There’s some big news coming out of the Team Warpaint camp in New Jersey. In an interview today with team owner/driver Bob Vesper and throttleman Danny Crank, the team confirmed it is going to be campaigning a new 42-foot catamaran from Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) for the remainder of the 2012 racing season.

The team made major headlines after stuffing its classic US-1 Warpaint Apache catamaran in the third and final race of the Super Boat International (SBI) Key West World Championships last November. Fortunately both drivers recovered from minor injuries after the dramatic crash and vowed to race again.

Although it’s questionable if the boat will be ready for the SBI Clearwater Super Boat National Championship in Florida at the end of September—according to the team, the windshield is the boat’s only missing piece—it will no doubt be in the Key West race pits in mid-November for the debut of SBI’s new Superboat class, which appears set to offer more competition.

Featuring cats from 38 to 44 feet and weighing at least 9,500 pounds, the class has power specifications calling for naturally aspirated engines between 495 and 510 cubic inches and single carburetion with a maximum compression of 9.5:1. Boats already confirmed to making the necessary adjustments include JD Byrider, Stihl, Warpaint and WHM Motorsports. More boats are expected to be racing by Key West and into the 2013 season.

“We can’t wait to get back on the racecourse,” said Vesper, who explained that the team had actually been looking at building a new MTI last year before the accident in Key West. “For me, and I’m sure I can speak for Danny, too, there was never any doubt that we were going to be back out there racing. This new class should be very competitive. Hopefully it motivates more racers to come out.”

For even more on the return on Team Warpaint, be sure to read my feature on OffshoreOnly.com.