On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:54:47 -0700, timW
wrote:

And by the way, the boat does indeed have a tendency at
speed to want to pull to the left.

When you look at the outdrive (I assume you have an outdrive), just
above the bulge of the gear case is a flat horizontal piece that looks
like a fin attached to the lower unit. That is the cavitation plate.

Under that cavitation plate, towards the rear (stern) of the plate is
a small wedge shaped device called a tab. There is a bolt going
through the plate that the tab is attached to - loosen that bolt and
turn the tab to the right. You don't need to move it much - 1/8 - 1/4
inch at a time until you get the steering to neutral.

With respect to trim and outdrive angle, on my Contender (32' with
twin outboards) it was always easier for me to set the trim tabs to
neutral, bring the boat up on plane using the engine's (drive's) trim
motors, then level the boat using the trim tabs if I needed to.

In my opinion (and there is debate about this which I don't discount
or disparage) trim tabs have very little effect on the plane part of
running. They are really more about leveling the boat from
side-to-side and not raising the stern/bow. That's what the
outdrive/outboard trim is for.

For now, as the boat is new to you, I'd just use the outdrive to get
the boat in proper running trim and just use the trim tabs to level
the boat. In time, as you get used to it, you can experiment with
different run attitudes using the trim tabs. I'll bet any amount of
money that you will find that using the engine's drive as a device to
get on/off plane considerably easier. :)