With Redcliffe ultimately sidelined for ...
With Redcliffe ultimately sidelined for the 2026 season, Port Adelaide would once again signal the final round of the season, and whilst the Supersports 85 category was sealed again for the iconic ‘Special Edition’ ‘Cootacraft’ of Mark Pecherzewski, the remaining three classes were wide open. Aside from the outright battle, the Supercat Outboard and the Supersport 65 titles were still to be decided as teams hit the water at midday on Saturday.
In the Supersports 65 category, all eyes were on the battle between Victorian teams ‘Cardiac Arrest’ and reigning Champions ‘Nut Case’. Coming into the final round, ‘Cardiac Arrest’ held a 27-point lead, requiring no more than a run of second-paced finishes to secure the title, whilst for Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton, they needed to win all three races to retain any chance of going back-to-back in the Championship. It was a tall ask, but as the weekend would show – anything is possible!
Supersports 85
The season may have already been declared in the favour of Mark Pecherzewski and the mighty ‘Special Edition’ ‘Cootacraft’ but despite the team’s absence from the season finale, the class was buoyed by the addition of George Sezdirmezoglu’s stunning 22-foot ‘Donzi’ which had made its Offshore debut in Geelong in the hands of the boat owner and multiple American Champion Scott Porta.
Porta was unable to make the journey down for the South Australian event, with Chris Stavrinidis jumping in to take on steering duties as George jumped across to throttles, the pair enjoying the chance to gain some valuable seat time as the fans absorbed the sound of the glorious inboard Mercury 525 V8 echoing up and down Largs Bay, as the pair did battle with the Supersports 65 teams.
Keen to learn from the 65 mile-per-hour class, Sezdirmezoglu followed the pace-setting ‘Nut Case’ around for much of the opening race to get a feel for the course and the racing before stretching the legs of the big 525hp V8 across the two remaining races for a clean sweep of the weekend, much to the boat owner’s great delight and the cheers from his daughters post-race which only added to the joy he’d discovered from his debut Offshore season.
Supersports 65
With 27 points separating the points leading ‘Cardiac Arrest’ from reigning Champions Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton in ‘Nut Case’ the key to winning the speed-restricted Supersports 65 class was going to be finishing.
For the reigning title holders they had only one focus for the weekend; victory in all three races, although they knew only too well that should Charlie Di Iorio finish second to them in all three 30-minute legs, they’d only be able to make up 15 of the 27 points, to remain second in the outright points.
Sadly, 2024 Champion Patty Paczkowski was a non-starter, the Victorian unable to get to the event providing Di Iorio with an opportunity, ‘Valentus’ expected to have been in outright contention introducing a potential challenge to his points lead.
For Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster, Adelaide provided ‘The Con’ team a chance to make an impression, so too Ben Embleton and Liam Sutherland in ‘Team 38’, a crew enjoying their second start in Adelaide, although start was a sore point for the Victorians, electrical issues sidelining the them ahead of the start, the crew unable to trace the issue until Saturday night allowing them to finally complete a race during the last run of the season.
Ultimately the weekend went to ‘Nut Case’, Bakkr and Paton claiming their seventh consecutive first-placed finish, Bakkr lamenting sitting out much of the first round as he explored an opportunity in the faster Supersorts 85 category allowing Di Iorio to claim two of his three outright wins for the season to open his ledger with the Championship points lead, a position he would hold for the remainder of the season.
For Di Iorio – who was joined in Adelaide by both Ivan Benkotic and his father Ralf after school commitments kept Tijana Botic out of the seat – his weekend saw two second placed finishes, whilst a late season surge for Weeks and Lancaster saw him forced to settle for third in the final race knowing that a finish would be enough to secure the Geelong native the 2026 title..
Whilst the tight-knit family run ‘Cardiac Arrest’ team celebrated a big win, Ben Embleton and Liam Sutherland also enjoyed their own celebration having discovered a solution to their electrical issues overnight allowing them to run away to one of their most competitive drives of the season; it may have only been fourth, but for Embleton, it was almost as good as a win!
“We were leading into turn one for a bit there..” Embleton admitted. “We pushed the boat about as hard as it could be pushed; at one point we were almost facing backwards, we couldn’t have driven it much harder at all – we were trailer trim most of the time, but man, we had fun!”
“We tried, we did our best, I don’t think it was ever going to happen, but I’m happy to gift it to them, so well done to them,” Hary Bakkr laughed. “Good on him, he worked hard for it, so he deserves it.”
“All we needed to do in that last race was to finish,” Charlie Di Iorio explained. “If we finished [at least] 50% of the race we’d have had the points to guarantee the Championship. We had the speed in that last one over ‘The Con’ we just couldn’t make the pass; they did very well to keep us at bay. Given that my first time driving was in Adelaide last year, I really didn’t think at the start of this year it was possible to be Champion; I was fairly confident, but I’d only ever driven in flat water – Werribee at the start of the year when it chopped up was a real eye opener, we’ve got the right boat for it, but driving those conditions was just completely different.”
That’s it for the 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championship, focus now turns back to Lake Macquarie in October to kick off the 2026/27 season, details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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R4. 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Port Adelaide, South Australia
09-10 May, 2026
RND#4 – Race#1
Supersports 85
1. George Sez/Chris Stav (#DONZI) – 00:31.44 (8-laps)
Supersports 65
1. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) – 00:32:05 (8-laps)
2. Charlie Di Iorio/Ivan Benkotic (#46 Cardiac Arrest) – 00:32:52 (8-laps)
3. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (#80 The Con) – 00:32:28 (7-laps)
4. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (#38 Team 38 Offshore) – DNF (2-laps)
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RND#4 – Race#2
Supersports 85
1. George Sez/Chris Stav (#DONZI) – 00:35.59 (8-laps)
Supersports 65
1. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) – 00:33:02 (8-laps)
2. Charlie Di Iorio/Ivan Benkotic (#46 Cardiac Arrest) – 00:33:07 (8-laps)
3. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (#80 The Con) – 00:33:13 (6-laps)
4. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (#38 Team 38 Offshore) – DNS
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RND#4 – Race#3
Supersports 85
1. George Sez/Chris Stav (#DONZI) – 00:30.43 (9-laps)
Supersports 65
1. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) – 00:35:15 (9-laps)
2. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (#80 The Con) – 00:30:47 (8-laps)
3. Charlie Di Iorio/Ralf Di Iorio (#46 Cardiac Arrest) – 00:30:49 (8-laps)
4. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (#38 Team 38 Offshore) – DSQ
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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Championship Points (after round four of four)*
AUS#1 Championship
1. Hornet Racing (328-points), 2. MOJO (295), 3. Venturi Offshore (293), 4. The Sting (245), 5. Mobile X (214), 6. Kess Racing (157), 7. TCR Offshore (131), 8. DLR Offshore (116), 9. Special Edition/TR Racing (106), 10. Nut Case (101), 11. Cardiac Arrest (97), 12. The Con (71), 13. Valentus (52), 14. The Colonel (48), 15. Team 38 Offshore (37)
Supersports 85
1. Special Edition (271-points), 2. The Colonel (130)
Supersports 65
1. Cardiac Arrest (407-points), 2. Nut Case (398), 3. The Con (335), 5. Valentus (224), 5. Team 38 Offshore (184)
* only those boats that competed in more than 50% of the rounds are classified in the Championship
You couldn’t have scripted the drama that would determine the 2026 Supercat Extreme Championship at Port Adelaide, in a weekend that would deliver some fantastic racing across all four classes in front of a big, passionate, South Australian crowd; it was an event that will long be remembered!
The equation coming in was that points leaders Mick and Jason Kelly (Hornet Racing) held a comfortable 42-point lead, and with just 105 points on the board for Adelaide’s trio of 30-minute races. On paper, they just had to maintain their consistency and the title would be theirs.. but for the popular Victorian team, the weekend certainly didn’t play out as planned..!
Aside from the outright battle, the Supercat Outboard and the Supersport 65 titles were still to be decided as teams hit the water at midday on Saturday, where ultimately Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall secured a second Supercat Outboard title in three years, their hat-trick of wins across the weekend very nearly delivering a clean sweep, the only setback in an otherwise perfect season coming in Wyndham Harbour’s opening race after prop failure.
Supercat Extreme
Despite a condensed field thanks to a tough season of competition, the title contenders arrived in Adelaide with their strategies all well planned.
For the points leading Hornet Racing outfit, they needed to continue their impressive consistency, the rookie team having finished no worse than third in any of the nine prior races, whilst for their closest rivals – ‘MOJO’ – they’d suffered a DNF during the opening round at Lake Macquarie (prop failure) and a fourth-placed finish at Geelong (prop, again) to put them 42-points back and with only one focus for Adelaide; victory in every race.
For the reigning Supercat Outboard Champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly, they too were in mathematical reach of the title, but 59-points back from the Series lead.
For the Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly ‘MOJO’ combination, their weekend started perfectly with victory in the opening race over the points-leaders, ‘Hornet Racing’ making their lives difficult with a spin mid-race as they pushed the ‘MOJO’ team for the win; fortunately they lost little time as a result and crossed the line just five seconds back from their rivals.
Post-race the team admitted they’d come very close to tipping the boat over having found the limit, whilst some questioned whether or not they’d have been better off taking a safe and conservative approach, both Mick and Jason though quick to remind observers that they were racing, and taking the very same approach that had given them the points lead coming into the final round; why change a winning formula!?
Sunday’s second race again saw the points leaders locked in a battle for position, although this time the ‘Hornet’ crew stayed just a few boat lengths off the rear of the ‘MOJO’ machine whilst also keeping a close eye on ‘Venturi’, the three boats crossing the line separated by just seven seconds promising for an epic close to the season with next to nothing separating the performance of the three boats. And then things became a whole lot more interesting..
With just 90-minutes separating the end of race two and the start of race three there was much action around the rear of the ‘Hornet Racing’ machine, action centred on the tie bar that controls the steering of the Mercury 6-drives on the iconic ‘Skater’. The team were last to leave the jetty after feverish work in the final minutes ahead of the start, but within moments word came from Race Control that the boat had been forced to withdraw in accordance with the rules.
The silence in the ‘Hornet Racing’ pits highlighted just how big a blow it was, the tight family run team left to reflect on what might have been as the ‘MOJO’ crew – who incredibly had made a crew change ahead of the race to install Todd Kelly’s son Mason into the boat – led ‘Venturi’ away for the start.
For the Kelly crew, they’d made up ten points on their rivals in the opening two races, reducing the margin to 32 points and with 35 points up for grabs for the win; and being undefeated all weekend, the odds were on that they would achieve just that, but no-one had told De Fina and Matt Kelly, the pair jumping to an early lead which they maintained to the chequered flag – the result; their maiden race win in the outright category, and a two point Championship win to ‘Hornet Racing’.
The pit area at North Haven erupted as the result hit home for the ‘Hornet Racing’ team, Mick and Jason Kelly incredibly claiming the 2026 Supercat Extreme title on their debut with an untested package – the margin of victory 12 races in, just two points..
“We sat at the boat ramp and everyone worked to fix it,” Mick Kelly explained. “We started motoring out there and realised the rule states you’ve got to have a tie bar fitted; safety first. We were sitting here biting our nails for the last half an hour but yeah, pretty awesome. It’s been a hard year, a lot of ups and downs; pretty emotional.”
“Unbelievable.. Emotions are through the roof at the moment; never in a million years did we think we would come out of an 85-class boat and then take out the Championship in Supercat Extreme,” Jason Kelly added. “Going out after yesterday’s spin, nerves were high. Mick [Kelly] and I just decided that ‘let’s have a crack’ we’d push, see what it’s like after the first two laps, but as soon as the flag drops, you get in that rhythm – I feel like we were closing on ‘MOJO’ a little bit. We finished, popped the hatch, Mick got out and had a look out the back and the tie bar was half hanging off so it had to come off. We made the decision to try and lock the drive on one engine and use the steering on the other; all we had to do was 50% of that race and we’d get points.
“Everyone from everywhere came in to push and help. We contacted race control and told them what we were doing, shut the hatch, fired it up, headed out to try and get out there and circulate, but we were told that under the rules we weren’t allowed to be out there without the tie bar on the back of the boat. They were right, 100%, we respect the decision so we went back to the crane, head in hands – the only way we could win the Championship was if ‘MOJO’ finished second and ‘Venturi’ won!”
“We gave that [last race] absolutely everything we had,” Todd Kelly explained. “Mason [Kelly] had his first run behind the wheel and I thought we’d just ease into it a little, but then we saw that ‘Venturi’ must have made a few changes and had some pretty decent pace, so right from the start we gave it everything off the line – the speed they had compared to other races blew us away a little bit. Then we just worked the rest of the race to try and get back to them; had probably three or four moments where we nearly spun it pushing as hard as we could. As it turned out, I didn’t ease into it at all, I was full tilt into the chicane for the first lap and I was giving as much info to him [Mason] as I could and there was enough communication there for him to be able to drive that race as good as anyone; we didn’t really leave anything on the table at all.”
“An interesting weekend,” Antony De Fina admitted. “We had three different setups for three different races, so I suppose we sort of looked at it as a big test session; we got better first race today and then made another change, and I think we nailed it with the combination of gears and props and weight, it all came together. When you get a Bathurst winner asking what the hell you did to the boat, you know you’re on the right track!!”
“We had a few setup issues yesterday, but this morning’s race was a little better and the last race was really good,” Matt Kelly reflected. “We went to different gear ratios and different props from yesterday and then between races today we changed again. Unfortunately in this kind of racing, once you get behind someone into the cross wash, it makes it a lot harder to take the race line you want to take, so once you fall behind it is hard to get your exit speeds up and stuff like that. We’ll get there, the boat is a great boat, the former owners won everything in it, so we’ve just got to get used to it.
“We didn’t know [about the Championship equation] until we came back in, the team rang and congratulated us and told us the result; it’s actually quite funny because we ran out of fuel on the finish line – if it was one more lap, we were done!”
Supercat Outboard
Having won eight of the nine prior races in the 2026 Supercat Outboard season, the result was likely a foregone conclusion heading into Port Adelaide’s season final, but as had played out in the outright category, you can never rely on a sure thing, so everyone; the points leading ‘Sting’ operation included, came in looking for a strong finish to the season.
Ultimately it took just one race; and their ninth win of the year – for Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall to seal the title in what would be their second Championship win in two years, the duo lamenting what might have been last season if not for a big spin at Geelong which forced them to conclude the season ahead of Adelaide’s final.
With ‘The Sting’ claiming victory in Adelaide’s opening race the focus turned to the battle for second where things had suddenly become a lot more interesting after ‘TCR Offshore’ very nearly stole the win, Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly turning in one of their best performances in recent years to hold the much faster yellow boat back until the dying stages. Meanwhile, reigning AUS#2 (in Supercat Outboard) ‘DLR Offshore’ were facing the start of what would be a challenging weekend, a hard-to-trace electrical issue forcing the father-and-son team to battle on with having to stop and restart the electrical system each time the twin Mercury 300XS engines went into ‘guardian’ mode making for very slow forward progress; they finished, but three laps behind their rivals.
With the title wrapped up, ‘The Sting’ used the final two races to test ahead of their debut in the USA later in the year, turning focus to the emerging battle between ‘TCR’, ‘Kess Racing’ and ‘DLR Offshore’ for second. That three way battle soon became a two-boat race, Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly out early with another engine failure; their season was over, whilst for Craig Dove and son Lachlan, they continued to face their electrical issues and resetting the system, again keeping them off the pace of their rivals allowing Steve Lancaster and Scott Kelly to gain themselves some more valuable laps to close down the points gap to second with just one race remaining.
Ultimately Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall would emerge with their eleventh win of the season to fall just one race shy of clean-sweeping the year, the mighty yellow ‘Sting’ now set for a complete overhaul ahead of its delivery to the USA to contest rounds of the US-Championship later in the year ahead of a full season campaign in 2027. The pair though have confirmed they will return next season to defend their Australian title in their original, title-winning ‘Skater’.
For Steve Lancaster and Scott Kelly, their final run of the season saw arguably their greatest challenge to the points leaders all season to cross the line just 22-seconds in arrears at the flag, Steve Lancaster’s wide smile post-race suggesting they were back on track after their rollover at Wyndham Harbour and the setbacks that created, the ‘Kess Racing’ team already planning for Lake Macquarie’s return in October for their chance to advance what they’ve learnt this season.
For Craig Dove, he’d started calling the aluminium ‘DLR’ machine ‘the tortoise’ having out-lasted many of the faster boats last season to claim second in the Championship; last year alongside Steve Lancaster, and this year alongside son Lachlan, the pair again classified second in the Championship despite the setbacks they’d faced throughout the Adelaide weekend.
“We drew pole four for the first race so we had some work to get around the others,” Mike Ratcliffe explained. “It was a really good race though, I really enjoyed it. It’s good to come away at the end of the season with the #1 title to go over to challenge the Americans as the Australian Champions.”
“We’re extremely proud of the team for giving us a fast boat,” Karl Wall admitted. “Unfortunately at Geelong last year we broke the boat beyond a quick repair to be back on the water for Adelaide, which put us back to third in the Championship, but this year we’ve redeemed ourselves and come away with first place.”
“It was an awesome first year [with the new boat], everything got thrown at us, but we only missed that one race after the rollover, so we couldn’t be happier,” Steve Lancaster admitted. “Race two this morning we threw a blade, so that was the end of that one for us, but the third race was fantastic, so much so that Scott Kelly even smiled [laughs].”
“Unfortunately number three cylinder detonated on us; it was a bit disappointing,” Scott Richardson lamented. “We’re very competitive when it all goes well, but unfortunately these motors are now 15 years old, although we’ll continue on and see how it goes.”
“With the way it went yesterday [TCR] I thought, ‘we’re on here, this is going to be good’; went out today and unfortunately torched an engine,” Steve Kelly explained. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of why it’s doing it, but he’s [Richardson] keen now, so he wants me to rebuild it again so he can go back to Lake Macquarie. Congratulations to DLR [who claimed second in the Championship] they circulated, they’ve been there consistently and finished every race which is what you’ve got to do. Also, congratulations to ‘The Sting’ they’ve been consistent too, so well deserved to them.”
“It [the season] was a good learning experience and I felt like – in the end – I definitely got a lot better,” Lachlan Dove explained. “At the start, Dad [Craig Dove] was controlling a lot of the trim, but at the end of it I was fully controlling the trim and I felt like that last race, I got the boat to sit a lot better.”
That’s it for the 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championship, focus now turns back to Lake Macquarie in October to kick off the 2026/27 season, details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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R4. 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Port Adelaide, South Australia
09-10 May, 2026
RND#4 – Race#1
Supercat Extreme
1. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (#15 MOJO) – 00:30:07 (12-laps)
2. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#525 Hornet Racing) – 00:30:12 (12-laps)
3. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#5 Venturi Offshore) – 00:31:14 (12-laps)
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:31:39 (11-laps)
2. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) – 00:31:43 (11-laps)
3. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (#801 Kess Racing) – 00:31:50 (11-laps)
4. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:30:58 (8-laps)
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RND#4 – Race#2
Supercat Extreme
1. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (#15 MOJO) – 00:31:38 (13-laps)
2. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#525 Hornet Racing) – 00:31:42 (13-laps)
3. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#5 Venturi Offshore) – 00:31:45 (13-laps)
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:32:12 (12-laps)
2. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (#801 Kess Racing) – 00:27:22 (10-laps)
3. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:34:37 (9-laps)
4. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) – DNF (0-laps)
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RND#4 – Race#3
Supercat Extreme
1. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#5 Venturi Offshore) – 00:30:52 (13-laps)
2. Mason Kelly/Todd Kelly (#15 MOJO) – 00:30:56 (13-laps)
3. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#525 Hornet Racing) – DNS
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:31:29 (12-laps)
2. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (#801 Kess Racing) – 00:31:51 (12-laps)
3. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:33:10 (10-laps)
4. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) – DNS
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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Championship Points (after round four of four)*
AUS#1 Championship
1. Hornet Racing (328-points), 2. MOJO (295), 3. Venturi Offshore (293), 4. The Sting (245), 5. Mobile X (214), 6. Kess Racing (157), 7. TCR Offshore (131), 8. DLR Offshore (116), 9. Special Edition/TR Racing (106), 10. Nut Case (101), 11. Cardiac Arrest (97), 12. The Con (71), 13. Valentus (52), 14. The Colonel (48), 15. Team 38 Offshore (37)
Supercat Extreme
1. Hornet Racing (363-points), 2. MOJO (361), 3. Venturi Offshore (331), 4. Mobile X (211)
Supercat Outboard
1. The Sting (421-points), 2. DLR Offshore (331), 3. Kess Racing (302), 4. TCR Offshore (265)
* only those boats that competed in more than 50% of the rounds are classified in the Championship
The mighty Offshore Superboats make a welcome return to Port Adelaide this weekend for the final round of the current season; with everything to play for.
Only the Supersports 85 Championship has been decided heading back to Largs Bay, ‘Cootacraft’s’ Mark Pecherzewski adding another title to his name in what he suggests may be one of his final seasons in the open-cockpit, speed regulated category, as he looks to join last year’s 85-mile-per-hour Champions ‘Hornet Racing’ in the faster outright classes.
Speaking of the Kelly family, Mick and Jason Kelly will come into the season final with a comfortable 42-point lead in the outright Supercat Extreme category over the ‘MOJO’ pairing of Stuart Eustice and Todd Kelly, a team who made their debut at Adelaide 12-months ago. The two rookie teams though won’t be alone in their title fight, battling Supercat Outboard graduates Antony Defina and Matt Kelly for the overall title, the former ‘Team 3’ entry, now resplendent in ‘Venturi’ blue, are just 17 points behind second with 105-points up for grabs this weekend!
The Supercat Outboard category too is set for a title battle, although on paper, the favourites are arguably former Champions Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall in ‘The Sting’; that said, you’d be remiss to discount ‘DLR Offshore’, Craig Dove’s outstanding consistency handing him second in the Championship last year to outgoing Champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly.
Acknowledging that they don’t have the performance advantage of the more powerful twin Mercury 300Rs off the back of the ‘Sting’ and ‘Kess Racing’ machines, Dove’s reliability has played well into his Championship story as he enters Adelaide just 63 points back from the points leaders; again, with 105 points up for grabs, it’s not outside the realms of possibility that the ageing aluminium boat, could claim the 2026 title, and what a story that would be!!
Throw Dove’s 2025 team-mate Steve Lancaster into the mix in ‘Kess Racing’, the boat that took De Fina and Matt Kelly to multiple class victories, and you have a race on your hands, whilst for the veteran crew of Stephen Kelly and Scott Richardson, they will be hoping to revisit their strong Wyndham Harbour form in what looks likely to be their last ever event in the ‘TCR Offshore’ machine.
Arguably the biggest battle in the Series though will be that for Supersport 65 honours with Geelong’s Charlie Di Iorio on the verge of his maiden title in the family-owned ‘Cardiac Arrest’.
Three wins from nine starts to date have laid the foundations for their points lead, the key though being their six second-placed finishes, as around them their rivals have faltered. Leading the charge to unseat the young Victorian are reigning Champions ‘Nut Case’, who despite a slow start to the season with Hary Bakkr investigating opportunities in the Supersports 85 class, have reunited in an effort to claim back-to-back titles.
The popular Victorians have won the last four races to launch themselves right back into contention, and sit just 27 points off the Championship lead. Again, there are 105 points on offer, but the equations gets even trickier in the tightly regulated category, a category which rarely sees a DNF; should Bakkr and Shane Paton win all three races in Adelaide, as they did last year, and Di Iorio finishes second, they’ll make up just 15 points.
The equation shows that Di Iorio and Tijana Botic need to finish no worse than third, but are better off with second; should they finish third in each race, they will tie with the reigning Champions but likely lose a count-back based on round wins, so it will be all about consistency, whilst for the ‘Razorcraft’ crew of Bakkr and Paton, they have no option; it’s go hard or go home. It’s worth remembering too, that a DNF also includes ‘breaking out’ above their 65-mile-per-hour speed limit, something which occurs quite regularly.. Throw in 2024 Champion Patty Paczkowski – who will make his Port Adelaide debut – and you have just enough ingredients to make things very interesting for the contenders.. wonder who might be buying him a beer at the end of the weekend!?
No pressure..!!
Frustratingly the global fuel issue has cost us some entries, including reigning Supercat Extreme Champions ‘Mobile X/222 Offshore’ who were also in mathematical reach of the Championship; the sheer logistics of getting the team to Adelaide from the Gold Coast ultimately sidelining them, as it has for a number of Queensland-based teams, but regardless, the battle for Championship honours will certainly keep everyone focussed.
For 2026 the location of the course has been brought further south with the bottom turn coming just off Semaphore Jetty, providing a fantastic viewing point for the fans, whilst the beach all the way back to Largs Bay, and the Largs Bay Sailing Club will also provide some great options, as will the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, which will host the teams at North Haven. Three 30-minute races are scheduled for Saturday, May 09 with races at 12:00pm, 1:00pm and 2:00pm, whilst on Sunday, May 10, 30-minute races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
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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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after round three of four)
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (Hornet Racing) – 268-points
2. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (MOJO) – 226
3. Darren Nicholson/Steve Jellick (Mobile X) – 211
4. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (Venturi Offshore) – 209
5. Darren Apps/Paul Fowlds (Team Australia) – 23
6. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 1
Supercat Outboard Championship (after round three of four)
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 281-points
2. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (DLR Offshore) – 218
3. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 195
4. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (Kess Racing) – 177
5. George Collins/Tom Barry-Cotter (Superstition) – 31
Supersports 85 Championship (after round three of four)
1. Mark Pecherzewski/Mel Nelson (Special Edition/TR Racing) – 271-points
2. Jordan Kelly/Scott Kelly (The Colonel) – 130
Supersports 65 Championship (after round three of four)
1. Charlie Di Iorio/Tijana Botic (Cardiac Arrest) – 285-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (Nut Case) – 258
3. Pat Paczkowski (Valentus) – 224
4. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (The Con) – 216
5. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (Team 38 Offshore) – 148
6. Zac Gould/Michael Agius (Degen) – 18
Heading into the third round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships in Geelong’s Corio Bay, the season is at its mid-point with everything to play for and no shortage of contenders expected to make their presence felt on the challenging 5.48-kilometre, eight-turn course.
Season 2026 has again delivered some outstanding action, with the outright Supercat Extreme category once again leading the charge with one of their biggest fields of the last decade, presenting a great focal point for the fans with their impressive presence.
As they have done now for many years, ‘222 Offshore’ have been the dominant force, the 2023 UIM World Champions kicking off the season at their home venue in Lake Macquarie with a trio of comfortable victories, however their title defence took a backward step last time out at Wyndham Harbour with a technical failure whilst leading race two, an issue which ultimately sidelined them for the final race, costing them valuable championship points.
That opened the door for reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly in their stunning ‘Hornet Racing’ machine, the former AUS and NZ#1, now resplendent in the bold livery of ‘Hornet Plumbing’ showing fantastic pace from their debut in Lake Macquarie where despite significantly lower horsepower than their rivals, they were able to take their 34-foot ‘Skater’ to second, before achieving their maiden win at Wyndham Harbour, putting them to the top of the points table. Second overall, despite some significant setbacks at Lake Macquarie with prop failure, are fellow rookies Stuart Eustice and Todd Kelly, the ‘MOJO’ team proving more than a match for their rivals, despite 2005 Bathurst 1000 Champion Todd Kelly’s limited experience in the boat, and Eustice’s debut at Lake Macquarie, a debut which forced Kelly into the throttleman’s position for the first time.
The ’MOJO’ team – like ‘222 Offshore’ – campaign the faster, more powerful twin-790bhp inboard V8s, but whilst carrying as much as 450-500 horsepower more than ‘Venturi’ and ‘Hornet’, the bigger boats also carry a heftier race weight, allowing their rivals a fighting chance on the power-to-weight scale.
At Geelong the new-look ‘Mobile X’ team are again expected to set the pace and back-up their 2025 victories at the venue where they claimed two race wins before a technical setback sidelined them for the third, although they know – just two rounds in – that their rivals aren’t going to make it easy, and the shorter track rotation on smoother water, thanks to the sheltered Corio Bay location, could play into the hands of the smaller boats.
In Supercat Outboard, all eyes will be on ‘Kess Racing’ who suffered a rollover in Wyndham Harbour in a battle for the lead with ‘TCR Racing’ and ‘The Sting’, contact with the iconic yellow boat of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall saw Steve Lancaster and Scott Kelly invert the reigning championship winning boat, putting a big hole in their Championship apsirations.
Fortunately the crew and the boat were okay, although the boat required some extra attention between rounds, as did ‘The Sting’ that suffered prop failure in that same race, allowing ‘TCR Offshore’ through for a welcome victory, the Victorian team going through to win the round ahead of ‘DLR Offshore’, Ratcliffe and Wall’s Championship lead now reduced to just three points promising for an interesting weekend ahead.
The Geelong event also sees the welcome return of the former Paul Gibbs/Paul Fowlds Championship winning boat with new owner George Collins taking the wheel alongside former World Champion Tom Barry-Cotter, the ‘ACME Racing’ wheel-man taking a short sabbatical from the mighty red boat whilst Andrew Searle effects updates and repairs ahead of a return later in the season.
Supersports 85 will also see a return, the mighty title-winning ‘Colonel’ back in the fold after missing Wyndham Harbour, Jason Kelly returning to the throttles of both the ‘Colonel’ and ‘Hornet Racing’ although this time he’ll be joined by Mick Kelly’s son Jordan keeping the family tradition alive.. They will battle Mark Pecherzewski and Mel Nelson in the mighty ‘Special Edition’ and one of the most famous names in Offshore Racing worldwide, 11-time World and USA National Champion Scott Porta, who joins boat owner George Sezdirmezoglu in his immaculate ‘Donzi’. Rumour also has it that Nelson might give up her seat alongside Pecherzewski for reigning Supersports 65 Champion Hary Bakkr in one race across the weekend, Bakkr keen to get a feel for the mighty ‘Cootacraft’ as the ‘Razorcraft’ team looks to build their own 85-mile-per-hour boat some time in the near future.
The Championship battle in Supersports 65 has also stepped up, with Geelong local Charlie Di Iorio now leading the charge after a slow start to their title defence for Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton in ‘Nut Case’. Di Iorio and new observer Tijana Botic will be looking to build on their points lead at home, although Bakkr acknowledges that he’s looking to make an impact this weekend and is intent on a return to the top step of the podium; their victories in both Geelong races in 2025 only adding to their confidence.
Shadowing both will be Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster in ‘The Con’, 2024 Champion Pat Paczkowski in ‘Valentus’, and Ben Embleton and Liam Sutherland in ‘Team 38’, paving the way for three fantastic races across the weekend.
For anyone attending the event, teams will again be based at Steampacket Gardens on the Geelong foreshore providing a fanastic viewing opportunity with vantage points right around Corio Bay. Three 30-minute races will run on Saturday, March 14 with races scheduled at 1:00pm, 2:00pm and 3:00pm, whilst on Sunday, March 15, races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
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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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (Hornet Racing) – 173-points
2. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (MOJO) – 148
3. Darren Nicholson/Steve Jellick (Mobile X) – 141
4. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (Venturi Offshore) – 135
5. Darren Apps/Paul Fowlds (Team Australia) – 23
6. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 1
Supercat Outboard Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 176-points
2. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 173
3. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (DLR Offshore) – 148
4. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (Kess Racing) – 91
Supersports 85 Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mark Pecherzewski/Mel Nelson/Ian Tricker (Special Edition/TR Racing) – 200-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Scott Kelly/Steve Kelly (The Colonel) – 70
Supersports 65 Championship (after round two of four)
1. Charlie Di Iorio/Tijana Botic (Cardiac Arrest) – 195-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (Nut Case) – 153
3. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (The Con) – 148
3. Pat Paczkowski (Valentus) – 148
5. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (Team 38 Offshore) – 90
6. Zac Gould/Michael Agius (Degen) – 18
Club Marine is an icon in Australia as the country’s largest boat insurance provider, underwritten by Allianz, operating since 1959. Whilst synonymous with recreational boats, thanks to a new association with the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club [AOPC], they are now offering specific cover for race boats whilst on land.
“We’ve had a fantastic relationship with Club Marine for a number of decades,” AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina acknowledged. “In the past they have been a sponsor of the Series, more recently we’ve been looking at solutions to insure our race boats in storage and transit, and are pleased to confirm that Club Marine is able to now offer this cover.
This new offering provides race boat owners cover for accidental loss or damage, theft or malicious damage to their boat, specifically while it is on land and on its own trailer. Policyholders will also be covered for up to $2,000 (incl GST) for non-refundable powerboat race and tournament entry fees, when a covered incident caused you to withdraw.
“Insurance like this had previously been non-existent, so thanks to the tireless efforts of Billy Powell (Club Marine, VIC/TAS State Manager) and other senior members of Club Marine, it’s come to fruition, highlighting Club Marine’s commitment to boating, and strengthening their partnership with the Australian Offshore Superboat Championship.”
“We are delighted to enter into a new relationship with the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club,” Club Marine CEO Tim Wiles added. “This partnership reflects our commitment to supporting the sport and strengthening our connection with passionate boating enthusiasts across Australia.”
Aside from delivering this opportunity to competitors, Club Marine’s support of the sport also extends to coverage of the AOPC Shark Cat vessel used to support race day events.
“We can’t thank Club Marine enough for developing this cover to deliver it to the racing community,” De Fina added. “It’s always a challenge with racing, we understand damage can occur under the pressures of competition, but it’s the fear of damage during transit, or even worse, theft of equipment whilst stopped overnight or locked away in a factory, so this provides some welcome relief.
The news also adds to our growth as a category, support from renowned industry experts like Club Marine is another fantastic tick in the box as we continue the push with the sport heading into what is one of our biggest seasons for more than a decade. Lake Macquarie’s record entries and fantastic crowd support during Race 1 are testament to this.”
About Club Marine
Club Marine is dedicated to providing a truly local approach, with offices and experts in each major Australian city, with their team ready to offer support when needed. Their team of specialists live and breathe boating, offering trusted experience, deep industry knowledge and strong connections across the country. Club Marine is about more than just insurance, they’re passionate about supporting the boating community through local yacht clubs, regattas, tournaments, boat shows and marine initiatives around Australia.
For more information contact Club Marine on 1300 88 CLUB (2582) or email vic@clubmarine.com.au.
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2025/266 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026
Round two of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will see the iconic race boats back on the waters of Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay for what will be back-to-back events in Victoria across the coming three weeks, Wyndham Harbour always popular with the purists for its changeable conditions, conditions which can often have a big impact on the result.
With the sport enjoying an upward swing in interest over the last 18-months, there will be no shortage of outright competition for the points leaders, although since the season-opener at Lake Macquarie last October, there have been some changes. Most notable will be a livery change for the reigning Supercat Extreme Champions, ‘222 Offshore’ now sporting a green, black and white livery, with the addition of Mobile X which also adorns their boat in the US.
For their 2024/25 rivals ‘ACME Racing’ there has also been a change, although this one isn’t quite as welcome, the popular Andrew Searle/Tom Barry-Cotter combination sidelined for the immediate future with some technical challenges uncovered at the opening round. As former champions, and passionate Offshore ambassadors, they will be back, but concede they have some work to do to trouble-shoot some niggling issues before mounting a comeback.
Despite their absence and based on the performance of the rookie entries at the season opener, 222 will have no shortage of competition this weekend.
2005 Bathurst 1000 Champion and part-time boat racer Todd Kelly will start his third Offshore event at Wyndham Harbour; home venue for team-mate and boat owner Stuart Eustice. The pair showed impressive pace at Lake Macquarie in their maiden event as team-mates, Kelly making his debut on throttles with Eustice on the wheel. Second in their maiden race was a highlight, although two retirements with prop failures weren’t a great follow-up, although Kelly admitted it did give them the opportunity to replace the second-hand units with which they’d purchased the boat with new props, providing them some level of confidence in being able to push the boat closer to the limit.
Speaking of Kellys.. arguably the performance of Lake Macquarie was that of reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly in their new ‘Hornet Racing’ Supercat Extreme package. A former title-winning boat purchased in the off-season from New Zealand, the outright rookies looked anything but in the opening round, finishing second twice to ‘222 Offshore’ after third in the opening race, to be second in points heading into their home race.
Acknowledging that they’ve still got a long way to go, the stunning fluro ‘Hornet Racing’ package will be sure to attract plenty of attention, and they showed last year in their fight against ‘Special Edition’ in the rough water, that mother-nature isn’t going to hold them back!
Joining the Kellys as rookies in the class; and also reigning class champions – are Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly in their former ‘Team 3’ outfit, now rebadged as ‘Venturi Offshore’. The reigning – and multiple – Supercat Outboard Champions are looking forward to a return to competition after some educational laps at Lake Macquarie, an event that saw them twice make the podium despite some teething issues, one of those almost costing De Fina a couple of fingers..
A water pressure issue which was difficult to address on-site at Lake Macquarie has been rectified and recent testing saw smiles all round, and as their home event, they’ll be looking for some big steps forward in performance and a chance to take the fight to the Hornet team; it may be a six-boat Championship as things stand right now, but there will be Championship like celebrations in Melbourne’s south-east for one of those two teams come Sunday night; bragging rights just as important..!
Sadly for the returning ‘Team Australia’, they too have been forced to sit out the Wyndham Harbour round; post-Lake Macquarie investigations revealing some maintenance issues the team needed to address as a result of the boat having sat unused for some time, they’re feverishly making those updates ahead of a return in Geelong where new boat-owner Phil Wiley is expected to take over from former Supercat Outboard Champion Paul Fowlds, alongside Darren Apps.
12-months ago, the Supercat Outboard category was dominated by the mighty ‘Sting’ entry of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall, the duo turning the tables on title rivals De Fina and Kelly who had clean swept the opening round at Lake Macquarie. This season it was Ratcliffe and Wall who claimed three-from-three at the season opener, which is ominous news for their rivals as they return to Victoria, although despite their favouritism, they also remember only too well that they were co-points leaders with ‘The Mantis’ last year after Wyndham Harbour’s success, before a dramatic off in Geelong’s penultimate round brought their season to a sudden end.
For Steve Lancaster, who last year sat alongside Craig Dove in ‘DLR Offshore’, he’s the proud new owner of ‘The Mantis’ and after a strong debut with his new boat in Lake Macquarie, which saw the new-look ‘Kess Racing’ machine grab second, he’s convinced that the points leaders aren’t too far from reach, promising to amp up the pressure this weekend, although he’ll have to keep one eye firmly on the mirror as he also knows what’s coming..
Last year the ‘DLR Offshore’ team were the real giant-killers of the class, finishing second in points to ‘The Mantis’ with Lancaster at the wheel. This year Craig Dove is joined by son Lachlan, and whilst there might be a crew change, the team are well versed with how to get the most from the boat, the same applies with Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly in ‘TCR Offshore’. Both campaign older model powerplants which feature less outright pace than their rivals, but both are well sorted boats with two experienced crews, so more than capable of featuring in the result.
The Wyndham Harbour round was a standout event for Mark Pecherzeswki’s ‘Special Edition’ ‘Cootacraft’ – the rougher conditions really suiting the deep-vee monohull in his title battle with the Kelly family in ‘The Colonel’. One of the real highlights of the 2025 season, the two rivals have gone in different directions this season, the Kellys graduating to the outright class, whilst Pecherzewski was forced to sit in the jump seat of Ian Tricker’s mighty ‘TR Racing’ ski-racing inboard monster at Lake Mac in order to score vital Championship points after engine parts delays sidelined his own boat at the eleventh hour.
Sadly, ‘The Colonel’ has been put back in mothballs for the immediate future, round one Supersports 85 rookie and reigning Supersports 65 Champion Hary Bakkr moving back to his own boat for his home event, although he admitted his opening round taste of twin hull racing was more than addictive; the ‘Razorcraft’ boss looking to make a return to the faster class with a new boat in the not too distant future.
With ‘The Colonel’ sidelined, Pecherzewski will be alone for the weekend although he’ll be in full entertainment round, loving nothing more than running the mighty ‘Maritimo’ inboard wide open as often as possible, he’ll also be looking to re-pay his new team-mate after Tricker did all the heavy lifting at Lake Mac as the driver, Pecherzewski keen to turn the tables..!
As always, the Supersports 65 category has been well subscribed, and at Wyndham Harbour – led by the reigning Champions ‘Nut Case’, Shane Paton again expected to join Hary Bakkr in the mighty green ‘Razorcaft’. 12-months ago they didn’t have the best of luck, a broken electrical connection impacting their opening race, before other setbacks dropped them back down the order, although having clean-swept Lake Macquarie in 2024, the impact on their title chase was minimal. This year they’re back in the points race, and will have no shortage of competition, including 2024 Champion Patty Paczkowski who won the event last year.
For Geelong’s Charlie Di Iorio, he takes over sole duties in the family-owned ‘Cardiac Arrest’ with Greg Walters looking to return to his own boat in the weeks to come, Di Iorio currently the points leader after two class wins in the opening round, although with Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster just 18 points behind and second overall, he’ll have his work cut out for him this weekend, although he knows only too well that rougher conditions perfectly suit his ‘Cootacraft’.
Add Ben Embleton and the experienced Liam Sutherland in ‘Team 38 Offshore’ and Darren and Kristy Milgate in their ‘Angler’s Rest Hotel’ entry and you have all the ingredients for another memorable weekend!
For anyone attending the event, teams will again be based at Wyndham Harbour, just 10-kilometres south-east of Werribee. The Wyndham Harbour precinct is within minutes of some of Melbourne’s best attractions including the Werribee free-range Zoo, Werribee Mansion and Halifax Winery to name a few. The venue provides plenty of entertainment, fantastic cuisine at 3030 Waterfront, and no shortage of great locations from which to view the racing.
Three 30-minute races will run on Saturday, February 21 with races scheduled at 1:00pm, 2:00pm and 3:00pm, whilst on Sunday, February 22, races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
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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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after round one of four)
1. Darren Nicholson/Steve Jellick (Boost Mobile/222 Offshore) – 105-points
2. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (Hornet Racing) – 86
3. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (MOJO) – 53
4. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (Venturi Offshore) – 53
5. Darren Apps/Paul Fowlds (Team Australia) – 23
6. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 1
Supercat Outboard Championship (after round one of four)
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 105-points
2. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (Kess Racing) – 90
3. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 78
4. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (DLR Offshore) – 66
Supersports 85 Championship (after round one of four)
1. Mark Pecherzewski/Ian Tricker (Special Edition/TR Racing) – 95-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Scott Kelly/Steve Kelly (The Colonel) – 70
Supersports 65 Championship (after round one of four)
1. Charlie Di Iorio/Greg Walters (Cardiac Arrest) – 100-points
2. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (The Con) – 82
3. Hary Bakkr/Antonio Fazzolari (Nut Case) – 70
4. Pat Paczkowski (Valentus) – 57
5. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (Team 38 Offshore) – 49
6. Zac Gould/Michael Agius (Degen) – 18
Melbourne’s iconic JV Marine World will join the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships as the Series returns to Victoria for back-to-back rounds at Wyndham Harbour and Geelong across the coming weeks, Australia’s largest boating superstore adding their support as part of their 50 year birthday celebrations.
“This is great news for the Offshore Championships heading into JV Marine’s back yard,” AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina admitted. “They are icons in the boating industry in Australia with the country’s largest boating superstore in Melbourne’s Braeside, which has operated since 1976. In fact, I can remember in those formative years going to their original premises in North Road and picking up a second-hand runabout with my father, so I remember them fondly as part of my boat racing journey.
“At Wyndham Harbour in just over a week, a mighty Boston Whaler, fitted with a pair of 400-hp Mercury outboards from JV Marine World, will lead the field away as the start boat, putting them front and centre for what we expect will be a fantastic weekend of world class Offshore action.”
Established by John Stav half a decade ago, JV Marine has grown to house Australia’s largest indoor boating showroom, the facility hosting all manner of new and used boats and jetskis across 10-acres at their 878 Springvale Road location, the business also has its own café, ski shop and dedicated dive shop, catering for all aspects of boating.
“To have JV Marine continue to support us – especially in their 50th year – is fantastic and says something about where the sport is heading; we can’t thank them enough,” De Fina added.
“There’s no question that Offshore Superboats are the pinnacle of boating performance, not just here, but around the world,” JV Marine World’s Mark Stav explained. “They’re a fantastic spectacle, especially out on rough water, really pushing the boundaries of what extreme boating is all about, testing man and machine.
“For JV Marine World it gives us a great platform to promote our boating involvement both around the country, and around the world.”
“It’s an exciting time for the sport,” De Fina added. “For the first time in more than a decade we have strong fields of outright boats, with a likelihood of six or more Supercat Extreme boats battling for the Championship title this season, whilst the Supersports classes too are seeing fantastic interest with new boats underway to take the fight to the established stars; it’s going to be a great season.”
The second round of the 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will take place off Wyndham Harbour in Melbourne’s south-west, with six 30-minute races across the weekend; Saturday, February 21 will see the action start from 1:00pm through to 3:30pm, then on Sunday, February 22, from 11:00am to 1:30pm.
About JV World Marine
Located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburb of Braeside, JV Marine World is Victoria’s largest boating dealership with hundreds of boats and jetskis on display. They are committed to providing excellent customer service and offer a great range of New and Used boats and jetskis, genuine spare parts and accessories, and an experience Service Department. They are located at 878 Springvale Road, Braeside.
For more information visit; www.jvmarine.com.au
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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026
The 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will return to the New South Wales Hunter Valley and the waters of Lake Macquarie for the highly anticipated opening round of the new season, a season which promises some of the biggest fields in more than a decade, led by the stunning outright Supercat Extreme category that will feature a number of new and returning boats campaigned by both rookie and experienced crews.
Having worked tirelessly to re-establish themselves after setbacks post-Covid, the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club has been rewarded for their efforts with what will be the best field of boats to contest the Championship for more than ten years. Led by the impressive outright Supercat Extreme boats, there has been a big shakeup in every class of competition for the coming season leading to an air of excitement about what’s to come at Lake Macquarie.
Clear favourites to start the new campaign in Supercat Extreme will be Lake Macquarie locals ‘Boost Mobile/222 Offshore’ with reigning champions Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath strapping in again to weather the coming storm, but whilst the team will use their immense experience; which includes World Championship victory – they know the new season will present some big challenges.
12-months ago at Lake Macquarie, Andrew Searle and Tom Barry-Cotter debuted their new look ‘ACME Racing’ Maritimo, the team having debuted in the final round of the previous season on the Gold Coast as a shakedown, the 2024/25 Offshore season their first real assault with the new boat where typically of a debut package, there were teething issues. This time around though after a big off season preparing new powerplants and making some further adjustments to the package, the multiple national champions are convinced they will present a much greater challenge to the ‘222’ team and are excited about the prospect of the season ahead.
But as they say in the commercials, that’s not all..!
In Port Adelaide back in April, another former Maritimo package made its return to the water under the flag of 2005 Bathurst 1000 winner Todd Kelly, the new-look ‘MOJO’ program put together in the two weeks ahead of the event with new owner Stuart Eustice and Kelly planning a full assault on the 2025/26 season, but electing to run Port Adelaide as a shakedown.
A big off-season for the ‘Kelly Performance’ supported team will see them look to push for podium finishes off the back of two wins on debut at Port Adelaide, although Kelly is quick to point out that they came at the expense of penalties and technical setbacks for their rivals; regardless, they impressed on debut and will be looking to send a message to the established teams that they’re looking for a championship!
And that leads us to the ‘new’ teams, led by two Championship winning crews; multiple Supercat Outboard Champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly, and multiple Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly (and yes, three of those Kellys are related, but interestingly, not to Todd Kelly..!)
For AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina, much of his life has been dominated by the sport, his father a pioneer in the category during its formative years, and like most competitors in the sport, his dreams had always centered on the outright category where finally, after many years of success in the Outboard classes, he’s made the leap after purchasing the former Team 3 Victory cat formerly campaigned in Australia by Adam Gilbert.
Joined again by wheel-man Matt Kelly, the pair are under no illusions about what to expect in their maiden season as they work the intricacies of managing a longer, heavier inboard engine boat against some very serious competition, but one thing is for certain, the package has the credentials and the team have immense experience in the sport, and like their rivals, they’re not entered just to make up the numbers, so will be good to watch in their debut season.
For reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly, their plan had been to step into the Supercat Outboard class for season 2026, but through a number of changing circumstances found themselves faced with a 34-foot ‘Skater’ hull which once held both the Australian and New Zealand #1 titles; Hornet Racing the evolution of that, with what is arguably the most stunning paint scheme in the sport – they’ll be hard to miss.
Both teams know they have plenty of work ahead, experience teaching them that with graduation comes a whole new learning experience, but like the other experienced campaigners in the field, they’re not starting from ground zero so could present a challenge to the category’s more seasoned campaigners, especially if they face a setback.
Meanwhile for Philip Wiley and Darren Apps, two long time mates brought together over a passion for ski racing, they’ve emerged from the off-season break with their own project having taken delivery of Brett Luhrmann’s ‘Team Australia’ Maritimo. The duo will spend the new season coming to grips with a very different boat to what they’ve been accustomed too, but have also drafted in the experienced Paul Fowlds, the multiple outboard Offshore Champion running alongside Apps for the opening few races in accordance with regulations, which requires at least one experienced campaigner in the boat for the team’s first four races.
With their size, speed and sound, the Supercat Extreme boats are the most iconic in Offshore competition, but will by no means present the only focal point across the six 30-minute races at Lake Macquarie.
There’s been change in the Supercat Outboard category too in the off-season, most notable being that of reigning Champions ‘The Mantis’. Post-Port Adelaide the Antony De Fina built catamaran was sold on to rival Steve Lancaster of DLR Offshore fame, Lancaster campaigning the multiple championship winning boat under the ‘Kess Racing’ banner this season with the experienced Scott Kelly alongside.
They might be the ‘underdog’ as a new combination, but with the extra speed of twin Mercury 300Rs at his disposal, Lancaster will be able to take the fight directly to the ‘Sting’ pairing of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall who despite missing Adelaide after their big off in Geelong, come into the new season fully repaired and fully prepared. They’re also looking for redemption after holding the championship points lead with De Fina and Kelly at the mid-point of last season, both teams having claimed three wins apiece to that point; for them, 2026 is about completing the job!
Whilst ‘Kess’ and ‘The Sting’ campaign the more powerful 300R engines, for ‘TCR Offshore’s’ Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly, they will have their hands full this season against ‘DLR Offshore’s’ new-look crew, with Craig Dove now joined by son Lachlan in the popular Victorian boat, both teams campaigning the older 300XS Mercury powerplants. Having completed the 2025 season second in points, DLR will be looking to maintain their place in the Championship and based on their reliability last season, will present a real threat to the faster teams.
In keeping with the graduation of champions through to the faster classes, the Supersports 85 category will have a new look to start the 25/26 season, but unlike the Supercat classes, this one has a twist.
Over recent years the battle for supremacy between Cootacraft’s Mark Pecherzeswki and the ‘The Colonel’ of Mick and Jason Kelly has been a highlight, two very different boats competing gunnel-to-gunnel at almost every round, and whilst the Kellys have emerged on top the last two seasons, there has been no doubt about which of the two boats is faster (remembering that the class is capped by GPS to 85mph), Pecherzewski though, lamenting a lack of reliability last season.
Sadly that lack of reliability saw a major overhaul in the off-season where frustratingly parts delays kept the mighty ‘Special Edition’ from readiness for Lake Macquarie, forcing a change in direction, and here’s the kicker..
Graduating to the Supercat Extreme class saw a vacancy in the Kelly family’s beloved ‘Colonel’; enter newly crowned Supersports 65 Champion Hary Bakkr.. Bakkr had designs on building a new ‘Razorcraft’ for the 2026 Supersports 85 season but work commitments (building Razorcrafts for customers) had sidelined the project, delivering the Kellys a solution to keeping their ‘Skater’ in the field. That vacancy and subsequent challenges to Shane Paton’s graduation to driver of ‘Nut Case’ for the new season saw the mighty green-machine available for Lake Macquarie, and yep, you guessed it, Pecherzewksi and Mel Nelson will jump aboard to earn points towards their tilt at the 2026 Supersports 85 title, although acknowledging that they might not be in contention for the class win this weekend.
In keeping with the strong growth of the category, the Supersports 85 class will have no shortage of depth, Bakkr and Pecherzewski joined by Aaron and Jack Panozza in ‘Skater 28’, Darren Penfold in ‘Thunderstruck’ and Anthony and Hunter McEnally in ‘Watersports Marine’ all in contention for a race win across the weekend, and if 2024 was any guide (three different winners across the Lake Mac weekend), anything is possible.. And just a tip, don’t discount the mighty little green boat..!
With Bakr having graduated for the 2026 season, the path is open for a new champion in the Supersports 65 class and again, there’s no shortage of contenders although all will need to be on their A-game with the return of 2024 Champion Patty Paczkowski in ‘Valentus’. Family commitments kept the team from a full program last year, although a return at Wyndham Harbour did nett three race wins, but for the 2025/26 season, Paczkowski is intent on regaining the crown, although he won’t have it all his own way.
Charlie Di Iorio is back in the family-run ‘Cardiac Arrest’ with Greg Walters again alongside despite repairing his much-loved ‘HUN74’ Haines Hunter in the off-season, the Di iorio and Walters combination a serious threat for the outright title, whilst Ben Embleton – again with the experienced Liam Sutherland alongside – will look to press their intentions in their first full season in the Championship.
Throw in the returning Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster in ‘The Con’, Aaron Jackson in ‘All Coast Marine’; who claimed three podium finishes at Lake Mac 12-months ago – Zak Gould in ‘Degen’ and Patrick Bonnici in ‘Power Marine’ and you have no shortage of action across all four classes.
For anyone attending the event, teams will again be based at Empire Marina at Marmong Point with the boats traversing a 6.5-kiloemtre course that runs from the start/finish line at Marmong Point south towards Bolton Point, then east towards Warners Bay, up close and personal to The Esplanade at Speers Point, on towards The Five Islands then back to Marmong Point presenting many great vantage points around the rotation.
Three 30-minute races will run on Saturday, October 18 with races scheduled at 12:00pm, 1:00pm and 2:00pm, whilst on Sunday, October 19, races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
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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2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Darren Nicholson/Peter McGrath (Boost Mobile/222 Offshore) – 376-points
2. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 323
Supercat Outboard Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (The Mantis) – 440-points
2. Steve Lancaster/Craig Dove (DLR Offshore) – 347
3. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 226
4. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 206
Supersports 85 Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (The Colonel) – 361-points
2. Mark Pecherzewski/Melanie Nelson (Special Edition) – 241
3. Ryan Shan/Scott Kelly (RS Motorsport) – 92
Supersports 65 Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (Nut Case) – 377-points
2. Charlie Di Iorio/Greg Walters (Cardiac Arrest) – 156
3. Danny Caelli/Dean Caelli (Villain) – 131
4. Greg Walters (HUN74) – 32
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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026
The Australian Offshore Superboat Championships have revealed a fantastic new addition to the coming season, with Melbourne’s legendary JV Marine World and Porta Products coming on board as a event partners ahead of the opening round scheduled for stunning Lake Macquarie in just over a week’s time.
“This is fantastic news for the Offshore Championships heading into the opening round of the season,” AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina admitted. “JV Marine are icons in the boating industry in Australia with the country’s largest boating superstore in Melbourne’s Braeside operating since 1976. They’re also Australian dealers for the respected Porta Products of American Scott Porta, a multiple World Champion, Key West winner and a legend in the Super Stock classes in the US. For those who have been following us over the last 12 months they’ll remember that Scott was scheduled to join the field at Geelong last season in a Donzi he’d been preparing for an Australian client. Sadly time was against the team, but the finished product is now a work of art.
“To have these two great icons of boating offer to come on board and support us and our development this year is fantastic news, and continues this great upward trend we’re currently enjoying; we’re really excited for what the coming season has to offer.”
“There’s no question that Offshore Superboats are the pinnacle of boating performance, not just here, but around the world,” JV Marine World’s Mark Stav explained. “They’re a fantastic spectacle, especially out on rough water, really pushing the boundaries of what extreme boating is all about, testing man and machine.
“For JV Marine World it gives us a great platform to promote our boating involvement both around the country, and around the world, whilst it also gives us a platform to introduce our relationship with Porta Products renowned worldwide for their hydraulic transom brackets allowing engines more range in shallow water with their innovative vertical lift design.”
“It’s an exciting time for the sport,” De Fina added. “For the first time in more than a decade we have strong fields of outright boats, with a likelihood of six or more Supercat Extreme boats battling for the outright win this season, whilst the Supersports classes too are seeing fantastic interest with new boats underway to take the fight to the established stars; it’s going to be a fantastic season and it all gets underway in just over a week at beautiful Lake Macquarie for their ’Lake Mac Action Fest’.
The opening round of the 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will take place off Empire Marina in Lake Macquarie, with six 30-minute races across the weekend; Saturday, October 18 will see the action start from 12:00pm through to 2:30pm, then on Sunday, October 19, from 11:00am to 1:30pm.
About JV World Marine
Located in Melbourne’s Braeside, JV Marine World is Victoria’s largest boating dealership with hundreds of boats and jetskis on display. They are committed to providing excellent customer service and offer a range of New and Used boats and jetskis, genuine spare parts and accessories, and an experience Service Department. They are located at 878 Springvale Road, Braeside.
For more information visit; www.jvmarine.com.au
About Porta Products
The Porta Hydraulic Transom Bracket is a moveable parallelogram that allows the engine to remain at the same trim angle throughout the entire range of travel of the Porta Bracket. A traditional hydraulic jack plate can raise and lower the motor a short distance (usually 150mm max) but does not offer the advantages of a transom bracket. With the Porta Hydraulic Transom Bracket you get a vertical movement range – of 50mm to 550mm – much more than is offered by any other system.
For more information visit; www.portaproducts.com
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2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026