to do with trim but it points out the fact that the 270AJ is maneuverable at very low speed.
At low speed the boat stays straighter on autopilot than I can pilot it manually, suggesting that us human pilots tend to overcompensate the helm and may be distracted by a busy channel or harbor.

 

[mygirl]

Never had a problem as I am reading here. Perhaps I thought this behavior was 'normal' but I never experienced the boat turning drastically. I think the boat is awesome!