Offshore Superboat Championship 2016,
AUS 1 and “Supercat Extreme” Winners, Maritimo Australia.
Driver: Travis Thompson, Throttles: Ross “Rosco” Willaton.

As teams rolled in to Hervey Bay the 2015 championships were still up for grabs in Supercat Extreme, Supercat 600hp and the AUS 1 title.

Saturdays Pole Position Shootout would see who would be on pole for Sundays 2 races,

Unfortunately ‘Yellow Brick Road’ did not make on the water with a rudder issue nor did ‘Hogs Breath’ with a gear shift problem, with both teams fixed by the afternoon ready for Sunday.

‘SUV Ram Trucks’ suffered the worst while on the Shootout course getting the boat on to its side filling the cowl with water and into the engine, causing it to snap and bend conrods and seize the engine, This was the end of the weekend to a team that puts so much into the sport.

Saturday afternoon also saw the teams on a street parade through downtown Hervey Bay,

The teams enjoyed (and look forward to) towing the boats through the streets, tooting their horns and waving to the thousands of people lining the streets.

Sunday race 1,  Supercat Extreme teams lead off with ‘Maritimo’ (Ross Willaton and Travis Thompson) taking the lead from ‘Yellow Brick Road’(Brendon and Chris Frier) and ‘Team 3 (Tom Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick), this is how they stayed to the flag,

Supercat 600hp was a little closer with ’Team 88’ (Micheal and Gryff Ethell) and ‘Phantom’ (Paul Gibbs and Mick Walker) taking the lead closely followed by ‘SUV Ram Trucks jnr’ (Taelah Saloumidis and Ian Harris) and ‘Hogs Breath’(Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds),  all the boats were close until on the fourth lap ‘SUV Ram Trucks jnr’ pulled off the course with a broken drive shaft, ‘Hogs Breath’ went on to take first place followed by ‘Phantom’ and ‘Team 88’.

Race 2 conditions had changed with the wind and seas picking up leaving some large holes for the teams to deal with,

Supercat Extreme went the same way as race 1 with ‘Maritimo’ taking the win from ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and ‘Team 3’.

Supercat 600hp again was a close race with the lead changing several times until ‘team 88’ suffered a fuel pick up issue and drifted back, leaving ‘Phantom’ and ‘Hogs Breath’ to fight for 1^st place,

‘Hogs Breath’ taking the win followed by ‘Phantom’ and ‘Team 88’,

With ‘Hogs Breath’ winning the 2 races they also won the 2015 Supercat 600hp Championship and also became AUS 1, the first time since 1997 an outboard boat has won the AUS 1 title.

‘Maritimo’ won the 2015 Supercat Extreme title.

Hervey Bay once again was a great venue for offshore racing, this could not happen without the fantastic local support from Fraser Coast Opportunities, Hervey Bay Boat Club and the Local adopt a team sponsors.

Thank you to our Race director and his crew and all of the volunteers that help over the weekend.

AUS 1, Hogs Breath Offshore Racing, Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds

2015 Supercat Extreme Champions

1^st, Maritimo, Ross Willaton and Travis Thompson

2^nd, Yellow Brick Road, Brendon and Chris Frier

3^rd, Team 3, Tom Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick

2015 Supercat 600hp Champions

1^st, Hogs Breath Offshore Racing, Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds

2^nd, Team 88 Offshore, Micheal and Gryff Ethell

3^rd, SUV Ram Trucks, Conn and Con Saloumidis

The Final round of the 2016 Offshore Superboat Championships has been run and won at beautiful Hervey Bay,

The weather gods put on the sunshine and challenging water conditions.

Race 1 with points still close in all the 3 classes teams would have a battle to take out their championship trophies.

Supercat Extreme,  ‘222 Offshore’ (Darren Nicholson and Karl Wall) took to the lead with ‘Maritimo 15’ (Andrew Searle and Andrew Willaton) and ‘Yellow Brick Road’ (Brendan and Chris Frier) Chasing them down, That’s how positions stayed with ‘222 Offshore’ taking 1^st place, ‘Maritimo 15’ 2^nd.

Supercat 1000hp, ‘Pro Floors’ (Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley) battled with ‘Team 3’ (Tom Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick) for the class win and also the “Trans Tasman Challenge” between Aussie & Kiwis, ‘Pro Floors’ taking 1^st place, ‘Team 3’ 2^nd.

Supercat Outboard, ‘Barely Legal’ (John Shand and Mike Knight) took to the lead and being chased by ‘R Marine Crawley’ (Glenn Campbell and Andy Smith), ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ (Michael & Gryff Ethell) and ‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ (Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds), that’s how it stayed until the last lap when a water pickup came off ‘Barely Legal’ flooding the starboard sponson but still managing to cross the line,

‘R Marine Crawley’ 1^st, ‘Barely Legal’2^nd, ‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ 3^rd, ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ 4^th.

Race 2, with sometime between the races some teams had a lot of work to do before race start.

Unfortunately ‘Maritimo 15’, ‘222 offshore’ & ‘Barely Legal’ could not make it back on course.

Supercat Extreme,  ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and ‘Maritimo 11’ (Ross Willaton and Travis Thompson) fought each other for the entire race, ‘Maritimo 11’ 1^st, Yellow Brick Road’ 2^nd.

Supercat 1000hp, ‘Pro Floors’ showed a clean set of heels from the start to take 1^st with ‘Team 3’ 2^nd.

Supercat Outboard, It was clear ‘R Marine Crawley’ were on a mission from the flag drop pulling away from the field until midway through, they slowed and being passed by ‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ and ‘Gold Coast City Marina’, ‘R Marine Crawley’ managed to stay on the plane with a broken prop.

‘Hogs Breath Offshore Racing’ 1^st, ‘Gold Coast City Marina’ 2^nd & ‘R Marine Crawley’ 3^rd.

A fantastic weekend of racing with fantastic local support from Businesses and the public,

Special mention to the Beach House Hotel, Handy Hire, Wide Bay Cranes and Fraser Coast Council.

Also to all the volunteers over the weekend, without your support the event cannot go ahead.

Thank you to our race director and his crew for a great job over the season and of course to all of the offshore teams that put in a lot to go and have fun on the water.

Congratulations to the following winners.

The 2016 Offshore Superboat Champions

AUS 1,

Maritimo Australia, Ross Willaton and Travis Thompson

Supercat Extreme

1^st, Maritimo Australia, Ross Willaton and Travis Thompson

2^nd, Yellow Brick Road, Brendan Frier and Chris Frier

3^rd, 222 Offshore, Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath

Supercat 1000hp

1^st, Pro Floors, Wayne Valder and Chris Hanley

2^nd, Team 3, Steve Jellick and Tom Barry-Cotter

3^rd, Maritimo 15, Andrew Searle and Andrew Willaton

Supercat Outboard

1^st, R Marine Crawley, Andy Smith and Glenn Campbell

2^nd, Hogs Breath Offshore Racing, Jim Harris and Paul Fowlds

3^rd, Gold Coast City Marina, Gryff Ethell and Michael Ethell

This weekend the Offshore Superboat Teams arrive at beautiful Hervey Bay for the final round of the 2016 season.
The event had a small hiccup earlier in the year but local businesses came forward and the Hervey Bay round is as strong as ever.
The dry and wet pit area is at the public boat ramp, Jetty Road, Urangan,Teams have started arriving in town and the public are welcome to come down to see the boats up close and chat to the teams
Saturday, Pole Position Shootout from 12 noon to 1pm, the shootout is split into 2 parts, Outboard boats first followed by the big inboard boats,
Once Pole Position Shootout is done The boats and Crew vehicles will do a street parade through Hervey Bay approx 3:30pm.
Sunday, 2 race format, 30 minutes each, Race 1 start 11am and Race 2 start1pm., the Race course is off Scarness and Torquay forshore.

Thank you for the support from.
Beach House Hotel
Handy Hire
Wide Bay Cranes
Fraser Coast Council

Round three of the Offshore Superboat series came to the Northern NSW region over the weekend with Coffs Harbour hosting once again a fantastic weekend of racing. It all kicked off on the Friday night at the Coffs C.EX club with the drivers meet and greet, giving all the teams a chance to catch up and a chance for the public to get up close and personal with the drivers and crews of the impressive machines that lit up the harbour.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, it revealed the conditions that the crews would have to navigate through for the pole position shootout that afternoon. Two metre seas and twenty plus knot winds it was a very tough session not only on the boats, but also the drivers that were pushing hard to claim championship points and the much sought after pole position for both Sundays’ races.

One pm came around and the crews had their set-ups finely tuned and had the boats in the water ready to take to the course. The Supercat outboards took to the 4km course first and the six teams navigated through the rough conditions, doing their best to set the fastest lap average although after only ten minutes, the race was cut short due to wildlife entering the course.

The results were calculated and the New Zealand crew of Barely Legal came out on top closely followed by Hogs Breath Offshore Racing. Team Phantom Racing took out third while SUV SIMRAD and Team 88 GCCM rounded out the final two places. Unfortunately new comers R Marine Crawley could not record a time due to technical issues.

Next to take to the course were the teams from the 1000hp Supercat and Supercat Extreme categories. The crews pushed hard for the full twenty minutes and the boys from Maritimo 11 took first place honours closely followed by 222 offshore. Team 3 of the 1000hp class category finished in third place just in front of the Supercat Extreme duo from Yellow Brick Road. The Kiwi team Pro Floors International claimed fifth with Maritimo 525 rounding out the field.

Sunday morning arrived and with it came relief for the teams as the twenty knot winds had dropped significantly and the swells had also eased. Time for race one came around and the teams made their way out in front of the massive crowds who waited in anticipation to see the powerful machines unleash their power for the two thirty minute races.

As the start boat approached, the teams lined up in their positions with Maritimo 11 in pole. After sustaining sever engine damage during Saturdays race, 222 Offshore were forced to start from the back of the grid to limp across the start which would allow them start points for the championship.

Once the flag dropped, the rooster tails shot to the sky as the throttles were pushed to the floor and the drag race to turn one was on. Maritimo 11 set the pace early and gave the Frier boys of Yellow Brick Road a lot of work to do. Team 3 looked to set early dominance in the 1000hp class, while new comers R Marine Crawly who were able to compete in the two races thanks to the help from fellow competitors Team GCCM, turned a lot of heads by charging out to the lead and never looking like slowing through the swells of the 4km course.

Hard chargers Barley Legal struck disaster midway through race one, breaking an engine off its mount and causing them to retire from the race. Current Aus1 holders Hogs Breath Offshore settled into the chase for first place while Team Phantom Racing battled for the final place on the podium with Team 88 GCCM. The 1000hp class had a fantastic battle between Team 3 and Pro Floors which would eventually see Team 3 take the flag and bring home a great first place finish with the kiwi boys a close 20sec behind and Maritimo 525 not far behind in third.

Supercat Extreme class was taken out by Maritimo 11 with the Frier boys unfortunately
coming to an early stop with an engine issue however they did enough to seal second place points. The Supercat 600hp class had some of the best racing of the year with R Marine Crawley recording their first win of the season with the Hogs Breath crew hot on their tails finishing 7 seconds behind. The battle for third had Mick Walker and Ian Harris of Team Phantom winning the battle against Team 88 GCCM and SUV SIMRAD rounded out the field coming home in 5th position.

Race two saw Maritimo 11 continue its dominance of the series with their fellow competitors with the Supercat Extreme class both limping across the start line to claim start points. The Supercat 1000 class continued to put on an awesome display of racing with Team 3 and Pro Floors International once again locking into a full throttle contest that once again came down to the wire. Team 3 took the clean sweep for the weekend and finished first only thirteen seconds ahead of Pro Floors with Maritimo 525 coming in at third.

The 600hp class once again showed the close parody between the six teams
with the first two laps hotly contested before R Marine Crawley managed to break out in front and set a commanding lead.
Current AUS1 title holders Hogs Breath Offshore suffered their first DNF of the season with an oil pressure issue forcing them into early race retirement. Main stayers SUV SIMRAD found another gear and managed to pull away from Team 88 GCCM in
their close battle for second while Team Phantom Racing nursed their boat home in fourth place.

Coffs Harbour was round seven of the Trans-Tasman challenge with Hogs Breath Racing beating Barely Legal and Team 3 beating Pro Floors International.

The Offshore Superboat Club would like to thank all the sponsors that made the Destination NSW Coffs Harbour race possible and thanks to everyone also that showed their support to a very worthy charity, ‘Soldier On – Helping our Wounded Warriors.’
Destination NSW, Coffs Harbour International Marina, the Coffs Harbour City Council, C.ex Group, NSW Maritime, Coffs Harbour Fishermen’s Co-operative Ltd, Crown lands, all of the volunteers, the volunteers from marine rescue, Conn Saloumidis of the OSC and of course local member Mr Andrew Fraser, this event would not have been possible without you.

Race 1 Results:

Supercat Extreme:
1st Maritimo 11
2nd Yellow Brick Road
DNF 222 Offshore

Supercat 1000:
1st Team 3
2nd Pro Floors
3rd Maritimo 525

Supercat Outboard:
1st R Marine Crawley
2nd Hogs Breath Offshore
3rd Team Phantom Racing

Race 2 Results:

Supercat Extreme:
1st Maritimo 11
DNF Yellow Brick Road
DNF 222 Offshore

Supercat 1000:
1st Team 3
2nd Pro Floors
3rd Maritimo 525

Supercat Outboard:
1st R Marine Crawley
2nd SUV SIMRAD
3rd Team 88 GCCM

This weekend brings round three of the Offshore Superboat Championships held along the East Coast of Australia at one of our favourite destinations, Coffs Harbour. This exhilarating race is also round seven of the Trans-Tasman Challenge between Australia and New Zealand so make you come down early to get a good seat to show your support for your country.

Race one in Bowen was glass water conditions with Race two in Mackay a stark contrast with big seas making for a challenging race for the teams and a real spectacle for those watching from the bank. As a result of these rough conditions Maritimo 12 will not be making its way back out onto the course this year but thankfully the drivers will be behind the wheel of a substitute boat for the remainder of the season. Maritimo will be using the boat they raced in the US last year to allow the team to continue racing.

Another casualty from Mackay is Friers Offshore ‘Yellow Brick Road’ from the Supercat Extreme class. This boat has extensive damage so they will be leasing a substitute Maritimo boat for the Coffs race.

We are excited to have the C.EX Services club hosting all the Crews for our meet and greet drinks on the Friday night at 6.30pm. Racing starts with the pole position shootout at 1pm on the Saturday at the Coffs Harbour International Marina with two races on Sunday at 11am and 1pm. The Harbour provides a natural stadium for the race with great viewing along the Coffs Harbour Jetty, and the Southern break wall.

If you are able to come down to the event, make sure you head down to the pits to put in your gold coin donation to show your support to “SOLDIER ON” who assist our wounded warriors upon their return to Australia. We would like to invite all Veterans and current Service Personnel to come down and meet our drivers so that we can thank you for your service to our great country.

Our Coffs Harbour event is going to be huge this year again with markets and activities for the kids thanks to our sponsors Destination NSW, Coffs Harbour International Marina, the Coffs Harbour City Council, C.Ex Group, NSW Maritime, Coffs Harbour Fisherman Co Op, Crown Lands. A big thank you also to local member Mr Andrew Fraser for all of his support and to all of the volunteers who man the course boats for us. Without this continuous support, there would be no racing.

Come on down and to soak up the atmosphere over the weekend or if that is not possible the race coverage is live streamed and you can watch all the action on via the link below.

https://livestream.com/OFFSHORESUPERBOATCHAMPIONS…/…/6202420

A successful weekend of racing has now been completed for round one of the Offshore Superboat Championships (OSC) held at the beautiful Bowen.  Saturday morning had the racers busy with the finishing touches on their immaculate machines whilst the town hustled down to the jetty and the shoreline to get a piece of all the action.

Pole shootout had all of the 600hp Supercat Outboards trying to get the fastest average lap speed with the smallest boat in the competition, Team 88 Gold Coast City Marina (GCCM) hitting the top average speed of 149kph to cross the finish line and claim pole position for both races on Sunday in their respective class.  In at a close second was the Shifty Phantom and the newest edition to the Offshore family R. Marine Crawley tying with a top speed of just under 137kph.  Last years AUS1 champions Hogs Breath Racing decided to take it easy on their fellow racers and followed in fourth place reaching a top average speed of 135kph.

Regrettably due to water pressure issues, Barely Legal who made the trip over from New Zealand were unable to finish and due to an unfortunate accident, a favourite in the competition, SUV SIMRAD was out for the weekend after having done damage to their prop shafts  in a practice run on the Friday.

In the Supercat 1000hp and Supercat Extreme classes for pole shootout, Maritimo 11 came out on top with an average speed of an outstanding 169kph but regrettably due to a technical issue, Maritimo number 12s impressive top average speed of 159kph did not count.

Due to this, 222 Offshore placed second with a top average speed of 157kph, kiwi team Pro Floors managed to score themselves a third place pole start reaching 154kph, Team 3 got up to speeds of around 152kph to claim fourth place pole position and Yellow Brick Road placed fifth with a 147kph average speed.

Thanks to the owners and workers of S & C Cranes, the boats were all safely craned back into the pits for the teams to prepare their boats for the Annual Bowen Street Festival.

he 600hp Supercat Outboards trying to get the fastest average lap speed with the smallest boat in the competition, Team 88 Gold Coast City Marina (GCCM) hitting the top average speed of 149kph to cross the finish line and claim pole position for both races on Sunday in their respective class.  In at a close second was the Shifty Phantom and the newest edition to the Offshore family R. Marine Crawley tying with a top speed of just under 137kph.  Last years AUS1 champions Hogs Breath Racing decided to take it easy on their fellow racers and followed in fourth place reaching a top average speed of 135kph.

Regrettably due to water pressure issues, Barely Legal who made the trip over from New Zealand were unable to finish and due to an unfortunate accident, a favourite in the competition, SUV SIMRAD was out for the weekend after having done damage to their prop shafts  in a practice run on the Friday.

The street parade was in full swing on the Saturday night with the boats parked along Herbert St with markets, live music, food, prize draws and amusement rides. The whole street (and many of the pubs!) were alive with the population of Bowen and the racing crews all crowding the closed off roads.

With the flag being dropped for the first race, pole leaders for the 600hp Team 88 GCCM took a strong lead for the first few laps but after a gear selector cable came loose, the Shifty Phantom driven by Ian Harris and throttle-man Mick Walker, took the opportunity to push forward and take the lead and continued to hold first place position when crossing the finish line.

With Team 88 GCCM now out of the race, the champion ski racer team, R Marine Crawley had a very successful run and managed to cross the line at a satisfying second just in front of current AUS1 holders Hogs Breath Racing. The kiwi team, John Shand and Mike Knight of Barely Legal still managed to cross the finish line in fourth place with water pressure issues, completing race one for the 600hp class category.

After Maritimo 12s technical issue in the pole shootout the day before, the boys pushed their 525 to the limit and made up for lost ground and had the crowd cheering the whole of race one by placing first in their respective class with Pro Floors coming in only ten seconds behind for a close second. Team 3 had power steering issues the whole race but still managed to get across the line to finish in third place for the 1000hp class category.

In the Supercat Extreme, throttle-man Ross Willaton and driver Travis Thompson had the Maritimo crew grinning from ear to ear with their finish a full minute before the Frier brothers who placed second in Yellow Brick Road and 222 Offshore who came in at a close third place.

Race two drew even more of a crowd with our Offshore commentator David Bishop going red in the face trying to keep up with all the Superboats.  Race two was a very close race with the 600hp outboards completing ten laps of the 10km course. It was a bit touch and go for first place position but after the third lap, Phantom Racing slowed right off and Hogs Breath Racing were able to take a strong lead and had the boats chasing their tale until the completion of the race.

After craning their shifty catamaran out and changing gearboxes (a pit stop that would rival even the best F1 team) due to broken seals, Team 88 GCCM managed to successfully make up for race one by crossing the line in second place with R Marine Crawley not too far behind finishing with a third place in front of Barely Legal and Phantom Racing.

Pro Floors International who travelled all the way over from New Zealand to compete in our Offshore Championship did the kiwis proud by taking out the first place position. Only twelve seconds behind the kiwis, on the throttles we had Andrew Searle and driver Andrew Willaton of Maritimo in their immaculate 525 crossing the line for second.

Still with power steering issues, we had Team 3 finish in third place with throttle-man Steve Jellick and no-longer-needing-to-go-to-the-gym-for-a-month, driver Tom Barry-Cotter.

In the Supercat Extreme, Maritimo yet again shone completing the 10km circuit in 32 minutes and 37 seconds. (For those that haven’t done the maths, that’s nearly 10km in under three minutes.) 222 Offshore crossed the line for second place and due to mechanical issues; the favourite brothers in Yellow Brick Road were unable to complete the circuit for a place.

Overall, it was another successful year for the Offshore Superboats at one of their favourite destinations, Bowen. We would like to say a big thank you to all the people who volunteered their time to make us once again feel welcome. Thank you to all the sponsors, Mayor Andrew Willcox, Rae and the Bowen tourism crew, The Whitsunday Council, and of course Mick Boyce. This is all made possible because of you all. A special mention to S & C Cranes for donating your time and the use of your crane. We cannot thank you enough.

3 of the Australian Offshore powerboats to compete in the 2016 Trans Tasman Offshore Challenge have arrived in New Zealand for the 4 New Zealand Trans Tasman Races.

Hogs Breath Offshore Racing (Jim Harris & Paul Fowlds), Team 3 (Tom Barry-Cotter & Steve Jellick) and 222 Offshore Racing (Darren Nicholson & Peter McGrath) have cleared customs and are preparing their boats for the New Zealand races.

Maritimo Offshore Racing will be joining the series as the 4^thAustralian team member but will not get to round 1 and possible round 2.

The Trans Tasman Challenge kicks off at Round 1 of the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat series at Lake Taupo, 31^st January.

The Trans Tasman Challenge consists of 4 rounds in each country,

The New Zealand series is raced over 7 events of which 4 are Trans Tasman races some Australian teams are considering doing all of the New Zealand series while in the country

New Zealand Trans Tasman Dates

Rnd 1, Lake Taupo, 31^st January

Rnd 2, Beachlands, 13^th February

Rnd 3, Whitianga, 5^th March

Rnd 4, Auckland, 30^th April

Once the New Zealand races are complete the boats will be shipped back to Australia with 4 New Zealand team boats for the Australian leg of the Trans Tasman Challenge beginning at Bowen, 24^th July.

Australian Trans Tasman Dates

Rnd 1, Bowen, 24^th July

Rnd 2, Mackay, 7^th August

Rnd 3, Coffs Harbour, 28^th August

Rnd 4, Hervey Bay, 20^th November

The Australian Offshore Superboat Championship consists of 6 events of which 4 are Trans Tasman races.