Just to play devils advocate for running a season without fins....this is what made me get Cobras ASAP for my second season. Docking with a cross-wind. No fins, no thrust, no steering.
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When it comes to adding steering on the newer style articulating keel boats you have to understand that the center keel makes the boat resist steering input , the keel wants to keep the boat on course in a straight line .
The rudder is big but it trails behind the keel so it is not as responsive as it could be and on plane it is partially out of the water.
Also the helm was geared down to about twice the travel in the wheel as opposed to the regular jet boats so you need to turn the steering wheel twice as much to move the nozzles the same distance as a non keel model.
This gearing makes the wheel feel easier to turn but it does nothing to reduce the actual resistance on the rudder and the right side nozzle so one half of the equation is doing the majority of the work on a stock setup.
My experience has shown me that steering cables work better pushing and break easier pulling .
For that reason I add a second tie rod to my steering systems for the A K models . This pushes and pulls from boat nozzles and cables.
My steering fins are positioned on the outer surface of the nozzles in direct contact with the water exiting the bottom of the boat. So they work all the time.
I make adjustments on the steering fins so the boat owner can decide exactly how much influence the fins will add to the existing system.
Also understand that when the boat is on plane the rudder is partially out of the water behind the keel so you don't get the full benefit of the entire rudder surface.
The real danger is when you rapidly decelerate and try to turn to avoid a collision etc. the boat will just go wherever it wants to go and you have no control or if the engines stall you have no control.
So adding my system solves these problems and now I even have more off plane steering with my new super fins.
There is a picture posted on this web site that I just love, it shows the back of a 24 foot A K boat taken by a member here I apologize that I do not recall the person who posted it but the picture says it all as to exactly what is going on with the rudder and nozzles when the boat is on plane.
this is the picture .
In any event there is a wealth of information on this web site .
Also since this thread was asking about the new nozzles for 2019 being better in reverse I would guess that to be true. Honestly the people talking to me are not all that impressed and sadly I don't have any mega fangs for those or vipers etc . All I could do is make the super steering with more low speed influence .
However the good news is with any twin engine jet boat that has separate controls one of the big handling benefits for docking is placing one of those separate controls in forward and one in reverse, once you do some familiarization with that trick you can move the back of the boat sideways in place or even rotate the boat in place with NO additional equipment required. New nozzle or not! So do your research and use the search feature on here.
And don't rush into buying any mods without making sure they are what YOU need for YOUR boating style.
