Steering issue

[Todd j]

I have sea star steering with a second station and garmin autopilot on the main.  The boat steers super hard when turning to port at cruise speed. My rigging shop tested on the water with me and agreed it didn’t seem right.  It takes both arms and 5x the effort to turn to port. 

Any ideas what could be the cause?   Any one else experience this?   I’m not ready and willing to except prop torque as the culprit.  I’m a little concerned that this could lead to something more serious or expensive. 

[json]

My boat is somewhat harder to steer to port I believe as well at speed, but yours sounds a lot harder than mine, which seems like it just takes noticeably more effort but not an extreme amount. Is the steering to port noticeably harder when not at speed? If speed has to be part of the equation it seems to me that it kind of has to be prop torque at that point, or at the very least the prop torque is significantly contributing to the issue. Is it an issue in both helms? Next time I go out I am going to pay more attention to the difference for me, I feel like one of the 2 is noticeably harder but don't remember which one. I don't remember putting both hands and 5x effort in tho

[Brian.Dixon]

The prop tends to make the boat easier to roll in one direction versus the other, so it's normal for it to be harder to turn the boat in one direction versus the other ... but not 5X.  Have you tried using the 2nd station yet?  Does it turn easily if you're at idle?

[Todd j]

Both helms seem to respond the same way.  5x I guess could be an exaggeration?  It’s definitely a two hander with some extra oomph.

[Brian.Dixon]

Both helms seem to respond the same way.  5x I guess could be an exaggeration?  It’s definitely a two hander with some extra oomph.

I would think that if there's a difference when sitting at idle, out of gear, then that's a red flag.  If it's worse when accelerating, not so bad when going steady at less than 14 kts, then I'd blame the prop.  Have you spoken with SeaStar to see what they suggest? Could be that with a 2nd helm, it does stiffen up the steering?  I'd definitely try the tests that I just described, since they'll likely ask, then call their tech support...

[Todd j]

Yes.  Steers effortlessly at idle.  At cruise it hard to steer at both helms.   The dealer says they contacted sea star.  What i don’t understand is why this boat?   They do tons of boats and sell all brands.  I guess I don’t understand prop torque and it’s affect on steering

[Brian.Dixon]

Yes.  Steers effortlessly at idle.  At cruise it hard to steer at both helms.   The dealer says they contacted sea star.  What i don’t understand is why this boat?   They do tons of boats and sell all brands.  I guess I don’t understand prop torque and it’s affect on steering

Good questions.  It's not a boat issue, however.  There's nothing about your particular boat or the design itself that would make the boat hard to steer, especially just to one side.  There are a lot of these on the water.  What jumps out at me as being different than most is the dual-helm setup.  I think nearly 100% of the GAs out there are using SeaStar steering with no problem, but dual-helms are rare.  Any dual-helm folks want to jump in here?  Are you have stiff-steering issues?  Even single-helm users ... is your steering stiffness normal? Easy?  I'm curious ...

It's frustrating, I know, but stick with it ... the issue will be found.

Brian

[Brian.Dixon]

I just started googling around, and I'm sure there's more to discover, but the following post is about someone having trouble steering to port, but not starboard ... not the same problem as you, but there may be useful info in the post and responses.  Common issues seem to be proper bleeding of the steering system (note: trickier w/dual helm, and there IS a special SeaStar bleeding system), fluid fullness, and helm pumps ...

I'll look around some more and see what I can find ...

https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/seastar-steering-problem.502830/

[Brian.Dixon]

More interesting info (noting that some say SeaStars are always stiff, others say no).  Read here:

https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/429202-stiff-seastar-steering.html

I gotta go to work ... I'll check in later

[ghelland]

on my hewes craft I spent a bit of time adjusting the fin near the prop.  I did find a setting that eliminated the  prop walk for easy steering in both directions.  you will find the answer.

[Todd j]

I’m going to pay real close attention to it in the next couple days and see if I can get more seat of the pants type data.  Got this fixed one way or another.

[Brian.Dixon]

I think that whatever you find will be great and useful info for others that are using SeaStar (or other) hydraulic steering, especially those with a dual-helm setup.  I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you find out ...

[Todd j]

Well, nothing really changed.  Still takes two arms to turn to port.  Notice I did not say two hands!  It’s been suggested that I might try a 4 blade prop?  Well see.  I’m not giving up

[Brian.Dixon]

Still ... that sounds awfully stiff.  What did SeaStar tech support suggest?

[Grady300]

Well, nothing really changed.  Still takes two arms to turn to port.  Notice I did not say two hands!  It’s been suggested that I might try a 4 blade prop?  Well see.  I’m not giving up

I'm going out Wednesday, I'll try to remember to check mine. But I sure don't recall anything difficult steering to port. But I'm not running a second station. I  am running twin 140's