Greatest T-man of all time?
 

This question has probably been up for grab a dozen of times already on OSO and in reality there is no real answer to the question. But who in your opinion is the greatest Throttleman of all time?

No one can argue the achievements of John Tomlinson and Steve Curtis and these two are probably the most winning t-men in offshore racing, but there is and has been several great t-men in offshore. Oher greats past and present would include: Harold "Smitty" Smith, Hurley Stepp, Jerry Gilbreath, Fabio Buzzi, Richie Powers, Felix Serralles, Jim Dyke, Jay Muller and perhaps even the likes of Ed Colyer and Jeff Harris. Do you have any other great t-man on your list?

Joey Imprescia, Bobby Saccenti.

I totally forgot about Joey Imprescia.. he`s certainly among the alltime greats.

I think T2X cemented it when he was in the chopper calling stating "Magic Throttle Arm of Bobby Saccenti"! And the boat blasted into the air...

Tony Caligure makes the list.

Randy Scism has to be on that list. Jeff Harris might be best all-around racer given his success as a throttleman and driver in both v-bottoms and cats, but IMO Johnny Tomlinson is the best ever given his sustained success with so many different drivers, and his safety record.

Randy Scism is a great throttleman but idk if i would consider him to be among the greatest of all time, Scism won 1 world title in the UIM circus back in 1999 but i dont think he has won any titles since then?. I agree on Jeff Harris though, that guy has numerous titles to his name and he has become an excellent throttleman. JT is a living legend and an icon in the sport. Steve Curtis actually started his offshore carreer as a navigator then as a driver before becoming t-man, and Steve won his first two world titles as driver but he had to wait until 1998 before he got his first title as t-man.

Steven Throttled His First World Championship for Tony Roberts around 1986 !!!

I had to take a look into the history book.. Steve started his carreer as navigator then he became t-man and he won his first world title in 1985 with Tony Roberts as driver, he changed to the drivers seat for 1986 and won his second world championship as a driver in 1987, Steve became t-man again in 1989 and has been t-man since then.

So Randy Scism and Bob Bull didn't win any titles in CMS?

That`s what i said. Steve Curtis started out as a navigator in 1982 before becoming t-man and he won the world championship at Key West in 1985 in Mr Roberts, but he became driver for the 1986 season and won his second WC as a driver a year later, and Steve was driving his Cougar cats for 3 seasons before becoming t-man again in 1989. There used to be a video on youtube about the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes from 1988 were Steve was driving a Cougar monohull in that race with David Graham-Smith on throttles and Pete Currington as navigator.

Steve also Throttled a 27' Cougar Cat ( Before Smokey Cougar) in Cape Coral around 1983-84, P-14 with Pete Currington Driving. That was His First Race. I Pulled the Boat there from Cougar in Miami with a stop at Lake-X where I got to Drive it while Bill Sirois Throttled Testing Props. I was Honored to get to Drive for Bill :) Lol....

This list looks good and would agree with the easy one's Curtis, JT, ....... but there are a few guys that didn't loose a race for the whole season, Alan Dutman (sp) Agitator fame, Jim Dyke Spirit of Norway , Smitty Smith, Dirty Laundry fame, I'm sure there is more. Art Lily was always one of my favorites, not sure he didn't lose a race all season but definitely and worth a mention

t-man
 

I have to add Keith Hazell. If he hadn't been taken at such a young age, who knows what he could have accomplished.

What about Reggie SR ?

There`s been a lot of great throttlemen, but none of them can match either JT or Stevie. Alan Dutman and Art Lilly were both great t-men same can be said about Terry Ayres.

BTW does anybody know what happened to Ed Colyer after he left the Victory Team following the 1997 season? did he ever put his ass in a raceboat again?

What about the instigator duo, Pete and Joe... Not sure which one throttled..

I loved that team and their Fountain was badass.. it was Peter Meyer who was driving the boat with Joe Sgro on throttles.. Joe was def a good t-man but i dont think he ever throttled a cat?

Bob Latham....and he schooled JT

In no particular order

Bob Saccenti
Jack Stuteville
Errol Lanier
Bob Latham
Smitty Smith
Bill Sirois

Keith Hazzell
Sammy James

Errol Lanier
Bobby Saccenti
Gerry Gilbreath (actually a lot smarter than he was popular)
Benny Robertson
Reggie Fountain
Bill Sirios

and almost everyone who has raced. you don't have to be famous to be a good racer nor throttleman rather you just need to have a wealhy guy to put you in the public face with the best equipment as a great boat and engine combination is worth as much as a good racer.

Bertel Shmidt

Allan Duntenman did not throttle, Agitator, his son Kirk did.

Stop this........How can you have a list of great Throttlemen.....and not have the VERY FIRST EVER THROTTLEMAN........the first and one of the best....Bobby MOORE.

How did it happen you say.........well it gets interesting right from the first race.

The Lake X boys were given a choice of which boats they wanted to race for the upcoming year.....Remember, you pick your boat means you rig your boat and you better do well with it.

Odell Lewis who was running Lake X at the time, 1970, thought that the new 32 foot Bertrams were the right stuff, so he asked for a 32 foot Bertram to race. Mr K aid OK and the rigging began.

First race of the year was in St Petersburg, Fl. Odell was so far in front, that he stopped to chat with his Daddy who was out fishing. When Odell spotted some race boats heading his way, he said his good byes and went on to finish in first place.

Everyone was impressed....what a boat, what a set of engines, what a driver (who also throttled his own boat)

Bill Wishnick comes right up to Carl Kiekhaefer and says that he wants to buy the boat right there. Carl gives him a number and Bill writes out a check and the boat is his now.........or is it??

As the story goes, the boat had been sold by Mr K to another driver who was not in the country at the time. So we now had two people who owned the same boat, but Wishnick had the boat in his hands, so he got ready for the next race.

Hot calls are put into Bertram to start making another all red 32 foot Bertram race boat ASAP....as the gentleman who was out of the country, would soon be arriving and wanted to see his boat since it had done so well in the first race.

Glass is cut, resin is poured, bulkheads are rushed into place and the mysterious curing begins to take place....will it be ready on time?

But in the world of racing only one thing matters....The Next Race.

Bill Wishnick arrives at the next race with Bobby Moore as his riding mechanic and they are excited to test this boat against the best in the world. The race starts and off everyone goes.

A long run to the first checkpoint boat and Bill Wishnick is first, he turns the wheel and goes around the checkpoint boat....and then goes around again...... and goes around again.....and finally on the next trip around, Bobby Moore reaches over to pull the throttles back and take some pressure off the steering. What?????? What did we just see here??? Does anyone have an idea why this happened???

Well when the boat was rigged, Odell knew that if he built it with no power steering, he could pick up about 10 to 15 HP per engine...so that is just what he did. No surprise, as Odell never raced a boat with power steering.

Bill Wishnick was a businessman .....so, when he got the boat in that arc around the checkpoint boat, he could not straighten it out. So from that moment on, a new position was created...THROTTLE MAN.

And I cast my vote for BOBBY MOORE!!!

Mel Riggs , Has 46 world championships more than anyone else.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3d32393851.jpg
Ice T

If you want the throttleman with the biggest nutz, Ken Warby. :)

Keith Hazell
Johnny Tomlinson
Anthony Smith

All ran different kind of stuff. All won with it. All smooth as silk. All run smart, not hard.

TRUE BUT WHEN EVER KIRK SLOWED UP --
DAD SLAMED THE STICKS DOWN , that man was tough

Randy has won several titles since then in the Unlimited class.

Yup, huge goof. Bobby Moore and Jack Stuteville should be on the list for sure.

This guy might be the most famous throttleman on youtube!

I wonder what the aftermath of that ordeal was? Injuries? Hospital? Lawsuits? Where is the dude now?

That SBI t-shirt made for some good advertisement