I know, I know it seems really early!
But I would advise everyone to sign up for next seasons races, a local race early on will give you a taste of triathlon action with the mimimum of travelling etc,
Personally i'd go for the shorter Tri's as they are a good intro to tri, with-out killing yourself in the process of gaining experience
followed by the opportunity to do some more Tri's later in the season (if you enjoyed the first one)
There are plenty of races you can enter now and some you can do it all including payment on-line such as the http://www.trihard website which is linked through the club's website.
They may not but full yet but come April/May, experience and previous dissapointment has shown they will fill up very quickly

Darlington tri is early so that seems perfect for newby members to try, good lucK all of you
Stuu