Describe wiggle. chine walking is where the boat bounces from one side to the other and it can start out mild and get wild. If you have tabs does the problem go away if you put them down till they just touch the water. It also could be a loose steering linkage IF you don't have external hydraulic steering. The top pivot pin in the transom assembly gets worn badly on old boats. If it is badly worn and you tighten the two nuts at the top more than two turns you will likely break the gimbal ring.

Yes. That describes it. It's a side to side movement. It starts subtle. Then progressively became more pronounced. I would back off. Then accelerate until the "wiggle" started again. Like a trial error thing. Trying different things. Examples- steering with a lighter touch. Micro adjustments to the trim. Very small trim tab adjustments. When it got uncomfortable. I would back off and try again. It irritates me I couldn't figure it out. I got frustrated after an hour or so and gave up. I don't have external steering.

Try different props.

What prop are you running?

4 and 5 blade props don't paddle as much as 3 blades. Most Baja come with 3 blades. External steering and different props may be all you need. Trim tabs may help too.

Don't give up yet. Learn on the smaller boat before you go big.

Turning the prop in or out refers to a twin engine application and the rotation of the props.

From Powerboat Magazine:


Top speed for the H2X was 72.6 mph at 5,120 rpm. That number came courtesy
of a 425-hp MerCruiser 496 Mag HO engine with a Bravo One drive spinning a
Mercury Mirage Plus 14 5/8" x 23" three-blade stainless-steel propeller through a
1.5:1 reduction.
Time to plane was a respectable 4.3 seconds—a four-blade Bravo One prop might
improve it a tick—and in 20 seconds the 24-footer ran 67 mph. Consistently impressive
in midrange acceleration tests, the 4,000-pound sport boat ran from 30 to 50 mph
in 5.4 seconds and from 40 to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds.
Baja remains one of the few performance boatbuilders that doesn’t offer steppedbottom
models—and it doesn’t seem to matter. Riding on 21-degree conventional hull
with four strakes, slightly negative chines and a delta-pad keel, the H2X handled precisely.
It slashed slalom turn after slalom turn, responding instantly to steering input.


CENTERLINE 24'
BEAM 8'4"
WEIGHT 3,900 POUNDS
BASE PRICE $47,825
PRICE AS TESTED $68,041
ENGINE MERCURY 496 MAG HO
TOP SPEED AT RPM 72.6 @ 5,250
TIME TO PLANE 4.07 SECONDS
ACCELERATION ZERO TO 15 SECONDS 60 MPH
MIDRANGE ACCELERATION 40 TO 60 MPH 6.2 SECONDS
Baja Marine Corp., 1520 Isaac Beal Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820-9604 P O W E R B O A T M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 0 1

Getting (and staying) on the pad takes some seat time from my experience. Don't push it. If you feel uncomfortable with the steering wheel, passengers with a grab handle are probably puckered to the seat.

Also, realize the testing numbers posted were most likely one/two people, 1/4 tank, and likely early morning when water was flat and temps and humidity were low.

The difference between full tank/80*/3-4 people to 1/4 tank/60*/1 person is about 4mph in my Progression (pad bottom, variable dead rise). I can run about 60 on any given day. When it's early, cool, I'm light on fuel, and I'm alone, I've seen 64... But it requires a very short and fast bump of the wheel to the left when it first starts to walk, and then the training wheels come up after the motor is laying out a tail spray about motor height (won't apply to your I/O, but it indicates a sweet spot). And all of this is after switching from a Mirage to a Tempest to a Mirage + to a Mazco HP4, and then back to the Tempest.

Use the trim tabs . Start with them all the way down with the drive trimmed to a medium position. Then ease the tabs up. If it persists you will need to counter steer. Counter steering is something only experienced outboard drivers are good at. The boat will cat walk back and fourth and carry the nose high, but will not chine walk. If you do not have experience counter steering , change the boat set up to a more usable set up . You should also contact previous owner if the boat us how you got it from them. Also check all the drive bushings and mountings to make sure there is Absolutly no play in the drive or steering

I'd start with checking for play in drive and steering components, if those are all good then I'd be thinking about adding hydraulic steering.

Just put the tabs down until it stops and then make note of the setting. From that point on always have the tabs no higher that that setting and you will be ok.