Who has more control (driver v throttle)
 

The fastest boat I've ridden in hit the century mark and I wasn't driving, so I admit I've never done any real racing, my questions is when there's both a driver and throttleman who has the most control of the boat when the boat is at extreme speeds, I'm talking in excess of 100+, I know they're both extremely important, but if you were in a boat what would you want to do;

DRIVE

THROTTLE

I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure, because each of you are trusting and taking the others life in his or hers hands, tough question.

Think I'll just stay in my boat that goes mid-70s and be happy.

throttleman for sure! throttleman controls everything,

^^ have to agree. He is keeping the attitude of the boat. Drive angles and tab angles in the situation. Driver is just aiming the boat. Both need to be on time, same page though, so that they do not get into trouble.

John jr

Throttle. I have dual controls and it takes a little bit to get into sync. Then you can let er fly...

It depends on your definition and your perspective of control.
The driver has the capability to get the boat out of harms way.
The throttleman has the responsibility of not putting it there in the first place.

I'm not disagreeing with anyone's answer and I automatically thought the throttles too, but I'll tell you going 160-180mph if the driver makes just the wrong move it's not good, going at these speeds everything happens just so fast, you better trust the guy sitting next to you because he's got your life in his hands.

I've done both. Each has it's points. The toughest part is working together. The driver does not know how aggressive to take a turn unless he knows what his throttle man is going to do. The throttle man needs to read where the driver is going to go to know how to have trim set.

I do know from personal experience If the throttle man does not slow down quick enough when coming to a reduced speed area, the DRIVER gets the ticket!

Are a driver and throttleman in constant communication?

No, MY Throttle man doesn't listen!

The one with the check book

He doesn't sound like a guy I want to boat with.........................I hope you're kidding.

Obviously!

kinda depends . . . i mean if your racing and you spin out and flip over . . thats definitely the drivers fault . . . now if you win . . . thats the T man for sure :D . . . . OOHAM racing!!

Quick assessment indicates that boat needs more cup on the props to engage the water a little better. :D

On a race course, I have most of the control in the rough and Marc does most of the work in the calm courses especially when I put him into 130 mph turns:daz: and its his fault when we lose, crash or break:party-smiley-004:

I thought you had auto pilot in that thing?

Guess I'm a control freak, I want to do both, but I don't want to boat over 100mph either, stay safe guys.

That is some funny chit right there!

Throttleman....
and that's coming from a driver

I raced offshore on and off for 14 years, All canopied boats, Super V Light, Super V, Super Cat. I always throttled.

Also run a pleasure Skater 3 times a week on average, am a multiple Skater pleasure boat Owner with thousands of hours of experience.
Not bragging, just establishing the value of my opinion based upon experience.

I think that the Driver/Throttleman (2 person operation) is inferior in terms of overall control, speeds achieved, and safety in both a racing and pleasure boat environment. There is no substitute for that "seat of the pants" feeling you get when in control of the wheel, and the throttles especially in a turn.

I think this highest and best level of control is achieved with a foot throttle

The only time it (Drive-Throttleman two person operation) worked better for me was when I set a KILO record in Super V light. I held the throttles wide open and just ticked the trim, staring at the GPS the whole time, never looked at the water.

In a 2 person race boat I think one person driving and throttling with a 2nd person as navigator (in canopied boats where field of vision is more limited) is the beset overall setup.

We raced lots of Guys (especially in Supercat) who drove and throttled (one person doing both). They were always fast.

With 2 people that are good at there positions IMO will destroy a single guy trying to do it all. IMO I like to have the driver being the capt. in the boat. He has a better feel for the boat in the turns and will let me know if he can handle more power or we are at the max. Both people need to be mathematical to get around the course as fast as possible. Its all about angles. The T man man has to understand the effects of trim and the driver needs to understand scrubbing speed when turning. All the speed in the world wont win a race if the driver doesn't make good lines. The winner of any race is the team that makes the least mistakes. In a nut shell its TEAM work that makes a boat fast. And it looks so easy when your watching it from shore LOL.

I've got to agree with the foot throttle part. (I also have In Control foot trim too.) Leaves two hands free to do everything else.

Am I the only one who sees the starboard prop still spinning? Apparently the throttleman is still at work in that picture.

You guys should have used race gas in that..it smells better in the bilge......

Foot throttles are usless running hard in any kind of big water though. Especially if running against a good two man team.
I agree with everything Randy said above, spot on. A guy driving and throttling cant compete with a good two man team, especially in the ocean. A two man team that is quiet on the intercom, because words arent needed. The driver knows what the throttleman is going to do, and the throttleman knows what the driver is going to do. There is no better feeling than having total confidence in the guy next to you when running hard.

IMO, whoever is in control of the drive trim and tabs has the most control.

actually right about the point this pic was shot I was watching my new Garmin gps sink to the bottom of the st clair river as we got the hatch open :D

This is a good thread.

I was told by a Fountain race employee (not saying names) that they experimented at there facility with a one man control set up vs a 2 man and that the 2 man set up won every time.They raced 2 exact same set up boats and then switched the controls to the other to have a even test. I was also told that Reggie SR was in the one man set up. Possably Jr. or someone else that was there could shed some light on if this was true.
MD

I'd love to know if this is kind of test happened and how it was done, it would be interesting to know the facts.

How do you explain Rick Bowling who raced his Talon for years, driving and throttling. Won many many big water races and was always competitive at the top of Supercat fleet. How about Craig Furgeson, Renegade Skater a 2x world Supercat World Champion, driving and throttling. Rod Karnofel, Honker Cut Marine Skater, Driving and Throttling, rough water expert and always competitive won lots of races....

I have run a foot throttle in big water, didn't have a problem with it at all but not everyone likes the same thing.
.

If they did it on the Pemlico River where their factory used to be located I would highly doubt the two man setup won every time. Just dosent make sense

It takes 2 hands on the wheel in a turn when running hard. In my opinion, You can't turn the boat, trim and throttle as effectively by yourself as a 2 man team. One race in Marathon, my throttle man couldn't make it so I took a friend with no experience. I drove and throttled which I thought was a good idea. I got my ass handed to me in every turn.

Yes, agreed and if you also have control of the steering wheel you have even more control, possibly complete control which should be the goal.

And let's all take a breath and remember why two person operation was implemented in the first place. It was invented so that the SUPER WEALTHY OWNER of the boat could have something to do other than sit on the dock and be a cheerleader, and have a job that they probably woudnt screw up too badly with a hired gun throttleman/setup Guy sitting next to them coaching them through it.... just sayin

somewhere theres video of Reggie talking about this. think it was at a Fort Myers offshore race back when he was running a red cat with diesels. he was talking about how in most cases its a 2 person operation but he, being Reggie did both. think they blew a motor.
actually I think it was on a tv show about fast boats on Discovery or one of them.
I think some who come from other single operator race boats such as apba inboard or F1 think that its a possibility or better way.

Both have big kahunas to run those speeds to begin with! I've been 102 GPS (not on mine obviously) and that was doable with one person. Two would really be a plus especially like all others said. When in a racing environment i would believe "Two heads are better than one". But I can see where the one person could work as well. As your reactions are connected in a way. Try and having a throttle man and driver in a drift car. Wouldn't work out to well.
Oh but if you not racing and in a poker run you can run 150 all day by yourself for those with big ego's!

I drive & throttle and my Rev Limiter is in the Port seat yelling instructions.. :lolhit:
Sorry, had to say it..

I would think you'd almost have to read you're co-operators mind when dodging through objects (boats) like I've seen in some of these poker run videos, to much speed (or not enough speed) on one side of a boat or another could be bad, real bad.

I've got one of those too, but her name is Terri.