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