Marine propulsion system and method with single rear drive and lateral marine drive

A marine propulsion system for a marine vessel comprising:

• one steerable rear marine drive positioned along a centerline of the marine vessel and configured to generate forward and reverse thrusts, wherein the one steerable rear marine drive is steerable about a vertical steering axis to a range of steering angles;
• a lateral marine drive positioned at a bow region of the marine vessel, wherein the lateral marine drive is configured to generate lateral thrust on the marine vessel;
• a user input device operable by a user to provide a sway demand input commanding sway movement of the marine vessel;
• and
• a control system configured to automatically control steering and thrust of the one steerable rear marine drive and thrust of the lateral marine drive based on the sway demand input to generate the sway movement commanded by the user, including, while the sway demand input is continually received, automatically control the one steerable rear marine drive to alternate between generating a forward thrust for a first predetermined time at a first steering position in the range of steering angles and generating a reverse thrust for a second predetermined time at a second steering position in the range of steering angles to effectuate the commanded sway movement of the marine vessel.