The Australian Offshore Superboats Championship makes it’s South Australian debut next weekend (12-13 April), bringing the popular category to Port Adelaide for the fourth round of the 2025 season, and whilst big news for motorsport fans, the addition of a former Bathurst 1000 winner is sure to attract plenty of attention.
Todd Kelly’s relationship with boats stretches back decades, the Mildura local spending much of his childhood following his parents around the major ski racing venues in the country, a passion which would ultimately filter down to their sons.
For Todd and Rick Kelly, they ultimately shared their passion for competition between Supercars and ski racing, continuing to compete on the water where time allowed, that relationship keeping them in touch with boat racing which ultimately led to a cameo appearance for Todd with ‘222 Offshore’ alongside the legendary Peter ‘Muddy’ McGrath.
“I knew Darren [Nicholson] and Pete because of our shared interest in boat racing, and got a call out of the blue one day asking me if I’d like to drive for them at Hervey Bay because Darren was caught up and unable to make the event,” Todd Kelly explained. “I didn’t need to be asked twice, but have to admit, I was pretty nervous about jumping straight in for an important race event. Having ‘Muddy’ next to me made it really simple though, his experience made the whole weekend a real pleasure, so I was pretty keen to do it again, but after six or seven years, I didn’t expect the call to come a second time..”
For Kelly, his return to the wheel will be a very different experience this time around, as he will have a much greater involvement in the program thanks to the recent purchase of ‘Super Bad’, Kelly assisting good mate Stuart Eustice in putting the arrangement together, an arrangement which will ultimately see both Todd and his teenage son Mason – now a regular on the Super2 scene in Supercars – sharing driving duties in the seasons to come.
“Stuart and I have been mates for years, and he’s a passionate boatie, but also races cars. When he threw the idea at me I laughed because I thought he was joking, but very quickly we found ourselves looking over the boat with ‘Muddy’ and some of the 222 boys and before I knew it, the deal was done.”
“For me it looked the closest thing to racing a car on water,” Eustice admitted. “They’re fast, they race side by side, race distances are quite long, and they’re impressive to look at, it ticked all the boxes. I might not have had the luxury of driving one yet, but the idea doesn’t phase me, even the possibility of an incident in the water doesn’t concern me, I’m just keen to fast track my experience and enjoy it. If I can do that with some mates, all the better.
For the team, the first step is to get the boat down to Melbourne to go over some of the final details – including a name change to ‘MOJO’ in a nod to the Kelly’s involvement with ski racing – before almost immediately shipping off to Adelaide where Todd Kelly will share driving duties in the sleek 39-foot ‘Maritimo’ with former driver Steve Jellick. For Stuart Eustice, he’s elected to sit out the first couple of events as Kelly gets to grips with the boat, driver experience coming into play with no team allowed to compete with two rookies. To think the former Supercars star is considered a rookie might surprise a few, but Kelly admits it’s the right move.
“I’ll just be absorbing everything I can,” he admitted. “Steve has the experience, and whilst I might steer the boat on Saturday, we might swap for the second race so I can get a feel for the throttles.
“For us the weekend is about building some experience, we’ll then take the boat away and go right through it, do some testing and be ready for the 2026 season.”
“It’s fantastic to have Stuart and Todd join the Series, not the least because of their combined histories in motorsport, but to bring another of the Supercat Extreme boats out of a garage and get it back on the water,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina added.
“Fortunately for us, it won’t be the only one, so whilst the 2025 season comes towards its conclusion in Adelaide next weekend, 2026 is already looking incredible!”
For the new ‘MOJO’ team – who will undergo a livery change ahead of Lake Macquarie’s 2026 season opener in October – there is much excitement as they prepare for their competition debut in Port Adelaide.
“I haven’t been this excited to go racing in a very long time,” Todd Kelly admitted. “I’ve always had a great passion for boat racing, and in fact, will be racing alongside Mason and my Mum in our ski race boats in Mildura the following week, my daughter is jumping in the observer’s seat with me, but that’s a bit of fun as it’s speed limited. This will be back to pure racing and I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Let’s be honest, on the face of it, Todd is playing things down and suggesting we’ll just ease into it, but this is Todd Kelly from the Kelly Racing dynasty, I fully expect that when that [cockpit] lid goes down, he’ll be flat on the throttles and I’ll just have to find a way to steer it through the corners,” Stuart Eustice suggested. “I’m not even sure he’ll know I’m there [laughs]. Look, we’re not just here to make up the numbers. Sure, we have to earn our stripes and that will take seat time, but I can assure you, our focus is to go after a championship, and we’re looking to do that in very short order!”
With that kind of ambition, and the likely addition of more outright boats coming for the new season, the future of Offshore Superboats in Australia is starting to look very, very promising!
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2024/25 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 22-23 February, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R3. Geelong Harbour, Victoria – 15-16 March, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R4. Port Adelaide, South Australia – 12-13 April, 2025 (sponsored by Symons Clark Logistics)
Further dates and locations released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
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Conveniently located close to South Australia’s major shipping and intermodal hubs, Symons Clark operates a fully serviced container park, servicing many of the major shipping lines, and provide onsite secure indoor and outdoor storage. They are a fully accredited Customs 77G and 1.1 Quarantine approved premises with capability to provide all associated services including tailgate, fumigation, and freight inspections.
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