I went home last night and tried to replicate the problem using some pine scrap but couldn't get it to screw up again. I have some nice knotty pine strips now The only thing that changed before this test was the fence (which indicates a possible fence-parallel-to-blade problem).

Then I checked the blade/arbor/motor mount connections for tightness or wobble. They all seemed fine. I did try flexing the blade side to side with my finger, which it did. The blade is a 7.25" Freud Diable thin kerf blade (.050), so a little flex doesnt really surprise me. Given enough pressure, Im sure the blade could be flexed back and forth to the degree shown in the picture. (the 10" blades provided with the saw dont really flex much at all)

Then I removed the blade to check for warping and its fine.

Then I ripped a different WRC board of the same dimensions (17'x 6" x 5/4) into strips no problem.

I also had ripped a bunch wood into strips before the problem occured without issue.

The only thing that changed for certian was the fence, leading me to believe that it is either a fence-parallel-to-blade problem, or a heat problem.
The blade does have fancy laser cut 'heat expansion slots' in it (to prevent warping, allegedly) and I dont rip very quickly or let the blade get bogged down much so I think I'm leaning to the fence problem. It stands to figure that the back of the board exiting the cut could push against the blade forcing it to flex (with thin blades) to one side, which then begins to correct back because of the spring of the blade, only to have the process repeat.
I think Jays suggestion of using a piece of wood attached to the fence (as the fence), ending just beyond the blade, as well as a kerf splitter suggested by Glen and some others would eliminate the problem. A zero tolerance insert couldn't hurt either I'm sure.

Tonight I think I'll purposefully set the fence a touch off to see if this replicates the problem.
I'll post the results. Then I'm setting the saw up as advised.

Thanks for all your advice!
-Ted

BTW the saw and blade are brand new, bought for this boat. For a change I got to explain to my wife how Im saving us money by spending it, instead of the other way around. hehe.