Round one of the 2025–26 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship got underway off Hobbs Bay, Gulf Harbour, on 11 October under near-perfect conditions. Light northerlies and calm water gave every class the opportunity to run hard, and the mix of seasoned competitors alongside first-time crews piloting newly built or freshly refitted machines made for a full and varied entry list right from the start.
Along the Gulf Harbour breakwater, spectators gathered in numbers, drawn by the distinctive thunder of multi-litre outboards and inboards reverberating across the bay.
Race 1 – mechanical attrition
How demanding offshore powerboat racing can be on machinery was plain from the opening race. Three boats were out before the finish. Two withdrew after oil was found in the bilge, both later confirmed as significant engine failures, and a rookie crew simply ran short of fuel and could not complete the course.
Of the boats that made it home, Gold Ship, driven by Tom Haycock, took the Sports 140 HP division at an average of 82 km/h, edging out Coranto (Michael Wingate) and Nakita (Grant Henry). Supersonic (Ryan Archer) ruled the Sports 200 HP class with a 109 km/h average, with Gen 2 (Mikey Smith) close behind. In Sports 70, Cougar (Grant Smith) led throughout at 86 km/h, and Supersticious (Brad Dibble) was the class winner in Sports 80 at 108 km/h.
The Supercat Lite contest produced the narrowest result of the day. Lanslow Engineering (Paul Greenfield) and Rainbow Haulage (Darren Butterworth) were separated by fractions of a second, both recording averages just above 134 km/h.
Race 2 – clean running, tight margins
The fleet returned to a still bay at midday for the second race, and the improvement in mechanical reliability was marked, with every entry reaching the finish. One crew crossed the line with nothing left in the tank, running dry just metres past the finish, a good-natured reminder that calculating consumption at race throttle settings is harder than it looks.
The order shifted in a number of classes. Nakita turned the Sports 140 HP result around, claiming the win ahead of Coranto and Gold Ship. Gen 2 moved to the top of Sports 200 HP at 107 km/h, ahead of Supersonic and Triple Trouble (Alex Smith). Cougar was again the class of the Sports 70 field, maintaining an average just under 83 km/h. Supersticious backed up its first-race result with another solid run to top Sports 80 at 110 km/h.
In Supercat Lite, the duel between the two front-runners continued almost without variation. Lanslow Engineering again crossed ahead of Rainbow Haulage, both averaging more than 134 km/h. The contest between these two is already taking on the look of a defining rivalry for the season ahead.
Nominated Speed Challenge
Running alongside the two offshore heats, the NZOPA's Nominated Speed event asked something different of competitors, rewarding accuracy over outright velocity. Each crew nominates a target speed before the race and is ranked by how closely their actual result matches it. Grant Henry in Nakita led the table with an error margin of 63.46 seconds. Mike Knight in Mark Helms Marine / Blue Pill was second at 65.55 seconds, and Mikey Smith in Gen 2 placed third with 68.81 seconds. Beyond the competition itself, the event gave crews useful data on throttle management and fuel burn ahead of the longer distances later in the calendar.
Technical takeaways
Post-round analysis from teams highlighted a handful of clear patterns. Mechanical preparation continues to be the discipline's great separator, with both engine failures on the day traced to lubrication-system problems stemming from hurried pre-season rebuilds. Fuel miscalculation, especially for boats running smaller-capacity tanks, was a second vulnerability. Teams also noted that the unusually calm conditions encouraged heavier-than-expected throttle application, pushing fuel flow rates up across every class.
On the performance side, the settled water produced consistent lap times with minimal wake interference. Supercat Lite averages topped 134 km/h, matching the best figures from the previous season despite a change to propeller regulations. Several boats in Sports 70 and Sports 80 also turned in their quickest opening-round averages in a number of years.
Race control recorded no safety incidents beyond the mechanical retirements. Rescue craft attended four boats across the two races, bringing each one in without injury or damage to anything beyond the engine systems themselves.
Archer Cup, a legacy
At prizegiving, event organiser Ryan Archer invited Ron Archer to present the Line Honours Trophy. The Archer Family Trophy was originally donated by Ron in 1988 and, over the past decade, has been awarded for the wrong reasons. It was always intended for the Auckland round of the circuit. Ron had not set eyes on it in over a decade and had assumed it was gone for good.
Now in his nineties, Ron was one of two founding members of NZOPA, and hearing him speak before presenting the award was a genuinely humbling moment for everyone in the room. His passion was unmistakable, and the whole room went quiet.
"It's great to see the club and environment so warm and heading in the right direction. It's great to see the sport transitioning through generations with third generation racer's on the water today. Even better to see some of the older first generation racers out here back supporting the club and this event today. It's my real privilege to present the Archer Family Trophy to the team of Rainbow Haulage."
Crowd and atmosphere
For those watching from shore, the day delivered everything offshore powerboat racing is known for: noise, spray, and competition settled in split seconds. As the boats rounded the outer buoys they appeared to launch clear of the water, their engines carrying across Hobbs Bay and back off the cliffs of Whangaparāoa.
NZOPA officials were generous in their praise for both the crowd and the volunteers who made the event run. "It's a strong start to the season," said event organiser Ryan Archer. "The fleet's depth this year shows the sport's growth, and Hobbs Bay gives us a perfect viewing arena to showcase it."
Gulf Harbour has set the tone for what the standings and the rivalries already suggest will be one of NZOPA's most fiercely contested seasons in recent memory. Lanslow Engineering and Rainbow Haulage are already locked in a compelling Supercat Lite battle, Gen 2 and Supersonic are closely matched in Sports 200 HP, and Cougar begins its campaign to defend the Sports 70 title.
