Patent ID: 7354325

Claim:
A system for controlling shift change of an outboard motor mounted on a stem of a boat and having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, said system comprising: a clutch being engageable with a forward gear to make the boat propel in a forward direction or a reverse gear to make the boat propel in a reverse direction; an actuator for moving the clutch to one position selected from among a first position to engage with the forward gear to establish a forward position, a second position to engage with the reverse gear to establish a reverse position, and a third position to engage neither with the forward gear nor with the reverse gear to establish a neutral position; a switch for producing an output signal when the clutch is moved to the third position; and a controller which controls operations of said actuator, said controller including: a clutch position memorizer for memorizing a position of the clutch as the neutral position when the switch produces the output; and a clutch position determiner for determining a position of the clutch corresponding to the first position or the second position based on the memorized position of the clutch.