Why the pull to the right?

My boat severely pulls to the right. If let the steering wheel go, at anything above about 10mph, it will spin all the way to the right and turn the boat on a dime. I've tried the trim tab in every position...extreme left and right...no change. I put on a hyrdofoil...SE300 from Bass Pro. It has channels down the middle that are supposed to help. Although I literally gained 8mph from adding only the hydrofoil (WOO HOO!!), its still pulling. Does it with all three props that I've tried. What gives? And how do I correct it?

You may have a hull deformity.

Put trim tab as far to srarboard (right) as you can. You can add a tourqe tammer to the skeg that will help. Sounds like your skeg may be bent to port.

How much time do have in owning a boat with tilt and trim? Not trying to be a smartarse, just need a lot more info. What info was given tends to make one think you have the trim tucked in all the way at take off and never trimmed out. Once one gets on plane, trim it up until the steering is equal in both directions. Any higher or lower than this will cause it to pull. If you want top speed, then you are going to have to put up with the "pull" and air it out, unless you have hydraulic steering I reckon.

I'm very familiar with the trim unit on my rig...it makes a pretty dramatic difference in top end. Mine is very sensitive...even the slightest change in the trim will result in the gain or loss of about 1-3mph. Makes me wonder about the skeg now...will have to check it out...thanks!

Sounds like your motor might be too high. I had that problem with mine and it corrected when I had the motor lowered. This should help.

Clicky

You can lower your motor all the way down and that would help,
but you would lose performance or you can put a torque tab on the
lower back right side of your skag and keep your motor up for better performance and you will need to tig weld the tab on because the screws and nuts that come with the tab will work out,
and I know this to help. I talked to a friend of mine that use to race boats and he told me that this would work and quess what after to adjustments my problem was solved. I run a 200 Yamaha and the torque on it made where the boat was more trouble to take out than the pleasure of fishing would give me, but now it easy to steer at all speeds. If you have any questions please fill free to e-mail me at jbreames7@aol.com

Thanks
James

Actually I had one of those torque tabs on my skeg but I took it off. I have a Basscat Pantera Classic with a 200 Opti and my dealer decided that I needed the torque tab and installed it before I took delivery of the boat. I had that same bad wheel torque problem so I called Basscat and they told me that a torque tab was basically a bandaid to compensate for a bad motor setup. I believed this because my Dad has a Ranger 178VS with a 150 Opti that tracks straight without a torque tab. But he has hydraulic steering and mine is cable. So I called Basscat and they suggested that I take it to a dealer. I took it to Rockwell Marine and asked them to check the height and if necessary return it to a stock setup. They ended up lowering the motor 1.25 inches. I took the torque tab off because I felt that disruption of water flow from the skeg area onto the prop would cause an flow imbalance from one side of the prop to another thus contributing to the torque problem. The end result is that with a properly trimmed motor I don't feel any wheel torque until I hit 65 mph. In my research I have read that it is recommended to keep lowering the motor in quarter inch increments until the torque goes away at WOT. Then raise it up a quarter and lock it down. Why raise it I don't know but am certainly in no position to argue with either Mercury or Basscat recommendations. According to the article I reference above lowering does increase drag but on the average you lose/gain 1 mph per 1 inch of adjustment. Which to me means that my boat will run 73 instead of 74. Big deal. I have not yet been to WOT because of experience level and the torque problem but intend to this summer as I work on my setup.