hello im 20 yrs old my dad was the original owner of avanti powerboats back in the 80s and 90s we are no longer in the buisness but we still own boats. i have a 24 ft pantera with a 454 and bravo 1 outdrive i want to start racing nothing serious just for the fun maybee get more serious in the future but how can i start off, is there any class for starters and with boats not seriously equiped, any help would be help full thank you, by the way i live in miami

You'll want to look into racing www.Superboat.com in there class 5. They have several races in your area for you to get your feet wet in. The 24' Pantera is a great boat for this class. Best of luck to you. The Miami race is there first race of the season.

There are also gonna be two OPA races down south. Classes 5 and 6 are awesome. Check out www.oparacing.org

RRR27 Ryan & Wahoo are Racers who know, any question you can't find answers for just ask. Remember there are no silly Question's Jo

Smitty here from OPA. We will be racing in Sunny Isles in June. Love to have you onboard. I know your Dad. Call me 908 910 8025

Few "unknowns" to keep in mind, regardless of the org you race.

• If you break down -or- sink, for the most part, your on your own. The orgs do not assist in anyway. If you flip or sink, salvage is somwhere around $200 a foot. that's about $5K for a 24'. Watch out for the tows companies, they are known for their predatory response towards racers.
  
• If you plan on racing w/non family members, do a release of liability, it's easy cheap (it's business not personal). You can also open a corporation and put the boat as an asset. This is all cheap and easy to do!
  
• Listen to the racers; they are a great bunch of people all willing to help one another.

jmo\


Good luck w/your season it will be an expierence you'll never forget.

The JBS super vee is still for sale-brad new 525s and drives.The canopy is cut off so it would dominate P1.Ready to roll on a new trailer.$100k gets you racing-boat,trailer,mid hatch,set of props.

WOW...that seems like a great deal.Jeff have you have considered racing that boat again?

Are you the team that races in a Purple three man 32 Viper. I saw you guys in Marathon in 2003. I was in a boat east side of the bridge and remember seeing you guys turning that boat on the rails...

Yea thats my baby. She has been retired for a few years, but is looking for a comeback tour. I also run the OPA now, and if there is anything we can do to help you along with your racing venture let me know. We all started somewhere. Smitty