Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

It's all about the water conditions........

In calm water...... on a tight course.... a single driver....with a foot throttle...and trim on the steering wheel...(you shouldn't need tabs in calm water)...... will walk away from a driver/throttleman duo.

In rougher water ...you need hands on the throttle to pull back as the props leave the water..... at that point a second person becomes an asset.....(He can also handle trimming the drives)...

We fooled around with an electronic kill switch on the wheel to mimic full-on/full-off throttling (leaving total control in one man's hands even in rough water)and that still has a lot of potential IMHO

In all three scenarios two hands on the wheel is a must.

The wild card here is that most top throttlemen...are also better drivers than most of the guys they team with. (not all ...but most) So a Johnny Tomlinson or a Joey Imprescia is going to do a lot better as a single driver...than Charlie Checkbook.

T2x

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Yahh but.... no bucks no Buck Rodgers...

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Two people, IMHO, no question about it!

The driver should be looking further down the course maybe 100 yards or so. The T-man should be looking closer to the bow, reading the waves trying to get a rythym going.

Bottom line is in rough water a single operator is going to sacrifice his driving skills to throttle properly OR sacrifice his throttling skills to drive properly. Either way, DON'T DO IT! (Or let me know if you are so I can stay away from you on the race course!)

Tom Caruso
Total Marine Racing

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

TSG,
I wish more people thought like you. I cant tell you how many runs I have been to and been passed by 33 footers with 6 people on board chine walking by at 95mph!! I just cant bring myself to be reckless like that.... maybe because I have experienced how quickly and violently things can go wrong........

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

The Pair-a-dice team runs with a split heel toe foot throttle with trim switch on the wheel. also in rough or calm water during a race you can not run the speeds we do without both hands on the wheel at all times
See you at the races,
Rick

www.pair-a-dice-racing.com

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

you mean that is not how they are suppose to run?

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Plus in rough water can you see yourself throttling the boat making sure that you don't blow the drives, watching the guages, trimming down the motors in the turns, searching for the next turn buoy, checkin your mirrors, and turning the boat all at the same time while whoopin up on the competition?


If this were drag racing it would be a different story but in "OFFSHORE" powerboat racing they split up the driver and throttleman for a reason and that is because one can't do it all. (and win)

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

HMMM...Bob Nordskog used to do it ALL with a custom foot-throttle in his stand up boats, trim buttons on steering wheel....navigator navigated (remember how to do that?), worked the tabs, & kept an eye on the gauges...Nowadays you don't need to look at the gauges if you set them up with idiot/warning lights...navigator???!!!Who needs a navigator on the type of course's they run today???...lol...I set all my perf boats up with pedals & trim on the wheel (or a seperate trim pedal)...I prefer it this way...But I'm pretty coordinated...lol

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Perhaps in today's version of "offshore," where a race last less than an hour and covers less than 50 miles, one GOOD person could handle both jobs. Same for poker-runs.

But when races were more than 150 miles, I doubt that many people could maintain enough concentration to do it properly over several hours. I sure couldn't.

Of course, ther are exceptions like Bob Nordskog. Heck, even Alan Feingold proved he could do it alone (as in, completely by himself in the boat) in Key West in Kid Apache (1990), after he got pissed off at his crew and left without them. :drink: :drink: