West,

On our current boat, I use full throttle in reverse to get way on, then quickly shift to neutral. Then the rudder works great with gentle movement. When I go into reverse I get a LOT of port prop walk. So much so that we walk her out of the slip if bow in.

BUT, I find that prop walk works for me in many ways! Once we were led into a very narrow channel by a lead boat. Once in, he spun around and said "wrong one, follow me to the other side"!! Using almost full throttle in reverse to walk port, then full rudder and almost full throttle in forward I spun her around in her own length! AND NOT A SOLE AROUND TO SEE MY WORK!!! No bow thruster needed...

Greg