Patent ID: 8688298

Claim:
A boat propelling system for propelling a hull, the boat propelling system comprising: a propelling system main body; a bracket section arranged to allow the propelling system main body to pivot in a right-left direction with respect to the hull; an electric motor provided in the bracket section and arranged to pivot the propelling system main body in the right-left direction; a transmission mechanism provided in the bracket section and arranged to transmit a driving force of the electric motor to the propelling system main body; a locking member arranged to transmit the driving force of the electric motor to the transmission mechanism and to lock the transmission mechanism so that the propelling system main body will not be pivoted in the right-left direction by an external force acting on the propelling system main body; a steering section arranged to steer the propelling system main body; a steering angle detection section arranged to detect a steering angle of the steering section; an actual pivot angle detection section arranged to detect an actual pivot angle of the propelling system main body; and a control section arranged and programmed to control the electric motor based on a result of comparison between steering information regarding the steering angle and a threshold value; wherein the steering information includes a steering angle change amount based on a difference between the steering angle detected by the steering angle detection section and a previous steering angle, a target pivot angle based on the steering angle, and an angle difference between the actual pivot angle and the target pivot angle; the threshold value includes a first threshold value and a second threshold value, both of which exceed zero; the control section is programmed to set an electric current value of the electric motor to zero if the angle difference between the actual pivot angle and the target pivot angle is smaller than the first threshold value even when the angle difference is not zero and the steering section is determined to not be under operation; and the control section is programmed to not drive the electric motor if the steering angle change amount is smaller than the second threshold value.