Since you have the time, read the rules and get as much done as you can. You will find all the help you need your first race and most of your tech time will be filled with suggestions and not penalties Most of the stuff (like a manual bilge pump) are pretty good ideas anyhow on any boat and your tech guys will give you even more thoughts. GPS' are somewhat frowned upon now that we have telemetry and there should not be a need after you finish your setup. Spend some time on prep of the little things that stop the boat in the middle of a race (invest in lots of tie wraps and wire clamps) and you will have all the help you need at the race site.

I'd be happy to help as much as possible and I'm sure Smitty will help out as much as he can too. Feel free to PM me anytime.

Tomcei,

Just a suggestion, with Smitty, Augie and the rest of the boys racing in Chat next weekend, why dont you come up and introduce yourself to them and that way you can meet the man in charge, face to face and get things going in the right direction. By your location, you couldnt be no more than 1-2 hours away. Just bring a vig for Augie, he gets a little testy w/o it

thanks guys. I'll do my home work and bring my questions to Chattanooga. I'll look up as many people as I can. I can't wait

I’m looking forward to this, I hope it all works out ($$$ wise that is)

Guy's, Brown paper bag. Nothing less than stacks and stacks of fifty's then we'll answer any question you might have or call Smitty, 732-920-3945 or myself at 201-665-1033. Regards, Augie

You may think it's a good idea to convert your pleasure boat to a race boat but just remember lot's of those OPA guy's have purpose built offshore race boats , and they don't play around. I know Augie races the condo but he's an exception. Do you want to tell your friends you race or do you want to win? Just some info for thought!

Jerry already proved my boat can win. I'd like to try it now.
To answer your question, It would be the latter.

Well that is one reason I wanted to race P6, don’t get me wrong every class has its top drivers/teams, but the P6 class seemed very first-timers friendly. But P5 Should is fine with a little more work to my current boat. But keep in mind I’m not planning on jumping right out there with no experience and winning. If this is something I enjoy and like doing I’m sure I’ll build a purpose built boat just for racing. But I have never raced before or even been around the sport, so for me to run out and buy a race boat just to “Test” the waters is a little crazy to me.

just a suggestion. get your boat out there. run class 5 safely, to the best of your ability. The rest of the fleet will most likely run away from you, so you wont have too many boats around you. Run at your pace until you get the hang of it. Then decide which route is best for you.

No need to dump aload of cash into something your not 100% sure about.