Ron P

Dear Racers and Race Fans,

We would like to take this opportunity to keep you informed as to some of the exciting new adjustments and ideas that we have in store for the 2003 OPA Northeast Divisional Series. On Saturday, December 21, 2002, at 12:00 noon we will host the first OPA membership meeting. The meeting will be held at Crabby's Restaurant on East Princeton Avenue, Brick, N.J, located next door to Windward Beach Park. (Click here for map to meeting www.njoffshore.homestead.com/crabbys.html )

This past season a group of local OPA racers formed a club called the Jersey Boyz and they have been working around the clock to get the message out that racing in the Northeast is alive and doing rather well. These ever-energetic Jersey Boyz have been a huge help in rounding up the racers and putting this meeting in motion. The thrust of this meeting is to provide racers from around the Northeast an opportunity to meet each other and to share ideas that will help to grow the racing fleet.

Last year OPA, with the invaluable services of NJ Offshore and the OPA crew ran a five race Northeast series between North Carolina and New York City. This year, OPA plans to expand on this past success and introduce an even more exciting series of local races. In order to fulfill our desire to become bigger and better, OPA has added three new members to the board, Ed Smith, Augie Pensa and Tony Pacheko. You know these men as true grit racers who have devoted much of their time, and have shown a deep dedication to our sport. It is now our good fortune to have them as an integral part of our club and to assist the many other volunteer members of OPA.

There is really no way we can properly thank all the volunteers for their tireless efforts in providing us with a safe place to race. So when you see that friendly face that provides you with a safe and successful event, I'm sure a "thank you" would go a long way.

We plan to pick-up where we left off in 2002 by kicking off the 2003 series with the Brick Township Summerfest Offshore Grand Prix and Boatfest at Windward Beach Park. This will be the first of at least five races that will make up the OPA Northeast series. Full details about the 2003 NE series schedule will be formally announced at the annual awards party in mid February. Discussions are now underway for the date and location of this awards party. This event will be part awards ceremony, part party and part planning session for the upcoming season. The awards will be presented to the 1st place winners of each class and the overall high point series champion.

Here is the agenda for the December 21 meeting. Please be prepared to share your thoughts on any of the following subjects.

12:00 - Sign-in and registration
1:00 - Introduction of OPA Officers
1:15 - Opening Statement
1:30 - OPA Mission Objectives
1) The goals and expectations of OPA.
2) The direction that OPA wants to take.
3) Race sites and venues.
4) The classes.
5) P Class rules, how can they be made to be fairer while keeping it fun.
2:00 - An open question and answer forum.

We have Crabby's for the afternoon so bring you hunger, your thirst and your passion for offshore racing so we can sort out some pending issues and move forward toward an exceptional year of racing in the Northeast.

If you have any questions, please direct them to OPA at 732.477.7400 or Ed Smith at 732.920.9345.

Warmest of Holiday Wishes,

Kurt Burger
President - OPA
www.offshoreperformanceassociation.com

AugiePensa

Thanks Kurt,Eddie does this mean I have to wear a TIE????????????????

Cincinnati Race

congrats guys!

throttleup

Congratulations to all of you for your efforts! We want to thank you for your continuing efforts to take the sport of Offshore Powerboat Racing into the future.

Happy Holidays to you all,

Throttle Up Propellers
Matt and Julie

Ron P

Tie??? You Augie???? Somehow that just doesn't seem right.

AugiePensa

Ron,Thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!And your right,A TIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PhantomChaos

Hey you guys ova dare. Did you gets the stuff from dat guy for the paty? Don forgets da spagetti stained tank tops for da pati.

Tbonepmp

AugiePensa

Nort,we have just about everything,hope your gonna fly in to assist us or post some info that may help us! We already know how to spell "spaghetti",we need a little help from the outside and views on what would help the P Divisional racing fair in terms of lap speed VS. MPH on the course! What are your thoughts.

PhantomChaos

AP-

Just tossing around some ideas to help you out with the lap speed VS. MPH issue.........but perhaps something like this in an Offshore Boating format could improve both? Just a thought.