Patent ID: 8202135

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, a drive shaft that connects the engine and the propeller, and a torque converter that is interposed between the engine and the drive shaft and is equipped with a lockup clutch, comprising: a planing determiner that determines whether the boat is planing; a clutch ON unit that makes the lockup clutch ON when the boat is determined to be planing an inclination angle detector that detects an inclination angle of the boat relative to horizontal surface in a front-back direction; and an inclination angle determiner that determines whether the detected inclination angle is equal to or less than a predetermined angle when the engine is accelerated, and the planing determiner determines that the acceleration is completed and the boat is planing when the inclination angle is equal to or less than the predetermined angle.