I have been racing for 15 yrs, I drove and throttled my Jersey Skiff and thats the only way that setup works because you stab it to the floor and hold on. For the next six years I drove and throttled my Pantera and was successful but I attribute my two accidents on having only one hand on the wheel. I also drove an F1 Warlock for two years and had to drive my ass off and couldn't imagine doing it with one hand. Having throttled a turbine for 5 years and now a turbo charged boat, I just don't see how I could control the throttling with the precision it takes with a foot throttle, especially in rough seas. My feet are flying all over in the boat in the rough and 1/4 of an inch of movement with the fly by wire setup is 20mph

Are you guys talking to each other much during a race ? or is it more of a understanding of what each other will do in various situations ?
ed

Not much anymore, just in traffic

Mostly a lot of cursing and swearing in my boat!

Yes but it was a clam day....but even on a calm day, look at all the driving it takes to keep a step bottom vee pointing where you want it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCsYOCqE57Y


Interceptor we dont even use an intercom, just some hand signals

"You scratched my &$%*ing anchor!"

Calm, I hate to see rough then, thanks, stay safe.

The other thing some of you may notice is Johnny's dad - veteran throttleman that he is - using an old technique to further smooth out the throttle application. Notice the position of his right hand on the throttles. He grips them at the base so his forearm is steadied by the center arm rest. If you try to throttle using the knobs at the end of the sticks, it leads to very choppy application.

See Johnny, this old guy has learned a few tricks over the years and doesn't miss much. Wait, where's my teeth?

Hand signals make sense.

Personally I believe that it would be impossible to beat a good two man team in a smooth water race. Racing my 38' 525 Fountain required perfect timing between the tabs, drives, and throttles to execute a perfect high speed turn. In the rough water, there are tons of areas on the course to make or lose time, not in the smooth