Mr Solo goes for win No 13

But this year, the 40-foot Scism Fountain Catamaran will have an extra challenge and must adapt to the changes made by the powerboat racing officials.

Garth Marshall, former president of the Powerboat Association said yesterday that adjustments have been made to the start of the race to generate more excitement at the finish in Store Bay.

Last year Sheldon Charles and his Mr Solo of Darrin Marshall and Gino Fusco shattered the course record finishing the event in 58 minutes.

Marshall says it will be interesting to see how Mr Solo will deal with the staggered start which will begin at 7.10 am tomorrow. Mr Solo campaigns in the M-Class and will most likely get the strongest competition from by Baico III.

However Marshall feels that the finish at Store bay could feature the four most powerful boats in the race.

So apart from Mr Solo and Team Baico III in the M-Class, there are also Team Rage and Baico II in the C-Class.

Last year Rage, which is driven by Riad Shakeer gave an impressive performance that earned him the victory in the C- Class.

Team Baico III will be driven by Gary Johnson who will have his eyes set on upsetting the C-Class against a competitive Team White Heat led by Victor Tardieu.

The race is gruelling 92-miles event starting at Pier 1 in Chaguaramas past the offshore and to Store Bay.

Marshall said there were no adjustments to the race course but racers will have to be careful in the rough seas and high waves as well as strong currents.

The race is into its 38th year and is considered one of the longest consecutive powerboat race in the world.

One of the the largest fields for the race — approximately 25 boats — have reportedly confirmed their participation.

LATEST ENTRANTS:

Racing Class M — Mr Solo (H Charles, D Marshall, G Fusco); Baico III (B Branker, R Phillips, K Branker)

Racing Class C — Baico II (G Johnson, S Sheppard, B Branker);

Rage (R Shakeer, J Simmons)

Racing Class A — Intense Too (B Texeira, S Singh)

Racing Class B — White Heat (V Tardieu, R Tardieu, R Tardieu).

Racing Class SII — Castrol Extreme (R Harridan, R Wortman)

Racing Class Sports I — Mobil Motom (A Blanc, D Agostini)

Racing Class Sports II — Dynamite Rite Formula (M Farfan, I Keizer); Candy Man (P Sabga, T Mohammed, R Belmontes); Alien (D DaCosta, A de Freitas, L Pouchet)

Production I — Ricochett II (C Collier, S Charles), Matrix (J Tardieu, P Tardieu), Wolverine (C Neeman, T Sun), Liquid Assets (M Rocke, K Rooks, E Rooks)

Pirogue — Hero II (N Samaroo, H Boodram)

X Class — The Big EZ (W Nieves, R Macedo), Ambush (C Quong Sing, G Quong Sing.