When the flag drops at Marmong Point on 18 October, it signals something more significant than the start of another season. After several years rebuilding from the disruptions of Covid, the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club (AOPC) has assembled its largest and most competitive fleet in over a decade. The iconic Supercat Extreme class leads the charge, with reinvigorated grids in both the Supercat Outboard and Supersports categories completing a programme that has seasoned observers genuinely excited.
Six thirty-minute races are scheduled across the weekend, and for anyone within earshot of Lake Macquarie's natural amphitheatre, the experience will be unmistakable. Those V8 engines, producing around 1000 horsepower apiece, are not quiet about their intentions.
*Supercat Extreme: the heavy hitters return*
Supercat Extreme carries the billing as the headline class, and rightly so. These are, in every sense, the supercars of the water: powerful, technically demanding, and capable of serious speed when conditions allow.
Darren Nicholson and Peter McGrath arrive as reigning world champions in Boost Mobile / 222 Offshore, wearing the target that comes with the title. They have set the standard, and the rest of the field has spent the off-season working out how to close the gap.
Andrew Searle and Tom Barry-Cotter, the Queensland pairing behind ACME Racing Maritimo, are among the most likely to mount a serious challenge. Tom Barry-Cotter, former Managing Director of Maritimo Motor Yachts, returns with a boat that had its off-season gremlins addressed. Fresh powerplants and hull upgrades have the pair confident they can go door-to-door with the 222 Offshore crew from the opening lap.
Then there is the story of MOJO Offshore Racing, which provided one of the more compelling narratives of the 2024/25 season. Built around Bathurst 1000 winner Todd Kelly and owner Stuart Eustice, the Port Adelaide-based outfit claimed debut wins at April's Port Adelaide round, overcoming penalties and heavy attrition to show genuine pace from their very first competitive outing. Their objective at Lake Macquarie is straightforward: stay consistent and make it clear to the experienced teams that MOJO is not going away.
New entries add further depth to an already intriguing field. Former Supercat Outboard champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly step up into the ex-Victory "Team 3" cat, bringing with them the kind of experience that translates quickly between classes. Mick and Jason Kelly make their Extreme debut with Hornet Racing, a 34-foot Skater with genuine Kiwi heritage, having previously carried the number one plate on both sides of the Tasman. Philip Wiley and Darren Apps are launching Team Australia Offshore Racing aboard a Maritimo hull once campaigned by Brett Luhrmann, with experienced co-driver Paul Fowlds rounding out the crew.
Between seven and eight boats are expected to take the start, a sight Australian offshore racing has not seen since the mid-2010s.
*Supercat Outboard: a new order forms*
The Supercat Outboard division is similarly in transition. Last season's champion boat, The Mantis, has changed hands, purchased by Steve Lancaster of DLR Offshore fame and relaunched as KESS Racing. Running twin Mercury 300Rs, the most powerful outboard configuration in the class, Lancaster teams with Scott Kelly for what promises to be a genuinely unusual subplot: Scott is the son of Steve Kelly, meaning this weekend will see father and son racing directly against each other for the first time. Steve Kelly lines up aboard TCR Offshore alongside Scott Richardson, where the emphasis will be on precision rather than simply outgunning the competition.
Both teams will need to reckon with the returning The Sting crew of Mike Ratcliffe and Karl Wall. A heavy accident in Geelong last season left them sidelined and watching as the title slipped away, despite having been within reach of the championship. Their boat is fully repaired, and there is every reason to expect they will be pushing hard from the outset. DLR Offshore's Craig and Lachlan Dove continue their own campaign with their 300XS-powered cat, providing the class with another experienced crew capable of capitalising on any misfortune ahead of them.
New engines, reshuffled pairings, and unfinished business from last season make the Outboard class one of the most compelling storylines of the weekend.
*Supersports 85: new faces, old rivalries*
In the Supersports 85 category, the graduation of Mick and Jason Kelly to the Extreme division has opened the championship wide. Hary Bakkr, who won the Supersports 65 title last season, steps into the Kellys' former Skater The Colonel, keeping a fan-favourite hull active in the fleet. His chief rival shapes up as Mark Peczerzewski, who had planned to return with his rebuilt Cootacraft Special Edition before parts delays forced a change of plan. He and co-driver Mel Nelson will instead campaign Nut Case, keeping their title push toward the 2026 championship intact.
Aaron and Jack Panozza in a Skater 28, Darren Penfold in Thunderstruck, and Anthony and Hunter McEnally aboard Watersports Marine fill out a grid stacked with race winners. If the previous Lake Mac weekend is any guide, the 85s will deliver multiple victors and wheel-to-wheel racing throughout.
*Supersports 65: wide open field*
The Supersports 65 class is genuinely wide open following Bakkr's graduation. Former champion Patty Paczkowski returns in Valentus after a season away, motivated by the chance to reclaim a title she knows well. Charlie Di Iorio and Greg Walters are back together in Cardiac Arrest, one of the most experienced partnerships in the paddock, with Walters' rebuilt HUN74 Haines Hunter held in reserve for later rounds. Ben Embleton and Liam Sutherland, Brendan Weeks and Sophie Lancaster in The Con, and Aaron Jackson aboard All Coast Marine each represent credible upset threats if conditions align their way.
The class structure itself encourages close competition. Speed caps of 85 mph in the 85s and 65 mph in the 65s level the playing field considerably, making racecraft and consistency as important as machinery.
*Season calendar: from Lake Mac to Adelaide*
The 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships are spread across four confirmed rounds. Round 1 takes place at Lake Macquarie, NSW, on 18 and 19 October 2025. Round 2 heads to Wyndham Harbour, VIC, on 21 and 22 February 2026. Round 3 returns to Victoria for Geelong on 14 and 15 March 2026, before the season concludes at Port Adelaide, SA, on 9 and 10 May 2026. Each venue brings its own character, from Lake Mac's short, sharp chop to the exposed Corio Bay swells off Geelong, meaning mechanical reliability and crew fitness carry as much weight as outright speed across a full season.
*A sport on the rise*
New commercial partners including JV Marine World and Porta Products have come on board, public interest is up, and the AOPC's renewed investment in marketing and communication has clearly borne fruit. New teams lined up to challenge seasoned competitors at last weekend's 2025/26 opener in Gulf Harbour, reflecting the same grassroots enthusiasm driving the NZOPA's own steady resurgence and filling grids on both sides of the Tasman.
For Kiwi fans, the appeal is familiar: twin-hulled machines, massive horsepower, and crews who race hard for the love of it. The Lake Macquarie weekend is under way, and it shapes as a spectacular start to what promises to be a very good season.
