Hello OPA Racers,

You've seen how OPA handled putting you in the correct class based on propeller and gear ratio calculations, and that has worked rather well. But now we are going to take it to the next level by mandating GPS units for ALL OPA racers.

We have tested and verified that the GPS system made for tracking trucks by Advanced Tracking Technologies (www.advantrack.com) will work for our needs. This small unit (about the size of a pager) will collect your speed every three seconds from the time you turn it on, till the time you shut it off. After the race, we will take the top three boats in each class and read their units. Should a boat break out of it's speed bracket for more than two - three second intervals, the boat will be disqualified. These GPS units will allow us to see any incorrect spikes in speed so we can discard those readings completely. (Example : Three second interval readings of 72, 73, 72, 89, 72, 72s. In this case, it's clear the 89mph reading was a spike, so it will be discarded and no penalty will be given. WIth other GPS Units that only show highest obtained speed, the 89mph figure would be all that it showed.)

OPA has the software to show speeds from 35 to 126mph, so this will work for all classes.

OPA has negotiated a volume discount for these units. The GPS units will cost you $382.20 one time including priority shipping to your home. You must order by tomorrow so that you have them by Tues of next week. Once you receive the unit, charge the battery and don't plug the battery into the unit until the morning of the race.

Please print out the attached document and fax it into Harold Garner at 713-353-6050. Or you can place your order by phone by calling 800-279-0035, but make sure you either ask for Harold or say your with OPA to get the $40 discounted price of $382.20 for the J2 GPS Kit with battery and charger. You can also email Harold at [email protected]. Call, fax or email, but do it by 5pm on Thursday and you'll have the unit by next Tuesday.

You'll also need to keep the unit dry and shockproof. We recommend a Pelican Case, model 1010 - Micro. You can buy them at a local marine store or use our preferred vendor. Call 1-800-666-6200 and ask for Marco from www.pelican-case.com. He's prepared to handle your orders in a priority fashion. Tell Marco you want the mode #1010 and make sure to add the Foam Insert. The price of the case, insert and priority two day UPS shipping will be just under $40.

Once you have the case and GPS, make sure they fit securely in the Pelican case and drill a hole for the antenna wire, then fill it with silicon so the box remains water tight.

Should you have any questions, call Smitty at 732-920-3945 or Ron Polli at 732-255-3969.

These GPS units will be MANDITORY in St Clair and ever OPA race from this point forward.

This is just another way that OPA is working to make the playing field as level as possible for all of our racers. Keep the fun in racing by keeping it fair for all.

Thank you,

OPA

Nice Job Guys!

Great Job Guys!!!!!!!!!!! Keep Up The Hard Work As It Is Not Going Unnoticed!!!!!!!!!

Sounds great OPA. Everyone that reads this call some teams in your class and make sure they are ready and not surprised when they show up.
MD

Randy & Ron,

I forwarded the email from OPA to some who may or may not get the emails that will be racing in St Clair. This is what everyone wanted so all should do there part to make sure everyone knows.

Will you have some set-ups there with you to sell to anyone that didn't get one in time? It might be a good idea just in case of a defective unit or one that died.

jm2cents

Just got off the phone with Harold and Marco ! We are ready!

Negative!!!! You gotta get em. We threw in the free racing with the purses, this one's on you. Sorry.

This is the most sensible thing I've heard or seen in this regard. Congratulations, OPA

Too bad SBI/APBA and OPA didn't get together on this so anyone that wanted to race with the other organization could do so without having to buy additional equipment.

We've (in SBI/APBA) been running the Garmin GPS 172 ($379 new at West Marine). No problems with spikes, hard mounted to the dash (takes a pounding extremely well), and with the download capability, SBI/APBA can see every 2-second leg, or interval, from the time the GPS is turned on until it's turned off. It's also cool to review your tracks and have the capability to analyze your speeds going into and coming out of the turns. Not to mention, you've got a fully capable chart plotting GPS for those "recreational runs".

I've got to give a lot of credit to Jim "Pop" Poplin on the success of the program. He's been working directly with Garmin and they're excited that their products are being used in offshore racing...maybe a test program in the works? I guess Pop will let us know.

Sean