Racing in Round Two of the 2023 Offshore Superboat Championship was abandoned on Corio Bay on Saturday, March 18 due to the prevailing weather conditions. Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore, Antony de Fina, stated “This is probably the windiest I’ve ever seen it here at Geelong. We couldn’t get a full flotilla of safety boats out and once that occurs, we really can’t run a full fleet of racing boats.”

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club closed the pier along the wave attenuator, as there was water washing over it. This makes it slippery and hazardous for people, so this to highlights that safety comes first.

“It’s always a difficult decision when you cannot facilitate the racing, but it just wasn’t worth going out there, risking not only the safety boats, but significant damage to other boats, as well.” 

“So we ran the two big Class One boats as an exhibition race to finish the day off. We’ll bring racing forward tomorrow, shorten them to 25 minutes, and get an extra race away to make it four for the day.”

Racing commences at 10 30am with the Sports 65 and 85 Classes.

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.

 

 

Immediate Release Feb 26th:

2023 Offshore Superboat Championship –
Sun’s out. Guns out.

The title says it all. Despite a less than optimistic forecast, the sun gave a sparkle, and the crews loved it all. Enough breeze, in the 12-15 knot bracket for the majority of the racing, put good lumps on the course. This in turn delighted the crowds, who gave their applause feely and loudly each time the boats passed.

Mark Pecherzewski on the stunning Cootacraft, Special Edition, made the boat go as well today as it looks, even when standing still. The race win in the Sport85 class certainly made him happy, but the way he was able to just extend his lead on every lap, without breaking out past the mandated 85mph was not only something to behold, but a delight to watch.

It was definitely one for the Deep Vee’s today, and Special Edition held pace just about everywhere it went on the course. Pecherzewski said, “Yesterday we were outgunned by the 24-foot Skater (The Colonel) because they’re so fast on the corners at the same time as they are in the straight lane. So they could have held their speed probably at 84 and a half yesterday.”

“But today, once the 15-knot breeze arrived, where the sea kicks up, they’re actually bottoming out, where the monohull cuts through it. So our boat runs like a train from crest to crest of the waves. We’ve also got an advantage because we’re 31.5 feet long.”

Special Edition was also very stable, and not shifting from one chine to the other as it powered through the waves. This is also the case at rest, which is great for fishing. Pecherzewski owns Cootacraft, and commented on the design, “This is our new, twin step Super Vee. It goes 24 to 23, to 22 degrees deadrise at the transom. It’s unbelievable!

Well this hull is gong to become our 32 Sportsfisher, with a thousand-litre fuel tank, and obviously different configuration, like a four metre cockpit, and it will sleep four people. We also have a 34-footer on the cards, and it will have a 10-foot beam. It will run triple 450hp outboards as a canyon runner up in North Queensland.

So definitely the work they are doing out on the track is transferring into the their product offering. “A hundred percent. This is our testing ground. If I’m happy with the hull, we will put it into the production. If I’m not, I will cut it up with the chainsaw.” If you know the man, you know the latter will be true.

“I’m the test crash dummy for all my customers. I’m the stunt driver.”

As to whether he can alleviate some of the glueyness in the softer conditions, the response is, “Yes. We’ll just keep practicing, and yesterday was our first race. We only did 55-65mph yesterday, then 65 to 68 in the second race. We are going quicker and quicker around the corners without any mishaps.”

Ben Embleton co-piloted today for ‘Mark the Russian’, as he is known. Embleton’s Maiden Race, as it turns out, and Maiden Win to go with it. This of course meant he had to have a swim at the end of the day, as part of the time honoured ritual. Ben assists his Father, Russell, with all of the race management, but this was his first race, hence the swim. “I guess if you work hard enough, you get to have some fun; work hard, play hard, right.”

In terms of what he’s learned from both sides of the equation, Embleton said, “The stuff I’ve learned in race control, like awareness from watching others get it wrong, I can translate onto the course, and help Mark out. I can also bring a lot back from the racecourse to race control, so it is very handy, and I think it translates perfectly. You get to understand how the drivers are feeling, and what they’re doing from their perspective. Overall it’s probably helped my vision from inside race control.”

As for which one he enjoys more, “It’s probably closer than you may think. I love race control, but wow that was fun. I’ll be staying in race control for the rest of this season at least, but happy to hear about offers to get back on the water.”

Jason Kelly and Jesse King took the rebuilt, Colonel, to an impressive string of first, first, and second for their weekend’s work in the Sport 85 class, and the lead to date. “We have worked hard to get the boat ready. Two years ago, and I think it was here; my brother and I ended up crashing and rolled the boat over. It resulted in a full rebuild, actually. Dad built the engines, which is a massive credit to him, and they’ve been faultless ever since”, said Kelly.

“We rushed a bit to get the boat ready for last year, so we used the off-season to sort things out, and the boat’s come out well, I think.” Of course, three pieces of Silverware for the weekend would have to be a good thing to underscore all that.

King said, “We would like to make it three firsts at Geelong in a couple of weeks (March 18 and 19). I am having a great time, and really enjoying the family atmosphere. Sportsmaster Marine does an incredible job, and it seems like I just show up and drive.”

Kelly added, “We are reasonably confident with Geelong. I know we’ve got a fast boat. We can comfortably do 85, and as long as we don’t break out, we are in good shape. Most years it is reasonably smooth there, which is also going to help us. The starts are crucial. You make the most of your race by the time you het to the first corner.”

King added, “If you get to the first corner in the top position you do have a cleaner run at it, and then you should be off and steaming away.”

Mark and Liam Sutherland from Team Gigglin in the Sport65 class were very much doing just that after a successful weekend that sees them leading the Championship so far. “We’re very happy with the results from the weekend. It’s how we wanted it to turn out, but yes, it was a big effort from everyone involved.

It was a little bit bumpy out there today, but we enjoy the rough water. We think that that’s where we’ve got a bit more of an edge with our boat and our setup. We wanted to prove that point today, and we think we did that pretty well.”

As for how close they were to the magic 65 miles an hour? “63.9 today and. 64.9 yesterday. We really had to watch it yesterday, and not break out, and we did a small amount yesterday in the second race, by 0.2mph, actually, so took the 30-second penalty for that. It’s really difficult to stay right on your mark when the racing’s so close.”

Today the run across the top of the course involved a turn back across the breeze, and waveline, and wake as well for a lot of the competitors in this class. It was interesting, for sure. “Once we got around the corner, we were back on the throttles again pretty quickly. The boat handles it all well. You’re able to see the next mark from the previous one, so you line it all up and try to position yourself as best you can for the corners.”

This is a team that will go in with form for Geelong, for sure. “We’ll come at it again, see what we can do, and take it one race at a time and enjoy just ourselves.”

Ryan Coleman and Steve Jellick in the awesomely awesome Supercat Extreme, Superbad, just keep getting better. A new team, as it were, but with loads of experience in everything from powerboat racing to superbikes, they are certainly well set for a continued upward trajectory. So it is not a rookie team by any means.

Coleman said, “It went pretty well. A bit of a learning curve, so we took the first few races pretty easy and then had a bit of fun in the last one.” Was it a lot of stress in the early ones, just making sure you were hanging in there, or did you find you were a relaxing into it really well? “I was quite relaxed. Just like sitting on the lounge watching the V8 Supercars.”

“The one thing we are going to walk away with from the weekend is to be ready for Geelong. Got a lot of work to do, but we’ll get there. A lot of it is general maintenance and teething problems. All part of the plan!” Almost in unison, the team quotes the line from Talladaga Nights, ‘Shake ‘n’ Bake’. Know what that means and you know what this team does, and winning is most certainly on the agenda.

Many thanks to all of the volunteers, live coverage team, officials and first responders for all that they do to make the event happen and come to life. Special thanks to Paul Jabke and Craig Dove for having our media team on board their craft, which were also acting in official roles.

Immediate Release Feb 25th:

2023 Offshore Superboat Championship –
Excitement Reigns Supreme

The return of powerboat racing brought smiles to competitors and spectators alike. However, some smiled more, and for good reason, after the first day of Round One of the 2023 Offshore Superboat Championship at Wyndham Harbour in Melbourne. Yes, there were some sad tales, like broken alternators, but even this could not cast a negative spell over the day.

Hary Bakkr from Razorcraft Boats drove his virtually brand new vessel, Nut Case, to an emphatic win in the first race, which meant a lot to he and Shane Paton. Put simply, you could tell by the arms in the air and fist pumps, and they had not even completely crossed the line yet, such was their winning margin. Maiden race, maiden win. Nice.

They climbed to the front of this super-close class, where the speed is limited to 65mph, and the GPS is checked afterwards. “I just couldn’t have anyone come up on the inside of me. So I thought, as soon as I had the lead, I have to keep it, and if that happens, we’ll get the win. So it was my aim to just stay in front, and it worked”, said Bakkr.

“In the second race we were over by two miles per hour, at 67. So that’s it, we were disqualified in that one. We saw it, and we were like, well, we’ve broken out already, so let’s just go have fun and punch it. Tomorrow, tomorrow’s a new day!”

“It might not have looked it, but there was chop out there. The boat did really well, and Shane is all in one piece. It was a really good day.” The Razorcraft they are racing is one of their fishing hulls, and trainspotters will not the seats are 600mm further forward than the production craft. Normally this means you bounce around a bit more. Bakkr refers to the fact that their boats like forward balance, which in turn means the bow is working to cut the path for the hull.

Karl Wall with Mike Ratcliffe had the gloriously yellow Supercat Outboard, The Sting, literally floating above the waves like a butterfly, and also delivering real venom with the best part of 100mph averages around the track. They looked, good, sounded great, and made just about every post a winner. By the time they secured the lead you just knew they were on for a big lead, and it was mission accomplished by the time their 30 minutes had elapsed.

They proved that you can just leave the quay, put the helmet on, go out there and win a race, but remember; there is a lot of racing history that they can draw on. Wall commented, “It’s not bad for a pair of 20 year old engines. She held her own today and it was actually quite good to show these young engines up.”

Just like Razorcraft Racing, The Sting did not have it all their own way, either. They needed some wide shoulders early on, but once through, their corner speed was clearly superior to the competition. “We got tangled up a little bit in the washes of the extreme boats, which gave the crews on the outside a bit more advantage to get around.” TCR certainly did that, and was the early leader, but soon all were seeing The Sting’s rooster tail, about which Wall says, “It was just that boat was consistent every lap.”

Today would have been even more special for Wall, as his son (Lachy) would have been old enough to race with him by now, and even celebrate with a beer after wards. It was definitely a win for everybody. “I always think that Lachy’s my crew chief, just watching me out there on the on the boat every time we race. I always feel good in the boat when I know that. He’s made that boat just an absolute rocketship for me. Every team in the offshore all think of Lachy and they all do tribute their racing to Lachy as well, which is great. The offshore family is a very good family.”

Tom Barry-Cotter is the Driver of the Maritimo Racing Supercat Extreme, and together with the inimitable Ross Willaton they showed ballistic power as they blasted away from the start and made the most of their pole position. Two things occurred, in what seemed like rapid succession, which put their plans asunder. Barry-Cotter explains, “The boat felt really good in the first few laps after a great start. We had a rookie error from me, in missing Mark Charlie, where I headed directly to Delta instead. There was a bit of cloud up there in the distance, a boat that distracted me, and the next thing you knew, we had gone past it.” Remember that this is at 200kmh plus, so do not be swift to judge…

“Next event was when we were going down the back straight, directly opposite the spot where I had missed the mark on the other side, and the motor just jumped out of gear. It wasn’t a nice clean jump out, either, and we could hear something mashing itself up. We’ll check the boat over, and make sure dropbox is okay so that we can run for tomorrow.”

The drop box is what feeds the power into the surface drive, which is the long, articulated shaft that extends out the back of the boat to where the surface piercing screw resides. There was no oil in the engine room after the incident.

“So the engines running fine, it’s just a bit of a gut punch that we’ll lose our pole position, and have to start on the outside in position three. Superbad is a fast boat in the straights, and they’ll be even better tomorrow. We’ll have our work cut out for us as we try to pass two boats instead of having a nice clean run at it”, said Barry-Cotter.

Darren Nicholson is the Driver of 222 Offshore, so smart in its Royal Australian Navy livery. He and Peter McGrath on the throttles grabbed the win in the Supercat Extreme Class today. He’d been a sailor before he found the superboats, and said, “It’s very similar. Speed’s different; same preparation, however. You still have to see the mark, see your opposition, work out what lines they are taking, and of course, look out for wind. Not so much as in sailing, but if there’s a wave at the mark, you think twice about exactly where you are going to turn, and where you want to be on the way out.”

Interestingly, in a world so data driven, Nicholson is glad he and Peter McGrath are not face down looking at screens, but rather looking out of the boat and being attuned to their surrounds.

Highlighting this very point, and reflecting on the ability to feel the boat, and all that it is going through as you push it, Nicholson said, “It certainly helps. When I first had a run in with Pete, I don’t know, 10, or 12 years ago, he said to me, ‘You’ll do!’ I was like what does that mean? He responded with I’m happy to drive with you because I can tell that you have a feel for what’s going. Because if you don’t, you can kill me.’ So I thought that’s fair. You have to have feel, and you have to be calm.”

“Anybody can get in there and shove the throttles down hard. No real skill in that at all. It’s when to pull it back. That’s the hard part and what counts. So feeling, and especially on a rough day in big waves, is critical. Power, and when to apply it or remove it seriously affects the way the boat runs, especially when landing. If there’s no power on then, well, it’s like having a hand brake on. It can pull all the gear out the back. It’ll seriously just drag it straight off the transom”, said Nicholson.

Racing continues on Sunday from 11am local time, with two races for the Supercat Outboard and Supercat Extreme classes, and just the one for the Sports65 and Sports85 classes.

• The Offshore Superboat Championships are coming.
• Round One at Wyndham Harbour in Victoria on 25-26 February 2023.
• Round Two on Corio Bay at Geelong (VIC) on 18-19 March 2023.
• Round Three on Hervey Bay in Queensland on 24-25 June 2023.
• Round Four on Lake Macquarie in NSW on 14-15 October 2023.
• Four exciting classes will each have three races spanning each weekend.
• Close to shore action to enthral the thousands of spectators.
• Race Village feel with additional entertainment and hospitality options.

The Australian Offshore Powerboat Club is thrilled to announce that the Offshore Superboat Championship is back for 2023 with a swag of exciting racing to come.

The lightning fast, forty foot long, Class One V8 Superboats are back with a four-boat fleet. These craft are capable of up to 220km/h thanks to a pair of carburettor fed, 510 cubic inch big block derived V8s developing a staggering 830hp each that drive the surface piercing propellers, so well known for their incredible rooster tail wakes. Many of these motors are built by Maritimo Racing.

Darren Nicholson’s 222 team is returning for full season, after winning all of the now defunct UIM XCAT races. Maritimo are champions in several classes around the globe, and have been our Class One Champions on many occasions over the last few decades.

Some of the Class One vessels feature motors from engine builders that supply the world-renowned V8 Supercars teams. Even some of the drivers have been involved over the years, with Russell ‘The Enforcer’ Ingall racing around 15 years ago and Todd Kelly being involved only four years ago.

Andrew Searle is a long-time participant in the class, but lately has been heavily engaged in drag cars. Andrew’s late brother, Steve, was also a long-standing supporter of the series. Andrew is hoping to have his new Class One vessel, ACME Racing, ready by the end of the season.

Supercat Outboard class are 30 feet long, and have 600hp on tap, courtesy of two 300hp outboards on each hull. This is the class most common around the globe, with similar vessels racing in New Zealand and the USA. Even the XCATs were derived from this class.

Many still use the two-stroke Mercury 300XS to achieve speeds of up to 180km/h. The governing body for the Offshore Superboat Championship is the Australian offshore Powerboat Club, whose Commodore actively races in this class. Antony de Fina has just installed Mercury’s new, purpose built for racing, 4-stroke V8 300R outboards to his craft, Saracen, and is the only one running this package for now. De Fina stated, “I’ve always liked to test new equipment and be at the forefront, so am very excited to get going with the racing. 50% of the teams in the USA are already using them, so it will be good to see how they perform.”

The largest fleet of boats racing form the two Sports Classes, 65 and 85, which reflect the maximum speed in miles per hour that these craft can travel at. This is the most accessible level of racing, as it is specifically formulated for production boats. Indeed, several of the manufacturers, like Cootacraft from Mallacoota, Edencraft based in Geelong, and Razorcraft in Somerton have their own factory teams.

Competitors come from all over the Eastern Seaboard to attend the events. Their craft are powered by 200, 250, and even 300hp engines from brands like Mercury, Evinrude, and Suzuki, but outright speed is not the real goal here. These are speed bracketed classes, and so it is much more akin to the regularity trials that car clubs often run.

The boats are GPS governed to ensure they do not exceed speed limit, for if they do, heavy penalties apply. Consistency of speed is what will win the day here, so driver skill and boat set up are crucial, especially as conditions vary so much.

The enthusiasm of the teams is spread out to the spectators, who can connect with the racers and boats ashore for that engagement and inspiration only racing provides. It continues once the racing begins, for the action is close to shore, and there are plenty of amenities to also partake in during the breaks.

So just who will stand atop the dais at the end of the weekend? Well, there are three races for each class over the course of the weekend for them to gain points for their respective, overall championship, and it is a thrilling combination of speed, reliability and consistency that will anoint the winners in the end.