2023 Offshore Superboat Championship – Get Set Geelong!
Geelong’s Corio Bay is set to ignite this weekend, as the Superboats take to the water.
In just about all events you always find one sole whose remit seems to be unendingly long, but can be described in just a few words. Namely, get the job done. Such is the case with Russell Embleton, who is not only the Secretary of the APBA Offshore Council, but also the Race Director for the Offshore Superboat Championships. Ordinarily, any of those would be enough for one soul, but the smiling Embleton also adds driver of the Race Control Truck to his list of jobs.
Of the impending racing at Geelong on March 18 and 19, Embleton said, “The Wyndham Harbour races a few weeks ago did a great job of unearthing some first round gremlins on a number of the Superboats. With ample time between Rounds One and Two to iron those gremlins out, I’m expecting the calmer, faster waters of Corio Bay in Geelong to really offer up some great Superboat racing.”
“Pleasingly, the Sports 85 and Sports 65 boats put on a heck of a show at Wyndham Harbour, and with increased numbers at Geelong, spirited and close racing is guaranteed. Geelong’s natural amphitheatre is going to host some memorable racing this weekend!”
Patrick Boyle works at Mark Pecherzewski’s Cootacraft, which is located right in the Sou’east corner of mainland Australia. Boyle is bringing his own vessel all the way from Mallacoota to Geelong, where his boss’ new boat, Special Edition, will be hoping to springboard from its successes on the last day of racing at Wyndham Harbour.
Boyle was very active rescuing Koalas during the horrendous bushfires of three years ago. Keen to add his contribution to the devastated, tight knit community, he went out and retrieved stricken animals and returned them to the shelter for recuperation, praising the round the clock efforts of the volunteers.
AMT Marine Racing (Andy Taylor and Paul Fowlds) must have thought they were in a maze at Wyndham Harbour, with electrical gremlins just adding to their list of issues to overcome. It must have felt like the polar opposite of The Sting, who seemed to be able to make very post a winner.
Throttleman, Paul Fowlds said, “Whilst the team was bitterly disappointed with the round at Wyndham Harbour, we really look forward to the Geelong round, which is undeniably one of the favourites on the circuit.”
“We have been able to source a gearbox housing, it has been rebuilt, and already in Melbourne all set to go. Our main goal is to get some points back on, The Sting. Their boat is running fantastically well, and will be hard to beat. It will also be a tough contest with both TCR, and Saracen, who will be just as motivated as we are to get a complete weekend’s racing in.”
Mark Swain and his co-pilot, Laura Wilson, are Risky Racing based in Portarlington, just near Geelong. Just before the opening round it was discovered that the boat’s motor needed more than just a bit of love. Step in Dennis Samuelson, who has provided them with a new motor. Swain said of this, “We can’t thank Dennis enough. He has been nothing short of an absolute superstar!”
Apart from their shore crew of Josh and Chloe Bossong also helping to get the boat ready, Simon Kelly and the crew at fellow competitor, TCR, mounted the new motor in super fast fashion. The result – “Risky is back!!!” Yes you can certainly tell that they are more than happy about that.
The Geelong Round of the 2023 Offshore Superboat Championship is supported by the City of Greater Geelong. Thanks also to our sponsors Razorcraft, Brandon Hospitality Solutions and ODLS.
Racing commences on Saturday from 1pm local time, with two races for the Sports 65 and Sports 85 classes, and one for Supercat Outboard and Supercat Extreme classes conducted in between. On Sunday, racing commences at 11am local time, with the reverse order of racing, before presentation of trophies.
