First time sports photography this weekend. Speed boat Racing?

I'm new to sports photography. I familiar with all aspects of my camera that i'm aware of. I shoot only in Raw and on manual. Sometimes i use Shutter priority or aperture priority. I have taken moon shots, nature/animal photography, weddings ect.

A friend has hired me to go to The 3rd annual event for the us title series for boat racing. They understood this is my first time in sports photography so we made a deal. He pays for my hotel all weekend and price of meals and I learn something new. Works out for the best of us.

I'm using a Nikon D3000. For this event ill be using a TAMRON AF 70-300MM 1:4-5.6 Tele Macro (1:2) Lens. I know for boat racing i don't wanna use to much of a fast shutter speed because i want some blur for the water and to show motion. I can tweak that as i'm taking pictures. Its going to be a Bight sunny day according to Florida's weather channel ( lol ). I was wondering if anyone can help me with a General idea of a few things

1- A Base Shutter Speed ( i can adjust it as i'm taking pictures to go for the look i'm looking for)
2- Iso ( should i use 100 or a higher iso for the shutter speed i want)
3- F-Stop
4- Focus mode i'm going to use a Continues unless someone else has a suggestion
5- Focus Area Mode - (should i use centered since most of my pictures are gonna be of boats in the center of my screen?)
6- Metering - Not sure about this. Should i use the whole screen? Pin point or centered

Do you have a long lens? At least 300 mm?

Make sure that you shoot at shutter speeds of 1/500th second or faster.

If you use a monopod, you will prevent arm and neck stress

That is about it. Since you are shooting in RAW, think about buying a Colorchecker Passport to assure that all you images colour is accurate. This tool is used each time you shoot under different lighting situations.

Sample:

I have custom camera calibration profiles for each arena, stadium and other artificially lighted location I shoot. I also have custom profiles for the different lighting I use in the studio.

This single tool has saved me hundreds of hours in post production especially when using different cameras. Each cameras sensor is unique and has slightly different response to lighting. This can become even or obvious when we have multiple photographers shooting the same event using different brand cameras.

Enjoy shooting your boat races

If you were actually as experienced as you're portraying yourself, I don't think you would be asking these questions.

But I'll play along.

First of all, the lens you're planning to use is absolutely the last lens I would consider using for a "professional" gig. It's going to be soft, low contrast, low saturation and the chromatic aberration is going to be beyond fixable if you're shooting in sunlight.

The cropped image from a mediocre 200mm is going to give you a better result.

As for your 1-6 questions…

1. 1/500 is probably a good place to start. That should give you visible motion blur with the water but will likely freeze the action on the boats.
2. ISO… That will probably depend a little. If you're shooting at a high f stop and it's cloudy, you're going to have to figure this one out when you get there.
3. F-Stop… This is a hard one. Your lens is already at 5.6 @ 300mm. But shooting wide open with this lens is probably a really bad idea.
4. Focus. I think you already have the best idea on this one.
5. Focus area. See #4
6. I'd take a few test shots and see how they're coming out. If there's a lot of clouds and the light is changing constantly, just make manual adjustments as needed.

How far away are the boats? Racing boats throw up LOTS of water. Water is bad for cameras, sea water is death. Your camera is not waterproof, nor is your lens.
Be careful where you stand! Especially if there's an onshore wind to carry the fine spray.
Consider some kind of plastic cover/protection for the camera, have a UV filter on the lens to protect the front element and be sure you have the means to keep it clear.