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
Wyndham Harbour on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay played host to round two of the 2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboats Championship with one of the biggest fields of the last decade, more than 20 crews competed across two days in some of the most challenging conditions they’d ever contested in front of a big vocal Victorian crowd.
Ultimately, despite a strong challenge from their title rivals, it was the stunning ‘Boost Mobile’ Supercat Extreme machine of Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath who extended their points lead in the elite open class, whilst in Supercat Outboard a fantastic battle ensued across all three 30-minute races between old rivals ‘The Sting’ and reigning Champions ‘The Mantis’, Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall turning the tables on the reigning title holders to claim three-from-three.
In Supersports 85, the ongoing battle between Mark Pecherzeswki’s ‘Special Edition’ and reigning Champions ‘The Colonel’ continued, Pecherzeswki claiming two wins across the weekend before a storming recovery after a navigational setback in the tough conditions opened the door for his rivals, Mick and Jason Kelly going on to their second win of the season, in the process building a solid points lead heading into Geelong for round three.
Supersports 65 saw an impressive field of boats, although the tough conditions soon thinned out the field, the smaller boats suffering the most in the big wash, but that didn’t deter the experienced campaigners. In the end it was reigning champions Patty and Michael Paczkowski who claimed all three race victories, although as the pair are not contenders for the Championship this year, they weren’t eligible for Series points, the round win going to Danny and Dean Caelli over opening round winners Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton.
Wyndham Harbour also saw the introduction of the new ‘Super V 85’category designed around the big inboard ski boats that dominate the rivers and waterways of the country, the initiative designed to provide the many ski racing teams who are off the water at the moment a chance to compete. Led by dual Southern 80 winner Tim Pickford with fellow Victorians Sam Livesley and Adrian Bishop, the trio turned in some impressive laps, although all admitted to experiencing some of the biggest waves they’d contested during a race. Ultimately Pickford claimed the top honours in the opening race, whilst Livesley overcame some big moments to claim the win in races two and three.
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Supercat Extreme
It had been a couple of years since the Supercat Extreme boats had competed at Wyndham Harbour, so the fans were more than ready to see them back in action, title rivals ‘222 Offshore’ with their ‘Boost Mobile’ machine going head-to-head once more with old foes ‘ACME Racing’ who in the long break since Lake Macquarie had made some significant leaps in development and were fired up to be back in action.
Saturday saw just one 30-minute race and whilst tough on all the competitors, the experienced Supercat Extreme teams enjoyed arguably the better ride, the longer heavier boats pushing through the conditions with relative ease, although behind the wheel there was plenty going on. Ultimately the ‘ACME’ pairing of Andrew Searle and Tom Barry-Cotter proved the value of their pre-event testing with a competitive run in the heavy conditions, although they were forced to play second-fiddle to Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath, crossing the line just over half a minute in arrears.
Race two saw the mighty red ‘ACME’ machine attack hard off the line, jumping into an early lead with an aggressive run into the opening turn, but the ‘Boost Mobile’ team were quickly through to the front, ultimately charging away to a comfortable win, another victory in the final race providing the reigning champions with their sixth win from six starts this season, opening a solid points advantage heading into Geelong. The good news for the fans though is rumours of more big boats attending the third round, with as many as five teams expected to make a return to Corio Bay.
“We thought Saturday was going to be a little bit tougher so we took the cautious approach and put some more weight up front,” ACME’s Andrew Searle explained. “That meant we couldn’t get the nose up to get that top end speed, but we sorted that for Sunday, but whilst we were quicker, we’ve still got some work to do. You have to remember Tom [Barry-Cotter] and I have only been together for five races and we’re racing against former World Champions ‘222’ that have had ten years with the same boat and with all that experience they very rarely make a mistake.”
Supercat Outboard
Lake Macquarie delivered some fantastic racing for the Supercat Outboard teams, none better than the battle for the top spot between long-time rivals ‘The Mantis’ and ‘The Sting’, Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly ultimately emerging victorious in all three races although they did have to overcome a strong challenge from the new ‘Sting’ hull, which led for much of the second race.
At Wyndham it was clear that both teams had done their homework, but it was Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall who emerged victorious claiming all three race wins in comfortable style, although they were forced to overcome ‘The Mantis’ who battled hard out the gate in the opening race before ‘The Sting’ worked their way back into the lead to claim maximum points for the round, the two teams tied at the top of the Championship heading into Geelong.
For De Fina and Kelly, they were confident of claiming a race win, but an electrical issue part way through the second race on Sunday morning saw the boat drop into ‘fail-safe’ mode, the engine management system detecting an issue. That dropped their pace significantly as they searched for the problem, ultimately a system reset resolved the issue and they were able to rediscover their outright pace, but by that stage they’d dropped back to third behind Steve Lancaster and Craig Dove in ‘DLR Offshore’ the pair keeping the crowd entertained with their wave-jumping antics, ‘The Mantis’ ultimately taking back the position ahead of the flag.
For Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly, they lucked in by drawing pole one for the opening race on Saturday, but they too struck problems, dropping to the rear of the field early before retiring with a fractured oil bottle. They recovered strongly to claim third in Sunday morning’s second race, but again suffered a DNF in race three, this time broken engine bolts, such was the ferocity of the conditions, fortunately though damage was repairable although not during the race.
“It was so tough out there but the boat’s so good,” Mike Ratcliffe admitted. “Sunday’s first race was a real mind-game battle with ‘The Mantis’ but the second race was just a race of endurance.”
“We had to learn this [new] boat and the only way to learn the limits of the boat was to race as hard as we did this weekend,” Karl Wall added. “The Mantis, they were sticking it to us but we came out on top and it really shows that the boat has a lot of potential, and I think we’re only going to get quicker and quicker from hereon in.”
Ominous news for their rivals, but don’t think that they won’t be regrouping, ahead of Geelong!
Supersports 85
After a tough season debut at Lake Macquarie for Mark Pecherzewski and Melanie Nelson with an ongoing injector issue, the ‘Special Edition’ team made changes to their ‘Maritimo’ inboard powerplant to go back to a carburettor in an effort to stem the loss of points. It proved the ideal solution for Wyndham, the former champions claiming a par of wins in their mighty ‘Cootacraft’ which many felt was perfectly suited to the conditions.
For their title rivals – reigning champions and points-leaders – ‘The Colonel’ they fought hard in the twin-hulled, outboard powered ‘Skater’ and whilst without the top speed of their rivals, were able to charge strongly off the line in an effort to hold Pecherzewski on the outside. The tactic worked in Sunday’s final race although both teams admitted to being temporarily blind to the navigation in the rough water, the Kelly’s though quicker to discover the error leaving ‘Special Edition’ well behind. Pecherzewski charged over the closing laps but was unable to shut the leaders down, ‘The Colonel’ claiming their second win of the season. The ‘Hornet Property Services’ supported team closing out the round with a comfortable points lead.
Sadly for Ryan Shan and Scott Kelly, their weekend ended prematurely, the ‘RS Motorsport’ team suffering a broken transom during the opening race on Saturday, the rough conditions uncovering an issue with the structure of the boat, historical water damage weakening the transom which holds the twin rig engine setup, Shan admitting he was just grateful to return to the ramp with the motors still attached. The team now faced with a significant rebuild to the back of the boat in the three weeks leading up to Geelong.
For the Supersports 85 teams, they were also faced with a new challenge at Wyndham Harbour with the inclusion of the new ‘Super V 85’ category for inboard engined ski boats. The new class attracted plenty of interest, in the end, three boats joining the field for their first run in Australian Offshore.
The starting procedure saw the ‘Super V 85’ boats hold the inside running for the start, with the expectation that they would get the jump off the line, but ultimately they were run down by the Supersports 85 teams who quickly established a lead before resuming their Championship battle, the chance to fight in a bigger field though a welcome opportunity for the Series regulars.
“The boat ran brilliantly all weekend, it ran like a freight train,” Mark Pecherzewski admitted. “Today was a little bit flatter, and we made a navigational error, so ‘The Colonel’ got ahead and we had to chase them down. Look, we’ve got a great boat for the rough water, we can win all the races in the rough water, but in the flatter water we have to work a lot harder to keep up with the cats [catamarans].”
“Yesterday was horrendous out there,” Mick Kelly admitted with a shrug. “Mark [Pecherzewski] builds a boat for those conditions, that’s what he does, so congratulations to him, it was great to watch him out there but once the weather dropped a little we decided we didn’t want him to have it all his own way.”
Supersports 65
Nine boats were entered for the Supersports 65 category at Wyndham Harbour including a mix of outboard ski boats alongside the reigning champions, Patty and Michael Paczkowski returning in ‘Valentus’ after missing the opening round. For points leaders Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton in ‘Nut Case’ their weekend went sideways on Friday night, the pole-draw seeing them draw ninth position for the opening race, whilst title rivals ‘Villain’ claimed inside pole..
The reigning champions made short work of the field in all three races to claim the round win, but as non-Series entrants, they were ineligible for Championship points, those honours going to the father-and-son due of Danny and Dean Caelli who claimed second in both of Saturday’s races to close in on the ‘Nut Case’ team, Bakkr and Paton though returning fire in Sunday’s race with their second win of the season, in the process maintaining their points lead in the title race.
For the smallest boats in the field the challenging conditions had the greatest impact, a number of boats pulling out early during Saturday’s races, whilst for those that endured the constant battering, they paid a heavy toll.
For Greg Walters in the popular ‘HUN74’ ‘Haines Hunter’, he suffered damage during the opening race, the ageing hull ultimately forced to retire early in race two with a split down the port side, something Walters was quickly aware of, the Victorian facing immediate repairs in order to continue his Championship assault in Geelong.
For others, they elected to withdraw before suffering too heavy a beating, but they weren’t alone, all the boats in the field telling tales of the battering they’d faced, the ‘Nut Case’ team ultimately ending Sunday with a bent steering wheel, displaying in dramatic fashion just how tough it had been during the final race, a race in which they’d fought hard to overcome their rivals to work themselves into a strong Championship position heading into Geelong.
Whilst the experienced teams knew what they’d be facing, for many of the rookies it was a baptism of fire, Adrian van der Sluys and Corey Robson earning themselves immediate respect with their efforts in ‘NFORCEN’ the ski racing regulars grabbing a podium finish in the opening race as the last of the boats to complete the full race distance, before going on to claim fifth in race two and fourth in the final race to be one of few boats to complete all three races.
“We build the boat with these sorts of conditions in mind – it’s been a really good test to see how far we can really push the boat, so we’re stoked with the result,” Patty Paczkowski admitted. “Due to outside commitments we couldn’t commit to a title defence this year, but we’ll make as many races as we can.”
Super V 85
There had been a great deal of anticipation from the ski racing sector heading into the Wyndham Harbour event, with a number of teams flagging interest in getting themselves back on the water for the event. Sadly, pre-event weather predictions saw some elect not to make their debut at Wyndham Harbour, but many did, the addition of two-time Southern 80 Champion Tim Pickford, recent car racing graduate Sam Livesley in ‘Gone Mental’ and ‘Avenger’s’ Adrian Bishop and Lachlan Pannam tackling the course alongside the Supersports team.
Not surprisingly the powerful ski boats charged off the line, but were ultimately run down in the testing conditions as the dedicated Offshore boats cut through the waves in conditions they were more accustomed to.
‘Sapphire’s’ Tim Pickford claimed top honours in Saturday’s opening race, with Livesley second and Bishop third. Both Pickford and Bishop missed Saturday afternoon’s second race, Livesley though entertaining the crowd with his antics through the waves, the conditions clearly not holding him back – he doubled up with victory in the final race earning him a cheer of respect from his new peers, all of whom were impressed with his commitment. His wide smile suggesting he’ll be back for more in Geelong..!
“It was tough but we had a great time,” Livesley admitted. “I can’t thank the Offshore guys enough for making it as easy and comfortable as it was to be a part of their Championship, I’m really looking forward to having another run at Geelong, although hopefully the conditions might be a little bit kinder and give us a chance to show what the boats can really do.”
“Despite the conditions, it was a very successful event,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina agreed. “From the success of the new ‘Super V 85’ category to the racing in general, apart from smooth water, we couldn’t have asked for much more. There’s a few people we need to thank including the team from Hornet Property Services for their ongoing commitment to the growth of the sport, to Steed Sherriff and the team at Wyndham Harbour, Whitepointer Boats Australia for their support with starting the boats, but also Anthony May and his team from ODLS who supply the cranes that put the big boats in and out of the water, they’re an exceptional team that work tirelessly to ensure the process works seamlessly and that helps contribute to the success of our events.”
For the teams, focus now turns south to Geelong’s Corio Bay – still in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay – for the third round of the season, a season which will feature both national (7mate and 7plus) and international television exposure.
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R2, 2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships presented by Hornet Property Services
Wyndham Harbour, Victoria
22-23 February, 2025
RND#2 – Race#1
Supercat Extreme
1. Darren Nicholson/Peter McGrath (#222 Boost Mobile) – 00:31:17 (14-laps)
2. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry-Cotter (#441 ACME Racing) – 00:31:56 (14-laps)
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:32:21 (12-laps)
2. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#22 The Mantis) – 00:34:03 (12-laps)
3. Steve Lancaster/Craig Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:34:48 (10-laps)
DNF. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) (4-laps)
Supersports 85
1. Mark Pecherzewksi/Mel Nelson (#07 Special Edition) – 00:25:56 (8-laps)
2. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#161 Colonel Racing) – 00:26.30 (8-laps)
3. Ryan Shan/Scott Kelly (#888 RS Motorsport) – 00:26:53 (8-laps)
Supersports 65
1. Patrick Paczkowski/Michael Paczkowski (#13 Valentus 25) – 00:35:30 (9-laps)
2. Danny Caelli/Dean Caelli (#300 Villain) – 00:31:43 (8-laps)
3. Adrian van der Sluys/Corey Robson (#150 NFORCEN) – 00:33:50 (6-laps)
DNF. Greg Walters (#72 HUN74) (5-laps)
DNF. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) (3-laps)
DNF. Charlie Di Iorio/Peter Cogliandro (#46 Cardiac Arrest) (2-laps)
DNF. Lance Muus/Ben Browne (#61 Wastin Dough) (2-laps)
DNF. Jaxon Bishop (#2 Avenger F2) (1-lap)
Super V 85
1. Tim Pickford (#3 Sapphire)
2. Sam Livesley (#13 Gone Mental)
3. Adrian Bishop/Lachlan Pannam (#63 Avenger F1)
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RND#2 – Race#2
Supercat Extreme
1. Darren Nicholson/Peter McGrath (#222 Boost Mobile) – 00:30:46 (14-laps)
2. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry-Cotter (#441 ACME Racing) – 00:31:40 (14-laps)
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:30:48 (12-laps)
2. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#22 The Mantis) – 00:30:57 (12-laps)
3. Steve Lancaster/Craig Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:32:13 (12-laps)
4. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) – 00:31:17 (11-laps)
Supersports 85
1. Mark Pecherzewksi/Mel Nelson (#07 Special Edition) – 00:22:18 (7-laps)
2. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#161 Colonel Racing) – 00:24.33 (7-laps)
DNS. Ryan Shan/Scott Kelly (#888 RS Motorsport)
Supersports 65
1. Patrick Paczkowski/Michael Paczkowski (#13 Valentus 25) – 00:23:38 (6-laps)
2. Danny Caelli/Dean Caelli (#300 Villain) – 00:23:23 (6-laps)
3. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) – 00:25:59 (6-laps)
4. Charlie Di Iorio/Peter Cogliandro (#46 Cardiac Arrest) – 00:24:32 (5-laps)
5. Adrian van der Sluys/Corey Robson (#150 NFORCEN) – 00:26:11 (5-laps)
DNF. Greg Walters (#72 HUN74) (2-laps)
DNF. Lance Muus/Ben Browne (#61 Wastin Dough) (0-laps)
DNS. Jaxon Bishop (#2 Avenger F2) (1-lap)
Super V 85
1. Sam Livesley (#13 Gone Mental) – 00:24:24 (6-laps)
DNS. Tim Pickford (#3 Sapphire)
DNS. Adrian Bishop/Lachlan Pannam (#63 Avenger F1)
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RND#2 – Race#3
Supercat Extreme
1. Darren Nicholson/Peter McGrath (#222 Boost Mobile) – 00:30:50 (13-laps)
2. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry-Cotter (#441 ACME Racing) – 00:31:31 (13-laps)
Supercat Outboard
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (#99 The Sting) – 00:33:59 (10-laps)
2. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (#22 The Mantis) – 00:32:55 (9-laps)
3. Steve Lancaster/Craig Dove (#81 DLR Offshore) – 00:34:44 (9-laps)
DNF. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (#161 TCR Racing) (4-laps)
Supersports 85
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (#161 Colonel Racing) – 00:30.52 (11-laps)
2. Mark Pecherzewksi/Mel Nelson (#07 Special Edition) – 00:30:54 (11-laps)
DNS. Ryan Shan/Scott Kelly (#888 RS Motorsport)
Supersports 65
1. Patrick Paczkowski/Michael Paczkowski (#13 Valentus 25) – 00:33:01 (9-laps)
2. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (#17 Nut Case) – 00:33:36 (9-laps)
3. Danny Caelli/Dean Caelli (#300 Villain) – 00:33:52 (9-laps)
4. Adrian van der Sluys/Corey Robson (#150 NFORCEN) – 00:31:07 (7-laps)
DNS. Charlie Di Iorio/Peter Cogliandro (#46 Cardiac Arrest)
DNS. Greg Walters (#72 HUN74) (2-laps)
DNS. Lance Muus/Ben Browne (#61 Wastin Dough)
DNS. Jaxon Bishop (#2 Avenger F2) (1-lap)
Super V 85
1. Sam Livesley (#13 Gone Mental) – 00:34:03 (10-laps)
DNS. Tim Pickford (#3 Sapphire)
DNS. Adrian Bishop/Lachlan Pannam (#63 Avenger F1)
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2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Championship Points (after round two)
AUS#1 Championship
1. Boost Mobile (210-points), 2. The Mantis (145), 3. The Sting (144), 4. ACME Racing (128), 5. DLR Offshore (103), 6. The Colonel (93)
Supercat Extreme
1. Boost Mobile (105-points), 2. ACME Racing (32)
Supercat Outboard
1. The Mantis (105-points), 2. The Sting (90), 3. DLR Offshore (78). 4. TCR Offshore (0)
Supersports 85
1. Colonel Racing (95), 2. RS Motorsport (91), 3. C-52 (74), 4. Special Edition (35)
Supersports 65
1. Nut Case (105), 2. All Coast Marine (82), 3. PFM Revolution (52), 4. HUN74 (30), 5. Villian (23)
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2024/25 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 22-23 February, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R3. Geelong Harbour, Victoria – 15-16 March, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R4. Port Adelaide, South Australia – 12-13 April, 2025 (sponsored by Symons Clark Logistics)
Further dates and locations released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
About Hornet Property Services
Located in Melbourne’s south-east, Hornet Property Services was born from the market’s demand for a better standard of tradesman. Servicing all of Melbourne, the business is defined by reliability and an extremely high level of customer service with competitive pricing. Simply put, they are your one stop shop for plumbing, electrical and property maintenance for both residential and commercial properties. For more information, visit https://hornetpropertyservices.com.au
About ODLS
ODLS (Overdimensinal Lift & Shift) specialise in heavy and Over Dimension ventures – including transport, lifting, installation and construction, and storage, Based in Melbourne’s Dandenong South, they are the heavies of Heavy Haulage with over 40 years experience in the industry. For more information, visit https://odls.com.au
The Australian Offshore Superboats Championship has continued to develop over the last 18 months to become one of the pre-eminent forms of power boat racing in Australia. Strong events so far this season in both Lake Macquarie (Newcastle) and Wyndham Harbour (in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay) have seen the most competitive fields of the last decade, the recent announcement of Port Adelaide to this season’s calendar only furthering that momentum.
Scheduled for North Haven and Largs Bay on April 12-13 this year, the event has been buoyed by the addition of support from iconic South Australian business Symons Clark Logistics, big supporters of not just boat racing, but all manner of sports and events in and around Port Adelaide.
David Clark, the driving force behind the nearby Adelaide Speed Boat Club – which is now in its 90th year – has been a long-time boat racing competitor, but the passionate South Australian is just as fired up about Port Adelaide as he is about racing himself, a chance to bring a major Australian Championship to the region too good an opportunity to pass up, Symons Clark also throwing their full support behind the event as the naming rights sponsor of the round.
“There’s no question that Offshore Superboats make a big impression,” Clark admitted. “They’re big, they’re powerful and they’re impressive to watch on the open water. Despite their long history in Australia, this is the first time they’ve raced in South Australia, and with the profile they’re now developing on national television through the Seven Network and through the support they’re receiving from competitors, it was the perfect time to bring them to Port Adelaide.”
The event, which is free to the public to watch and attend, will take place off the beach opposite North Haven and run two-to-three kilometres down the coast to Largs Bay, with boats staged and launched from the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia [CYCSA] in North Haven, a popular area for Adelaide’s many boating enthusiasts.
“There’s a fantastic boating culture in that part of Adelaide, and the CYCSA is a picturesque venue with fantastic facilities that are really going to be popular with the teams,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina added.
“We’re really excited by the coming event and have to thank Dave Clark and Symons Clark Logistics, for helping us to make this happen – they’re providing all manner of support, not just financial, but also storage and logistics, using their immense experience in the region to help us put this all together.
“As a true national championship, we love traversing the country to introduce new teams to the sport, and at the moment we’re enjoying a big swing of popularity with a number of new teams and boats joining the sport this season, providing the perfect platform to introduce South Australians to Offshore racing at its best!”
Since the idea was first flagged in discussions between Clark and the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club, there has been fantastic support from the local region, including the City of Port Adelaide Enfield who alongside Symons Clark Logistics have been instrumental in piecing the deal together.
“It is fantastic to bring yet another nationally recognised sporting event to the City of PAE through our grants program, and even better is that this action packed, high speed event is totally free to watch between Largs Bay and North Haven,” City of PAE Mayor, Claire Boan said. “See you on the water!”
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2024/25 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 22-23 February, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R3. Geelong Harbour, Victoria – 15-16 March, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R4. Port Adelaide, South Australia – 12-13 April, 2025 (sponsored by Symons Clark Logistics)
Further dates and locations released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
About Symons Clark Logistics
Symons Clark Logistics is a 150 year old, family owned, Port Adelaide based transport and logistics company. Their experience brings with it premium wharf cartage and container transport services, with a focus on providing customers with complete logistic solutions including warehousing, container pack/unpack, distribution, over-dimensional, heavy haulage, project logistics and Australia-wide bulk haulage.
Conveniently located close to South Australia’s major shipping and intermodal hubs, Symons Clark operates a fully serviced container park, servicing many of the major shipping lines, and provide onsite secure indoor and outdoor storage. They are a fully accredited Customs 77G and 1.1 Quarantine approved premises with capability to provide all associated services including tailgate, fumigation, and freight inspections.
The spectacular Offshore Superboats return to the water this weekend for the second round of the 2024/25 season at Victoria’s Wyndham Harbour, a popular venue for teams and fans alike. Located just 40-kilometres south-west of the Melbourne CBD, the venue provides the ideal vantage point for spectators who can enjoy the ongoing battle for vital championship points as one of the biggest fields in the last decade takes to the water.
Conditions promise to be almost perfect with a return to warm sunny conditions in the high 20s and low 30s, with light winds giving the teams a chance to stretch their legs across the six 30-minute races scheduled across the two days.
Leading the charge will be the iconic Supercat Extreme boats, with former World Champions and reigning Australian title holders ‘222 Marine’ in their stunning ‘Boost Mobile’ Superboat. They will again face stiff competition from former champions ‘ACME Racing’ with Andrew Searle and Tom Barry-Cotter intent on turning the tables on their rivals after some technical setbacks during the opening round at Lake Macquarie.
The Wyndham Harbour venue has hosted the Superboats since 2019 when Barry-Cotter claimed a hat-trick of wins, the Queenslander coming into this year’s event as the most successful Supercat Extreme driver in the field, having claimed a fourth race win in 2021 after the Series returned from a Covid-induced break in 2020.
For the ‘ACME’ team though, they will face the in-form ‘222 Offshore’ duo of Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath who claimed their own hat-trick of wins in 2023, the mighty Supercat Extreme boats having been absent from the field last year, their return for 2025 with everything to play for, should make for some tight racing at the front of the field.
For the Supercat Outboard teams, they led the charge 12-months ago with Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly collecting three wins, paving the way for another Australian Championship, in the process overcoming a challenging relationship with the Wyndham Harbour venue that had delivered as much heartache as joy over the previous five seasons.
For title rivals Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall – both of whom have won at Wyndham – they’d been forced to play second-fiddle at the venue last year, but at the season opener in Lake Macquarie they’d put the ‘MANTIS’ team on notice, their new ‘Sting 99’ hull delivering more than a few surprises, promising for a fantastic battle for valuable Championship points across the weekend, although neither team will have it easy.. ‘TCR Racing’ are no strangers to Wyndham Harbour, Scott Richardson and Stephen Kelly regulars on the podium in past seasons, whilst for long-time mates Steve Lancaster and Craig Dove, they’ll also be in prime position to challenge for a top three finish should any of their rivals falter.
For the last couple of seasons a captivating battle has been brewing in Supersports 85 between Mark Pecherzewski’s ‘Special Edition’ powered by a 700-horsepower ‘Maritimo’ inboard and the popular ‘Colonel Racing’ outboard entry of Mick and Jason Kelly. Coming into the 2025 event both teams can claim wins at Wyndham Harbour on their resumes, although it’s Jason Kelly who currently holds the win record, with six victories to his name, Pecherzewski claiming four whilst for Mick Kelly, who alongside nephew Jason leads the points heading into round two, he is yet to have carded a single win at what is effectively his home track!
For the ‘Hornet Property Services’ supported team, there is much to play for, whilst for Pecherzewski, he will be looking to make amends for a tough start to the season, both teams though keeping a close eye on fellow Victorians Ryan Shan and Scott Kelly who closed out the Lake Macquarie round with their maiden win in the class, the team very comfortable with the position and keen to emulate it at Wyndham.
With a great influx of new entries for the Supersports 65 class, there will be no shortage of challengers for the points-leading local team of Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton, ‘Nut Case’ having claimed a hat-trick of wins at Lake Macquarie to open their new season account with maximum points, although despite entering their ‘home round’ they’ve only seen the top step of the podium at Wyndham once, and will be looking to rectify that this weekend.
12-months ago the race wins were shared by Danny and Dean Caelli in ‘Villian’ and Patty and Michael Paczkowski in ‘Valentus’ who went on to claim the 2024 Supersports 65 title. The Paczkowski’s missed the opening round of the new season at Lake Macquarie, allowing Bakkr and Paton to open their account with a significant advantage, history showing that in many cases, the points leaders after the opening round will go on to claim the title..!
For Wyndham, the big news is the great influx of ski racing competitors who have entered for both the Supersports 65 and new Super V8 85 categories, all of them looking to return to competition with the current sabbatical their sport is taking. Leading the charge in Supersports 65 will be Jake Hinterholzl in ‘Hijact’ who alongside fellow ski-racer Jaxon Bishop (Avenger F2) will be looking to take the fight to the established stars of the category.
For Bakkr and Paton, aside from the ski racers they will have no shortage of challengers, seven boats entered for Supersports 65 including the return of last year’s champions ‘Valentus’, the Caelli father-and-son duo in ‘Villian’, Greg Walters in the beautiful ‘HUN74’ and the debut of Charlie Di Iorio and Peter Cogliandro in ‘Cardiac Arrest’.
There is much excitement about the debut of the new ‘Super V 85’ category designed around the outright inboard leg-boat ski racing machines, the likes of which dominate ski racing on the sport’s most iconic river races around the country. Leading the new assault will be two-time Southern 80 Champions ‘Sapphire’ with team owner Tim Pickford at the wheel, a driver with immense experience in boat racing, but whilst usually towing two skiers with an observer alongside, this weekend Pickford will be going it alone. Pickford, like his rivals Sam Livesley and Adrian Bishop will be no stranger to the open water of Port Phillip Bay, with many of the major international ski races held in open water, whilst many Victorian teams also test in the Bay, although 30-minutes of the 6.96km Wyndham Harbour course racing against 12 other boats will be a new experience without skiers on the rope.
For the fans, they will have no shortage of entertainment to keep them occupied both on and off the water. Six, 30-minute races are scheduled across the weekend, with the mighty Supercat Extreme and Supercat Outboards contesting three races (one on Saturday, two on Sunday), whilst the Supersports classes and the new Super V8 85 boats will also contest three races (two on Saturday, one on Sunday).
The event will also feature the Cars & Coffee display on Sunday morning, which will include new National Drivers’ Championship Unlimited Displacement Champion Tate Ramsey in his new ‘LAY IT ON’ supercharged 21’ Childsplay, with the Wyndham Harbour Twilight Market running from 3:00pm to 8:00pm on Saturday afternoon. The popular 3030 Waterfont cafe will be open both days serving an array of fantastic local food including pizzas and seafood, whilst the mini golf is always a hit with the kids. There is plenty to see and do across a weekend that’s sure to provide plenty of action on the water, but for those who miss it, thanks to Hornet Property Services, the event will be televised ‘free-to-air’ on 7mate, then available immediately afterwards to watch ‘on-demand’ on 7plus. Check guides for details in the weeks following.
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R2, 2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships presented by Hornet Property Services
Wyndham Harbour, Victoria
22-23 February, 2025
SCHEDULE;
Saturday, 22 February, 2025
1:00pm – Supersports Race#1 (30-minutes)
2:00pm – Superboat Race#1 (30-minutes)
3:00pm – Supersports Race#2 (30-minutes)
Sunday, 23 February, 2025
11:00am – Superboat Race#2 (30-minutes)
12:00pm – Supersports Race#3 (30-minutes)
1:00pm – Superboat Race#3 (30-minutes)
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2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Championship Points (after round one)
Supercat Extreme
1. Boost Mobile (105-points), 2. ACME (32)
Supercat Outboard
1. The Mantis (105-points), 2. The Sting (90), 3. DLR Offshore (78). 4. TCR Offshore (0)
Supersports 85
1. Colonel Racing (95), 2. RS Motorsport (91), 3. C-52 (74), 4. Special Edition (35)
Supersports 65
1. Nut Case (105), 2. All Coast Marine (82), 3. PFM Revolution (52), 4. HUN74 (30), 5. Villian (23)
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2024/25 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 22-23 February, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R3. Geelong Harbour, Victoria – 15-16 March, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R4. Port Adelaide, South Australia – 12-13 April, 2025
Further dates and locations released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
About Hornet Property Services
Located in Melbourne’s south-east, Hornet Property Services was born from the market’s demand for a better standard of tradesman. Servicing all of Melbourne, the business is defined by reliability and an extremely high level of customer service with competitive pricing. Simply put, they are your one stop shop for plumbing, electrical and property maintenance for both residential and commercial properties.
The exciting Australian Offshore Superboat Championship will make its South Australian debut this April with the announcement that Port Adelaide has secured the fourth round of the season, operating from the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia in North Haven, just 25-kilometres north of the Adelaide city centre.
“This is an exciting development for the category,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina admitted. “It’s something we’ve been working on for more than six months, and finally we’re able to make public something we believe will have a big impact on both the sport, and Port Adelaide itself.”
Supported by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council [City of PAE], the event – which is free to view for the general public – will take place off the beach opposite North Haven and run two-to-three kilometres down the coast to Largs Bay, with boats staged and launched from the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia [CYCSA] in North Haven, a popular area for Adelaide’s many boating enthusiasts.
“There’s a fantastic boating culture in that part of Adelaide, and the CYCSA is a picturesque venue with fantastic facilities that are really going to be popular with the teams,” De Fina added.
“We’re really looking forward to this and to introducing a new venue for the sport. This is our first foray into South Australia, and as a truly national category, it’s nice to expose the sport to new markets and take the sport to new fans that haven’t had the opportunity of seeing these impressive boats up close. We might be racing a couple of hundred metres off shore, but we’ll be moored at the CYCSA, giving fans a unique chance to come and see the boats first hand.”
“It is fantastic to bring yet another nationally recognised sporting event to the City of PAE through our grants program, and even better is that this action packed, high speed event is totally free to watch between Largs Bay and North Haven,” City of PAE Mayor, Claire Boan said. “See you on the water!”
“We are thrilled to be hosting the inaugural South Australian instalment of the Offshore Superboat Championship race in April,” Adam Hays the General Manager of the Cruising Yacht of South Australia added. “We’re proud to be part of this historic event, bringing world-class Offshore Powerboat racing to the Port Adelaide district. This championship is a significant milestone for both the sport and our community, and we look forward to welcoming racing teams, fans, and visitors to our stunning waterfront venue. It’s an exciting opportunity to showcase our facilities, our passion for boating, and the unique beauty of North Haven to a wider audience.”
Part of the development of the Adelaide event has come as a direct result of De Fina’s fellow Australian Power Boat Association [APBA] Director David Clark, a huge supporter of boat racing in Adelaide as patron of the Adelaide Speed Boat Club and a competitor in the popular Circuit Boat Championship in his iconic blue ‘Tuff’E’Nuff Racing’ Unlimited Displacement boat, but whilst Clark isn’t lining up to compete in April, he’ll still be a visible part of the project.
“This is fantastic for Port Adelaide, it’s fantastic for the Cruising Yacht Club and it’s fantastic for the race fans – it also puts Adelaide on the map for a sport that is viewed all around the world, so a win-win for everyone involved” Clark admitted.
“As a resident of the area, and a competitor myself, I’m passionate about Port Adelaide, so we did everything we could to work with Antony [De Fina] and the Offshore Superboat category to bring it to South Australia and I know the teams will do everything in their power to make it a great success.”
“This provides another great chapter to our story this season, alongside the announcement that we will be returning to television screens around the country in 2025 thanks to our new arrangement with Hornet property Services and the Seven Network to appear on 7mate and 7plus,” De Fina said. “Together with the introduction of the new Super V 85 class for Ski Racing entrants, the future of the sport is looking strong, with more boats coming out of sheds to be involved, so we’re definitely tracking in the right direction, the inclusion of Adelaide just adding that little bit of extra star power to an already engaging season!”
2024 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, VIC – 22-23 February, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R3. Geelong Harbour, VIC – 15-16 March, 2025 (sponsored by Hornet Property Services)
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 12-13 April, 2025
Further dates and venues released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
On the eve of the opening round of the 2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships at Lake Macquarie on the New South Wales central coast, came confirmation that the series will once more adorn television screens around Australia with the production of a series of programs to be delivered to the Seven Network early in the new year.
In association with Melbourne’s Hornet Property Services, rounds two and three of the Championship will be aired ‘free-to-air’ on 7mate and ‘on-demand’ on 7plus, with four, one-hour programs highlighting the excitement and passion surrounding the sport.
“As the category continues to gain traction it became clear that we needed to return to television in an effort to build more excitement around the sport,” Antony De Fina, the Australian OffShore Powerboat Club’s Commodore explained. “We have a schedule of really strong events in big population centres coming across the next few months, but the key to broadening our reach is to go to a wider audience, and that means television.
“The Seven Network has a strong motorsport background with 7mate the home of many leading categories including Supercars, Drag Racing, Circuit Boats, Off Road and others, it’s a destination that people go to, to watch the best the sport has to offer, so the perfect platform for us to start rebuilding our profile.”
Production of the programs will be delivered by Melbourne’s 321Ignition Media who have been responsible for the production of television for the popular National Drivers’ Championship for Circuit Boats and additionally, V8 Superboats. Their team were at Lake Macquarie to take in the opening round of the season, collating content that will be used in the forthcoming programs.
Aside from national distribution through the Seven Network, programs will also be distributed through 321Ignition Media to networks all over the world, more than 600-million homes having access to content, reaching all corners of the globe.
“The Lake Macquarie round and their annual ‘Fast and Loud Festival’ was a fantastic way to open the new season,” De Fina admitted. “It kicks off what promises to be an exciting year ahead, and with Hornet Property Services supporting the next two rounds in Victoria, we’re expecting strong fields and some outstanding on action on the water.”
2024 Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 19-20 October, 2024
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 22-23 February, 2025
R3. Geelong Harbour, Victoria – 15-16 March, 2025
Further dates and locations released soon.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
About Hornet Property Services
Located in Melbourne’s south-east, Hornet Property Services was born from the market’s demand for a better standard of tradesman. Servicing all of Melbourne, the business is defined by reliability and an extremely high level of customer service with competitive pricing. Simply put, they are your one stop shop for plumbing, electrical and property maintenance for both residential and commercial properties.
For more information, please visit https://hornetpropertyservices.com.au