Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

I was watching the Fort Lauderdale race this weekend and was thinking about the race teams.

Would you rather have a seperate throttle man or driver, or run the throttles and drive yourself.

I really have never seen any real reason to split it up. It's definitely more dangerous to have to rely on someone elses driving or throttle skills no matter how good they are.

A very experienced ex racer friend of mine agreed the he would rather handle the boat himself if he were to do it again.

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Having never raced, I really can't give an opinion, but I'm not going to miss the opportunity to post whore a little!! :drink: :evilb:

I think that I would rather throttle and drive, but have someone else operating the trim or at least the tabs. I'm sure that any way that it's done...would take alot of seat time together to learn each others tendencies.

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

Being a former racer, both cats and vees, twin and triple engine applications, I would most definitely prefer to have one person drive, while the other throttles. Having 2 hands on the wheel at all times while running at those speeds so close to others is of paramount importance for safety and control!

It would not be surprising to me whatsoever if many of the accidents you see today in pleasure boats running at speed is due to the nature of someone trying to do it all him or herself. You simply do not have enough arms, eyes and fingers to operate the wheel, throttles, trim tabs and drives correctly and safely doing it yourself.

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

AGREED

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

i would say it depends on the boat. the faster the boat, the more i would lean towards two guys running it.... the extra set of eyes is probably a big help as well... of course i have never raced, so that is just my .01 worth... :D

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

I ran the drive trim and tabs on Gary's boat a couple times in FL, and it worked well after a little syncronization curve. The sticks were installed for the throttle, but they were connected to the driver's side sticks.


However, having side-by-side bolsters on Monsoon; I prefer to drive and throttle the boat, and have a Throttle-Woman with her hands on my main stick. :D :D :D

I fully expect GLH to prefer a throttle-man in that position. Maybe even tomtbone. :eek: :eek: :drink: :drink:

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

I know the guy with pair-a-dice does both.. he has a foot throttle

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

There is no way to throttle and drive safely at race speeds, period. I would never run the speeds that BK and I run alone. The first thing that he taught me and probably Shane too was "both hands on the wheel and grip tight....never let go of the wheel". BK's advice was correct the first time we tripped and stuck the front end of the boat and 80mph in 5 footers. The pull on the wheel was huge!! I think alot of egos say that they can do both as well but it is just not the case. I also have been shown that an experienced throttleman can tweak a few extra mph out of the boat that I was not able to find. I would encourage anyone with dual controls to let an experienced throttleman take them for a ride in their own boat..... it will be an education!!

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

I have done it both ways on the race course and prefer a throttleman and a driver. Doing both has gotten me in trouble.

Re: Throttle man, or no throttle man
 

dont know about the new stuff but in the obsolete boat i run 2 people in harmony are the way to go key word being harmony......i throttle with my left hand........drive with my right........trim with my right letting go of the wheel momentarily.can hold it with my leg............but wheel stays put.......maybe thats what got skrocki nervous was me letting go of the wheel to trim.............it was sloppy that day............m.m................