dhlaw,

I concur. BK, Ben Kramer...uh I mean Bruce Kreimeier is a GREAT THROTTLEMAN. He taught me a tremendous amount about driving vee bottoms. Until racing with Bruce I had only raced cats. I felt insanely comfortable running with him. He is extremely talented and ironically speaks little about his racing experiences or ailities but rather let's his skills stand on their own. I too don't believe that running a boat at high speeds can be done as safely with a foot throttle as it can by having compitent driver and T-man.

Have a great season with Bruce!

What we ultimately strive for is non-verbal communication in the cockpit....... I can tell when he is ready to turn by the feel coming back into the wheel b/c of the drives coming down, the tab changes and the engine noise. BK and I are close to having that level of confidence but I still have to be told at times what is happening or to settle down. Its amazing that he can control the boat so well from the left side, but he does. I remember my first race and the boat starting to chine walk and me trying to counter steer to no avail..... Bk just chopped the sticks for a split second, settled the boat and raged on. The difference between poker running and racing is enormous....... Until you have pushed the limits with somebody who is experienced you have not really run an offshore boat!!!

Sounds like racing boats is like sex.......you can do it yourself, but having a partner makes much more sense!!!!

(and both are cool to watch!)

lets see........, setting the attitude, timing the waves, settling the boat, steering over confused waves, looking forward, behind you, to each side of you, holding on, trimming the tabs, trimming the drives, throttling...........easier at low speeds, but...........

at over 80 mph in 4-6' seas and beyond........only two people can do it safely.....key word.....SAFELY!

The other thing that I forgot to mention is that you have $70,000 worth of motors singing along at 5300rpm....... its good to have somebody minding the guages to avoid major malfunctions. Drops in oil pressure, high water temps , irregular tach readings, ect if caught can save big dollars.... I cant even see the guages nor would I even look!!!

damn, forgot that myself, watching the guages can be a full time job.......2 oil pressure, 2 fuel pressure, 2 water temps, 2 oil temps, 2 knock sensors......forget about the tachs!

water pressure guage will give you notice prior to overheating.........good investment in any boat..................m.m. carry on......

I definitely see the point in it. I was just wanting to hear from some of the racers. I wasn't sure if some teams had both because it's required, or if they really prefer being split.

I NEVER would compare a poker run to racing. I personally do the runs for the party and hanging out with other folks. There are some that do them purely to be the big dog. Whatever floats your boat, but poker runs ain't racing.

I think alot depends on the boat. For me, my 24 skater really needs one on the wheel and one on the sticks.