The 2026 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships heads to Geelong for Round 3 carrying more tension than anyone predicted when the season began. Corio Bay and the course off Steampacket Gardens serve as the reset point for a competition that Round 2 at Wyndham Harbour left considerably more scrambled than it found it.
Wyndham proved genuinely disruptive. Crashes, DNFs, and penalties reshuffled every class, while the introduction of the joker lap forced crews into tactical thinking the format had never previously demanded. Those hard-won lessons travel with the field to Geelong, where preparations have been thorough and the pressure is considerably higher.
The Steampacket Gardens circuit measures 5.48 kilometres, compact and technically demanding in equal measure. Its corners expose any imprecision, its layout allows spectators to follow almost the entire race, and it offers no section where a mistake can be quietly absorbed. Raw pace is less decisive here than it might be on a more open course. Positioning and clean execution are what count.
Hornet Racing enters Round 3 leading Supercat Extreme on 173 points, a total built through consistency rather than outright dominance. MOJO sits 25 points back on 148, though that gap is less comfortable than it appears. A race win changing hands or a single DNF could reshape the standings inside a single afternoon. MOJO carries genuine momentum from a strong showing at Wyndham, and the team knows that 222 Offshore is only seven points further behind. Boost Mobile, on 141 points, remains in contention despite reliability concerns that have surfaced since a faultless Round 1.
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The tightest contest anywhere in the fleet belongs to Supercat Outboard. The Sting leads the class on 176 points, with TCR Offshore just four points back on 172, a margin that one misjudged corner or a single penalty can erase entirely. DLR Offshore on 148 remains well within reach of both crews at the front. Across a full Geelong weekend, any of these three outfits could realistically leave holding the class lead.
Supersports 85 has run more smoothly than most, with Special Edition accumulating a 200-point total through controlled, disciplined racing and a near-complete absence of costly errors. Geelong may present the sternest test the class has offered so far. The return of The Colonel and the arrival of a new Donzi entry introduce unknowns that Special Edition has not had to manage in the opening rounds.
Supersports 65 is as wide open as any class on the water. Cardiac Arrest leads on 195 points, though the position has not come easily. Nut Case on 153 has demonstrated the raw speed and race-winning ability to close that gap quickly. Valentus and The Con sit level on 148 points apiece, a dead heat that makes every clean lap and every penalty call significant. The outcome of this class will almost certainly be decided by margins that have nothing to do with horsepower.
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Behind the scenes, activity has been substantial. Teams have been testing ahead of the round, chasing setup improvements tailored to the specific demands of Geelong's technical layout. 222 Offshore has pushed its programme forward with purpose, and a new partnership with Savvy Navvy signals a deliberate move toward better data use, sharper navigation, and more considered decision-making. That shift speaks to something the joker lap format made plain at Wyndham: championship results are no longer simply a function of who arrives with the fastest boat.
Round 3 at Geelong lands at exactly the right point in the season. The standings are tight enough that one strong weekend could either compress the field further or allow a single crew to begin pulling clear. Corio Bay is where the true shape of this championship starts to reveal itself.
