After a couple of days of walking the Miami International Boat Show and demoing the P1-28SS Panther at the in-water portion of the show, Martin Sanborn, the P1 Director of North American Operations who organizes the P1 SuperStock USA Championship, was grinning from ear to ear. And from the sound of things, he had plenty of reasons to smile.

The competitive P1 SuperStock USA Championship features sporty 28-foot V-bottoms with 250-hp outboard engines, such as this Peters & May-sponsored boat.Coming off the heels of what turned out to be an exciting and competitive inaugural season, the one-design P1 SuperStock USA Championship has attracted even more teams for its 2012 season, which includes five races—so far—at three new venues. Competing in the spec 28-footers powered by single 250-hp Evinrude outboard engines, the P1 SuperStock USA teams will race in Detroit and Morehead City, N.C., as well as the three new venues: St. Cloud, Fla., Biloxi, Miss., and Pittsburgh.

“We were approached by a huge number of venues who are interested in bringing P1 SuperStock USA to their city,” Sanborn said in the 2012 schedule press release. “The amount of interest this series has generated throughout the U.S. is very encouraging and will be instrumental in bringing the championship to a regional level by 2013, reverting back to the APBA regional format from the late 1990s.”

The season starts in St. Cloud (March 30-April 1) at “Spring Fling” presented by the Rotary Club of St. Cloud. The kick-off event will bring powerboat racing back to St. Cloud for the first time in three years. The second race is scheduled for April 26-29 in Biloxi for “Smokin’ the Sound.” P1 SuperStock USA joined the Offshore Super Series event in 2011 as an exhibition race, but this year’s race will count toward the overall championship score.

One of the P1-28SS Panther models that will be competing in the 2012 P1 SuperStock USA Championship was on display for demo rides in Miami.After a two-month break in the schedule, teams travel to Pittsburgh to join the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta on June 30-July 1. This year will be the 35th running of the event and an estimated crowd of 600,000 spectators is expected. Two weeks later, the racing returns to Detroit (July 13-15) for the 2012 Detroit APBA Gold Cup presented by the Detroit River Regatta Association and the Detroit Yacht Club. Last year, en route to the P1 SuperStock USA national championship, the JD Byrider crew picked up its first win of the season in Detroit and hoisted the coveted Garwood trophy.

The final stop of the season is in Morehead City (Sept. 14-16) for the Crystal Coast Grand Prix and the P1 SuperStock USA National Championship. Morehead City provided some of the closest and most exciting race action in 2011.

“We are excited to bring the national championship to Morehead City this year,” Sanborn said. “The competition was outstanding in Morehead City last year and the venue provides one of the best viewing areas of any race site. We consider Morehead City to be our home event since it’s only 90 miles from our P1 USA headquarters in Greenville, N.C.”