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.
——————————-
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)
———————-
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
———————-
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
——————————-
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.
——————————
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)
——————-
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)
——————-
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
——————————
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
Heading into the third round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships in Geelong’s Corio Bay, the season is at its mid-point with everything to play for and no shortage of contenders expected to make their presence felt on the challenging 5.48-kilometre, eight-turn course.
Season 2026 has again delivered some outstanding action, with the outright Supercat Extreme category once again leading the charge with one of their biggest fields of the last decade, presenting a great focal point for the fans with their impressive presence.
As they have done now for many years, ‘222 Offshore’ have been the dominant force, the 2023 UIM World Champions kicking off the season at their home venue in Lake Macquarie with a trio of comfortable victories, however their title defence took a backward step last time out at Wyndham Harbour with a technical failure whilst leading race two, an issue which ultimately sidelined them for the final race, costing them valuable championship points.
That opened the door for reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly in their stunning ‘Hornet Racing’ machine, the former AUS and NZ#1, now resplendent in the bold livery of ‘Hornet Plumbing’ showing fantastic pace from their debut in Lake Macquarie where despite significantly lower horsepower than their rivals, they were able to take their 34-foot ‘Skater’ to second, before achieving their maiden win at Wyndham Harbour, putting them to the top of the points table. Second overall, despite some significant setbacks at Lake Macquarie with prop failure, are fellow rookies Stuart Eustice and Todd Kelly, the ‘MOJO’ team proving more than a match for their rivals, despite 2005 Bathurst 1000 Champion Todd Kelly’s limited experience in the boat, and Eustice’s debut at Lake Macquarie, a debut which forced Kelly into the throttleman’s position for the first time.
The ’MOJO’ team – like ‘222 Offshore’ – campaign the faster, more powerful twin-790bhp inboard V8s, but whilst carrying as much as 450-500 horsepower more than ‘Venturi’ and ‘Hornet’, the bigger boats also carry a heftier race weight, allowing their rivals a fighting chance on the power-to-weight scale.
At Geelong the new-look ‘Mobile X’ team are again expected to set the pace and back-up their 2025 victories at the venue where they claimed two race wins before a technical setback sidelined them for the third, although they know – just two rounds in – that their rivals aren’t going to make it easy, and the shorter track rotation on smoother water, thanks to the sheltered Corio Bay location, could play into the hands of the smaller boats.
In Supercat Outboard, all eyes will be on ‘Kess Racing’ who suffered a rollover in Wyndham Harbour in a battle for the lead with ‘TCR Racing’ and ‘The Sting’, contact with the iconic yellow boat of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall saw Steve Lancaster and Scott Kelly invert the reigning championship winning boat, putting a big hole in their Championship apsirations.
Fortunately the crew and the boat were okay, although the boat required some extra attention between rounds, as did ‘The Sting’ that suffered prop failure in that same race, allowing ‘TCR Offshore’ through for a welcome victory, the Victorian team going through to win the round ahead of ‘DLR Offshore’, Ratcliffe and Wall’s Championship lead now reduced to just three points promising for an interesting weekend ahead.
The Geelong event also sees the welcome return of the former Paul Gibbs/Paul Fowlds Championship winning boat with new owner George Collins taking the wheel alongside former World Champion Tom Barry-Cotter, the ‘ACME Racing’ wheel-man taking a short sabbatical from the mighty red boat whilst Andrew Searle effects updates and repairs ahead of a return later in the season.
Supersports 85 will also see a return, the mighty title-winning ‘Colonel’ back in the fold after missing Wyndham Harbour, Jason Kelly returning to the throttles of both the ‘Colonel’ and ‘Hornet Racing’ although this time he’ll be joined by Mick Kelly’s son Jordan keeping the family tradition alive.. They will battle Mark Pecherzewski and Mel Nelson in the mighty ‘Special Edition’ and one of the most famous names in Offshore Racing worldwide, 11-time World and USA National Champion Scott Porta, who joins boat owner George Sezdirmezoglu in his immaculate ‘Donzi’. Rumour also has it that Nelson might give up her seat alongside Pecherzewski for reigning Supersports 65 Champion Hary Bakkr in one race across the weekend, Bakkr keen to get a feel for the mighty ‘Cootacraft’ as the ‘Razorcraft’ team looks to build their own 85-mile-per-hour boat some time in the near future.
The Championship battle in Supersports 65 has also stepped up, with Geelong local Charlie Di Iorio now leading the charge after a slow start to their title defence for Hary Bakkr and Shane Paton in ‘Nut Case’. Di Iorio and new observer Tijana Botic will be looking to build on their points lead at home, although Bakkr acknowledges that he’s looking to make an impact this weekend and is intent on a return to the top step of the podium; their victories in both Geelong races in 2025 only adding to their confidence.
Shadowing both will be Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster in ‘The Con’, 2024 Champion Pat Paczkowski in ‘Valentus’, and Ben Embleton and Liam Sutherland in ‘Team 38’, paving the way for three fantastic races across the weekend.
For anyone attending the event, teams will again be based at Steampacket Gardens on the Geelong foreshore providing a fanastic viewing opportunity with vantage points right around Corio Bay. Three 30-minute races will run on Saturday, March 14 with races scheduled at 1:00pm, 2:00pm and 3:00pm, whilst on Sunday, March 15, races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
————————————-
2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (Hornet Racing) – 173-points
2. Stuart Eustice/Todd Kelly (MOJO) – 148
3. Darren Nicholson/Steve Jellick (Mobile X) – 141
4. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (Venturi Offshore) – 135
5. Darren Apps/Paul Fowlds (Team Australia) – 23
6. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 1
Supercat Outboard Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 176-points
2. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 173
3. Craig Dove/Lachlan Dove (DLR Offshore) – 148
4. Steve Lancaster/Scott Kelly (Kess Racing) – 91
Supersports 85 Championship (after round two of four)
1. Mark Pecherzewski/Mel Nelson/Ian Tricker (Special Edition/TR Racing) – 200-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Scott Kelly/Steve Kelly (The Colonel) – 70
Supersports 65 Championship (after round two of four)
1. Charlie Di Iorio/Tijana Botic (Cardiac Arrest) – 195-points
2. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (Nut Case) – 153
3. Brendan Weeks/Sophie Lancaster (The Con) – 148
3. Pat Paczkowski (Valentus) – 148
5. Ben Embleton/Liam Sutherland (Team 38 Offshore) – 90
6. Zac Gould/Michael Agius (Degen) – 18
Melbourne’s iconic JV Marine World will join the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships as the Series returns to Victoria for back-to-back rounds at Wyndham Harbour and Geelong across the coming weeks, Australia’s largest boating superstore adding their support as part of their 50 year birthday celebrations.
“This is great news for the Offshore Championships heading into JV Marine’s back yard,” AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina admitted. “They are icons in the boating industry in Australia with the country’s largest boating superstore in Melbourne’s Braeside, which has operated since 1976. In fact, I can remember in those formative years going to their original premises in North Road and picking up a second-hand runabout with my father, so I remember them fondly as part of my boat racing journey.
“At Wyndham Harbour in just over a week, a mighty Boston Whaler, fitted with a pair of 400-hp Mercury outboards from JV Marine World, will lead the field away as the start boat, putting them front and centre for what we expect will be a fantastic weekend of world class Offshore action.”
Established by John Stav half a decade ago, JV Marine has grown to house Australia’s largest indoor boating showroom, the facility hosting all manner of new and used boats and jetskis across 10-acres at their 878 Springvale Road location, the business also has its own café, ski shop and dedicated dive shop, catering for all aspects of boating.
“To have JV Marine continue to support us – especially in their 50th year – is fantastic and says something about where the sport is heading; we can’t thank them enough,” De Fina added.
“There’s no question that Offshore Superboats are the pinnacle of boating performance, not just here, but around the world,” JV Marine World’s Mark Stav explained. “They’re a fantastic spectacle, especially out on rough water, really pushing the boundaries of what extreme boating is all about, testing man and machine.
“For JV Marine World it gives us a great platform to promote our boating involvement both around the country, and around the world.”
“It’s an exciting time for the sport,” De Fina added. “For the first time in more than a decade we have strong fields of outright boats, with a likelihood of six or more Supercat Extreme boats battling for the Championship title this season, whilst the Supersports classes too are seeing fantastic interest with new boats underway to take the fight to the established stars; it’s going to be a great season.”
The second round of the 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will take place off Wyndham Harbour in Melbourne’s south-west, with six 30-minute races across the weekend; Saturday, February 21 will see the action start from 1:00pm through to 3:30pm, then on Sunday, February 22, from 11:00am to 1:30pm.
About JV World Marine
Located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburb of Braeside, JV Marine World is Victoria’s largest boating dealership with hundreds of boats and jetskis on display. They are committed to providing excellent customer service and offer a great range of New and Used boats and jetskis, genuine spare parts and accessories, and an experience Service Department. They are located at 878 Springvale Road, Braeside.
For more information visit; www.jvmarine.com.au
————————————————————–
2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026
The 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will return to the New South Wales Hunter Valley and the waters of Lake Macquarie for the highly anticipated opening round of the new season, a season which promises some of the biggest fields in more than a decade, led by the stunning outright Supercat Extreme category that will feature a number of new and returning boats campaigned by both rookie and experienced crews.
Having worked tirelessly to re-establish themselves after setbacks post-Covid, the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club has been rewarded for their efforts with what will be the best field of boats to contest the Championship for more than ten years. Led by the impressive outright Supercat Extreme boats, there has been a big shakeup in every class of competition for the coming season leading to an air of excitement about what’s to come at Lake Macquarie.
Clear favourites to start the new campaign in Supercat Extreme will be Lake Macquarie locals ‘Boost Mobile/222 Offshore’ with reigning champions Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath strapping in again to weather the coming storm, but whilst the team will use their immense experience; which includes World Championship victory – they know the new season will present some big challenges.
12-months ago at Lake Macquarie, Andrew Searle and Tom Barry-Cotter debuted their new look ‘ACME Racing’ Maritimo, the team having debuted in the final round of the previous season on the Gold Coast as a shakedown, the 2024/25 Offshore season their first real assault with the new boat where typically of a debut package, there were teething issues. This time around though after a big off season preparing new powerplants and making some further adjustments to the package, the multiple national champions are convinced they will present a much greater challenge to the ‘222’ team and are excited about the prospect of the season ahead.
But as they say in the commercials, that’s not all..!
In Port Adelaide back in April, another former Maritimo package made its return to the water under the flag of 2005 Bathurst 1000 winner Todd Kelly, the new-look ‘MOJO’ program put together in the two weeks ahead of the event with new owner Stuart Eustice and Kelly planning a full assault on the 2025/26 season, but electing to run Port Adelaide as a shakedown.
A big off-season for the ‘Kelly Performance’ supported team will see them look to push for podium finishes off the back of two wins on debut at Port Adelaide, although Kelly is quick to point out that they came at the expense of penalties and technical setbacks for their rivals; regardless, they impressed on debut and will be looking to send a message to the established teams that they’re looking for a championship!
And that leads us to the ‘new’ teams, led by two Championship winning crews; multiple Supercat Outboard Champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly, and multiple Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly (and yes, three of those Kellys are related, but interestingly, not to Todd Kelly..!)
For AOPC Commodore Antony De Fina, much of his life has been dominated by the sport, his father a pioneer in the category during its formative years, and like most competitors in the sport, his dreams had always centered on the outright category where finally, after many years of success in the Outboard classes, he’s made the leap after purchasing the former Team 3 Victory cat formerly campaigned in Australia by Adam Gilbert.
Joined again by wheel-man Matt Kelly, the pair are under no illusions about what to expect in their maiden season as they work the intricacies of managing a longer, heavier inboard engine boat against some very serious competition, but one thing is for certain, the package has the credentials and the team have immense experience in the sport, and like their rivals, they’re not entered just to make up the numbers, so will be good to watch in their debut season.
For reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick and Jason Kelly, their plan had been to step into the Supercat Outboard class for season 2026, but through a number of changing circumstances found themselves faced with a 34-foot ‘Skater’ hull which once held both the Australian and New Zealand #1 titles; Hornet Racing the evolution of that, with what is arguably the most stunning paint scheme in the sport – they’ll be hard to miss.
Both teams know they have plenty of work ahead, experience teaching them that with graduation comes a whole new learning experience, but like the other experienced campaigners in the field, they’re not starting from ground zero so could present a challenge to the category’s more seasoned campaigners, especially if they face a setback.
Meanwhile for Philip Wiley and Darren Apps, two long time mates brought together over a passion for ski racing, they’ve emerged from the off-season break with their own project having taken delivery of Brett Luhrmann’s ‘Team Australia’ Maritimo. The duo will spend the new season coming to grips with a very different boat to what they’ve been accustomed too, but have also drafted in the experienced Paul Fowlds, the multiple outboard Offshore Champion running alongside Apps for the opening few races in accordance with regulations, which requires at least one experienced campaigner in the boat for the team’s first four races.
With their size, speed and sound, the Supercat Extreme boats are the most iconic in Offshore competition, but will by no means present the only focal point across the six 30-minute races at Lake Macquarie.
There’s been change in the Supercat Outboard category too in the off-season, most notable being that of reigning Champions ‘The Mantis’. Post-Port Adelaide the Antony De Fina built catamaran was sold on to rival Steve Lancaster of DLR Offshore fame, Lancaster campaigning the multiple championship winning boat under the ‘Kess Racing’ banner this season with the experienced Scott Kelly alongside.
They might be the ‘underdog’ as a new combination, but with the extra speed of twin Mercury 300Rs at his disposal, Lancaster will be able to take the fight directly to the ‘Sting’ pairing of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall who despite missing Adelaide after their big off in Geelong, come into the new season fully repaired and fully prepared. They’re also looking for redemption after holding the championship points lead with De Fina and Kelly at the mid-point of last season, both teams having claimed three wins apiece to that point; for them, 2026 is about completing the job!
Whilst ‘Kess’ and ‘The Sting’ campaign the more powerful 300R engines, for ‘TCR Offshore’s’ Scott Richardson and Steve Kelly, they will have their hands full this season against ‘DLR Offshore’s’ new-look crew, with Craig Dove now joined by son Lachlan in the popular Victorian boat, both teams campaigning the older 300XS Mercury powerplants. Having completed the 2025 season second in points, DLR will be looking to maintain their place in the Championship and based on their reliability last season, will present a real threat to the faster teams.
In keeping with the graduation of champions through to the faster classes, the Supersports 85 category will have a new look to start the 25/26 season, but unlike the Supercat classes, this one has a twist.
Over recent years the battle for supremacy between Cootacraft’s Mark Pecherzeswki and the ‘The Colonel’ of Mick and Jason Kelly has been a highlight, two very different boats competing gunnel-to-gunnel at almost every round, and whilst the Kellys have emerged on top the last two seasons, there has been no doubt about which of the two boats is faster (remembering that the class is capped by GPS to 85mph), Pecherzewski though, lamenting a lack of reliability last season.
Sadly that lack of reliability saw a major overhaul in the off-season where frustratingly parts delays kept the mighty ‘Special Edition’ from readiness for Lake Macquarie, forcing a change in direction, and here’s the kicker..
Graduating to the Supercat Extreme class saw a vacancy in the Kelly family’s beloved ‘Colonel’; enter newly crowned Supersports 65 Champion Hary Bakkr.. Bakkr had designs on building a new ‘Razorcraft’ for the 2026 Supersports 85 season but work commitments (building Razorcrafts for customers) had sidelined the project, delivering the Kellys a solution to keeping their ‘Skater’ in the field. That vacancy and subsequent challenges to Shane Paton’s graduation to driver of ‘Nut Case’ for the new season saw the mighty green-machine available for Lake Macquarie, and yep, you guessed it, Pecherzewksi and Mel Nelson will jump aboard to earn points towards their tilt at the 2026 Supersports 85 title, although acknowledging that they might not be in contention for the class win this weekend.
In keeping with the strong growth of the category, the Supersports 85 class will have no shortage of depth, Bakkr and Pecherzewski joined by Aaron and Jack Panozza in ‘Skater 28’, Darren Penfold in ‘Thunderstruck’ and Anthony and Hunter McEnally in ‘Watersports Marine’ all in contention for a race win across the weekend, and if 2024 was any guide (three different winners across the Lake Mac weekend), anything is possible.. And just a tip, don’t discount the mighty little green boat..!
With Bakr having graduated for the 2026 season, the path is open for a new champion in the Supersports 65 class and again, there’s no shortage of contenders although all will need to be on their A-game with the return of 2024 Champion Patty Paczkowski in ‘Valentus’. Family commitments kept the team from a full program last year, although a return at Wyndham Harbour did nett three race wins, but for the 2025/26 season, Paczkowski is intent on regaining the crown, although he won’t have it all his own way.
Charlie Di Iorio is back in the family-run ‘Cardiac Arrest’ with Greg Walters again alongside despite repairing his much-loved ‘HUN74’ Haines Hunter in the off-season, the Di iorio and Walters combination a serious threat for the outright title, whilst Ben Embleton – again with the experienced Liam Sutherland alongside – will look to press their intentions in their first full season in the Championship.
Throw in the returning Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster in ‘The Con’, Aaron Jackson in ‘All Coast Marine’; who claimed three podium finishes at Lake Mac 12-months ago – Zak Gould in ‘Degen’ and Patrick Bonnici in ‘Power Marine’ and you have no shortage of action across all four classes.
For anyone attending the event, teams will again be based at Empire Marina at Marmong Point with the boats traversing a 6.5-kiloemtre course that runs from the start/finish line at Marmong Point south towards Bolton Point, then east towards Warners Bay, up close and personal to The Esplanade at Speers Point, on towards The Five Islands then back to Marmong Point presenting many great vantage points around the rotation.
Three 30-minute races will run on Saturday, October 18 with races scheduled at 12:00pm, 1:00pm and 2:00pm, whilst on Sunday, October 19, races will run at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
For more information on the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, visit us at;
www.superboat.com.au
www.facebook.com/OffshoreSuperboats
www.facebook.com/ausopc
————————————-
2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships
Supercat Extreme Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Darren Nicholson/Peter McGrath (Boost Mobile/222 Offshore) – 376-points
2. Andrew Searle/Tom Barry Cotter (ACME Racing) – 323
Supercat Outboard Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Antony De Fina/Matt Kelly (The Mantis) – 440-points
2. Steve Lancaster/Craig Dove (DLR Offshore) – 347
3. Mike Ratcliffe/Karl Wall (The Sting) – 226
4. Scott Richardson/Steve Kelly (TCR Offshore) – 206
Supersports 85 Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Mick Kelly/Jason Kelly (The Colonel) – 361-points
2. Mark Pecherzewski/Melanie Nelson (Special Edition) – 241
3. Ryan Shan/Scott Kelly (RS Motorsport) – 92
Supersports 65 Championship (after four rounds of four)
1. Hary Bakkr/Shane Paton (Nut Case) – 377-points
2. Charlie Di Iorio/Greg Walters (Cardiac Arrest) – 156
3. Danny Caelli/Dean Caelli (Villain) – 131
4. Greg Walters (HUN74) – 32
———————————————-
2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships – calendar
R1. Lake Macquarie, NSW – 18-19 October, 2025
R2. Wyndham Harbour, Victoria – 21-22 February, 2026
R3. Geelong, Victoria – 14-15 March, 2026
R4. Port Adelaide, SA – 09-10 May, 2026
The Australian Offshore Superboats Championship makes it’s South Australian debut next weekend (12-13 April), bringing the popular category to Port Adelaide for the fourth round of the 2025 season, and whilst big news for motorsport fans, the addition of a former Bathurst 1000 winner is sure to attract plenty of attention.
Todd Kelly’s relationship with boats stretches back decades, the Mildura local spending much of his childhood following his parents around the major ski racing venues in the country, a passion which would ultimately filter down to their sons.
For Todd and Rick Kelly, they ultimately shared their passion for competition between Supercars and ski racing, continuing to compete on the water where time allowed, that relationship keeping them in touch with boat racing which ultimately led to a cameo appearance for Todd with ‘222 Offshore’ alongside the legendary Peter ‘Muddy’ McGrath.
“I knew Darren [Nicholson] and Pete because of our shared interest in boat racing, and got a call out of the blue one day asking me if I’d like to drive for them at Hervey Bay because Darren was caught up and unable to make the event,” Todd Kelly explained. “I didn’t need to be asked twice, but have to admit, I was pretty nervous about jumping straight in for an important race event. Having ‘Muddy’ next to me made it really simple though, his experience made the whole weekend a real pleasure, so I was pretty keen to do it again, but after six or seven years, I didn’t expect the call to come a second time..”
For Kelly, his return to the wheel will be a very different experience this time around, as he will have a much greater involvement in the program thanks to the recent purchase of ‘Super Bad’, Kelly assisting good mate Stuart Eustice in putting the arrangement together, an arrangement which will ultimately see both Todd and his teenage son Mason – now a regular on the Super2 scene in Supercars – sharing driving duties in the seasons to come.
“Stuart and I have been mates for years, and he’s a passionate boatie, but also races cars. When he threw the idea at me I laughed because I thought he was joking, but very quickly we found ourselves looking over the boat with ‘Muddy’ and some of the 222 boys and before I knew it, the deal was done.”
“For me it looked the closest thing to racing a car on water,” Eustice admitted. “They’re fast, they race side by side, race distances are quite long, and they’re impressive to look at, it ticked all the boxes. I might not have had the luxury of driving one yet, but the idea doesn’t phase me, even the possibility of an incident in the water doesn’t concern me, I’m just keen to fast track my experience and enjoy it. If I can do that with some mates, all the better.
For the team, the first step is to get the boat down to Melbourne to go over some of the final details – including a name change to ‘MOJO’ in a nod to the Kelly’s involvement with ski racing – before almost immediately shipping off to Adelaide where Todd Kelly will share driving duties in the sleek 39-foot ‘Maritimo’ with former driver Steve Jellick. For Stuart Eustice, he’s elected to sit out the first couple of events as Kelly gets to grips with the boat, driver experience coming into play with no team allowed to compete with two rookies. To think the former Supercars star is considered a rookie might surprise a few, but Kelly admits it’s the right move.
“I’ll just be absorbing everything I can,” he admitted. “Steve has the experience, and whilst I might steer the boat on Saturday, we might swap for the second race so I can get a feel for the throttles.
“For us the weekend is about building some experience, we’ll then take the boat away and go right through it, do some testing and be ready for the 2026 season.”
“It’s fantastic to have Stuart and Todd join the Series, not the least because of their combined histories in motorsport, but to bring another of the Supercat Extreme boats out of a garage and get it back on the water,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina added.
“Fortunately for us, it won’t be the only one, so whilst the 2025 season comes towards its conclusion in Adelaide next weekend, 2026 is already looking incredible!”
For the new ‘MOJO’ team – who will undergo a livery change ahead of Lake Macquarie’s 2026 season opener in October – there is much excitement as they prepare for their competition debut in Port Adelaide.
“I haven’t been this excited to go racing in a very long time,” Todd Kelly admitted. “I’ve always had a great passion for boat racing, and in fact, will be racing alongside Mason and my Mum in our ski race boats in Mildura the following week, my daughter is jumping in the observer’s seat with me, but that’s a bit of fun as it’s speed limited. This will be back to pure racing and I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Let’s be honest, on the face of it, Todd is playing things down and suggesting we’ll just ease into it, but this is Todd Kelly from the Kelly Racing dynasty, I fully expect that when that [cockpit] lid goes down, he’ll be flat on the throttles and I’ll just have to find a way to steer it through the corners,” Stuart Eustice suggested. “I’m not even sure he’ll know I’m there [laughs]. Look, we’re not just here to make up the numbers. Sure, we have to earn our stripes and that will take seat time, but I can assure you, our focus is to go after a championship, and we’re looking to do that in very short order!”
With that kind of ambition, and the likely addition of more outright boats coming for the new season, the future of Offshore Superboats in Australia is starting to look very, very promising!
——————————
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 140-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.
For more information, please visit https://www.symonsclark.com.au
One of the most iconic names in the history of Offshore Superboats in Australia will return to the fold for the Geelong round of the Championship, Bricker Pipelines, through their traffic management division supporting the event on the Geelong waterfront, bringing the family back in contact with a sport in which they have been indelibly linked for more than five decades.
“My father used to race Offshore Powerboats from the mid-60’s and into the 80’s, but more recently, I’ve had the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of the ‘TCR Offshore’ Supercat Outboard boat and have a steer myself,” Gavin Bricker explained.
“Boat racing has been in our family since I was born. My father was one of the early members of the Powerboat Club and ultimately the Commodore of the Club, peaking in 1980 as the man responsible for organising and managing the UIM World Championship event held in Melbourne – for which he was awarded the ‘Boatman of the Year’ from the international body. After he stopped racing, he became a life member of the Club and we’ve been racing ever since.”
Having moved across to ski racing as a young family which led to Gavin competing himself – ultimately claiming the runner-up position in the Southern 80 three years running – the Bricker’s perhaps became most recognised in recent years for their involvement in Formula GP competition culminating in Gavin’s son Ewan becoming the 2024 Australian Champion.
“We’re pretty passionate about our boat racing,” Gavin admitted. “I have this idea that at some point down the track Ewan and I might share an Offshore boat to keep the family relationship with the sport alive, but for now, he’s pretty committed to claiming back-to-back titles in the GP, and I’m looking at getting back behind the wheel at some point too with an Unlimited outboard engine for various events, but down the track, who knows..!”
For the Geelong event, which is held in the heart of the city, operating from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club at Steampacket Gardens, the Bricker’s will throw their weight behind the round by supporting the safety of the fans and competitors as boats are craned in and out of the water from the pit area.
“We love racing in Geelong,” Australian Offshore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina admitted. “To be able to race in the middle of a major Australian city and bring the fans right up close to the boats is the perfect scenario for us, but of course that also brings safety into account, so when we spoke with Gavin about assisting us through his Traffic Management branch, he was only too eager to help. For the Club, to reunite the Bricker name with the sport was an added bonus as Geoff ‘Bulldog’ Bricker is an icon in our sport and instrumental in building the foundations of where we are today.”
Round three of the Hornet Property Services Australian Offshore Superboat Championships gets underway in Corio Bay, Geelong on Saturday, 15 March with three, 30-minute races starting from 1:00pm, followed by three additional races on Sunday starting at 11:00am. Get down to Steampacket Gardens on the Geelong foreshore and witness the boats up close.
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 Bricker Pipelines
Established in May 1966, Bricker Pipelines services the needs of corporate and residential customers across Melbourne. Their commitment to continually updating equipment, training staff and being at the forefront of innovation keeps Bricker Pipelines as a preferred supplied to Melbourne’s many Water Boards.
For more information, please visit https://www.brickerpl.com.au
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.
——————————
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)
——————————
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)
——————————
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 Australian Offshore Superboats will be under the control of an iconic Australian boat manufacturer as they prepare to make a start in the second round of the 2024/25 Championship at Wyndham Harbour, with a stunning Whitepointer 263 powered by twin 450 Mercury outboard engines pacing the competitors.
Manufactured by Whitepointer Boats Australia from Cann River in Victoria’s East Gippsland, the full fibreglass hull is recognised as one of the toughest offshore fishing boats on the market. Hand-made, new owner David Trimble admits that the boats are about maintaining a reputation, with plans to produce just six or seven hulls a year, none of them with any composite material or plywood in their construction.
“The transom for instance contains 40-odd layers of fibreglass and is 50mm thick, so they’re a solid boat,” Trimble explained. “I took on the business six months ago from Erick Hyland who built a fantastic reputation in the industry, and our aim is to maintain that old-school approach to the way we construct our boats moving forward.”
“Whitepointer boats have a fantastic reputation in the industry, we’re just disappointed that Dave didn’t enter the boat in the field as a competitor,” Australian OffShore Powerboat Club Commodore Antony De Fina jokingly admitted.
“Everyone I speak to asks me that same question,” Trimble laughed. “The sport looks incredible, we work on occasion with Shane Paton (currently leading the Supersports 65 category alongside boat owner Hary Bakkr), and he got me interested. We’re swamped with orders for new boats at the moment, so can’t commit to racing, but we’re excited to be a part of the program and keen to see these impressive boats up close.”
With 900-horsepower on tap and plans to develop the twin Mercury powerplants beyond that, the stunning all-black Whitepointer 263 will have no trouble pacing the field ahead of the start at Wyndham Harbour.
“This just adds another element of excitement for the fans, having a boat like this as part of our Series shows just how flexible our sport is, whilst also allowing the fans to see another different style of boat that they can get up close to and talk to David about fishing and the business of building boats,” De Fina added.
“Wyndham Harbour is set for one of our biggest fields in the history of the sport, something we’re really excited about. There’s been a lot of interest from ski racing teams, and renewed interest from some teams that haven’t been a part of the Series recently, so we’re really looking forward to the event, and then Geelong just three weeks later – both rounds of course going to air on 7mate and 7plus in the weeks following.”
Round two of the 2024/25 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships gets underway at Wyndham Harbour, 40-kilometres south-west of Melbourne’s CBD on Saturday, 22 February with six half hour races scheduled across the two days (three races each for the Supercat Extreme + Supercat Outboard, and three for the Supersports and Super V combined categories). Access to the event is free, with fantastic viewing opportunities for fans to both watch the action and get up close and personal with the boats and teams.
2024/25 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 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
To learn more about Whitepointer boats, visit;
www.facebook.com/whitepointermarine
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
- 1
- 2