nz offshore powerboat racing 2022 schedule

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Hydro Thunder GP Hydroplane NZ Championship Series

Lake Taupo , Lake Terrace, Taupō

Ticket Information

• Free Admission
• Fri 28 Jan 2022, 10:00am–4:00pm
• Sat 29 Jan 2022, 8:00am–5:00pm
• Sun 30 Jan 2022, 8:00am–1:00pm

Restrictions

• GP Hydroplane NZ

Round two of the 2022 Hydro Thunder NZ GP Hydroplane Championship Series at Lake Taupo based on the waterfront in front of the Lake Taupo Yacht Club. Practice day from 10am Friday 28th Jan full day racing Saturday 29th finishing 1pm on the Sunday in time for the first round of the NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship Series. Racing will also include the NZ Junior Series, Mixed class racing Modified Hydroplanes, Mod VP, Formula One Tunnels. Best viewing form the Lake Taupo Yacht Club or the Waterfront. For further information contact Rod Vennell 0276122762 or Denise Preece 0272503504.

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OFFSHORE RACING CALENDAR

Hot Off the Press! 2023/24 Season Race Dates

• 02/12/2023 – Marsden Cove
• 28/01/2024 – Lake Taupo
• 03/02/2024 – Wellington
• 17/02/2024 – Taipa
• 02/03/2024 – Whitianga
• 16/03/2024 – Napier

NZ OFFSHORE RACING CALENDAR

HONDA REVEALS FIRST-EVER 350 HORSEPOWER V8 OUTBOARD

Whitehaven appoints alexander marine as qld dealer, related articles, maritimo’s new customer experience centre & factory, epropulsion partners with 37th america’s cup, longhurst family inducted, congratulations to powerboat magazine’s recipe sponsor, just in time for father’s day, tenob’s black bait board & frame, best of new zealand’s marina and boatyard industry..., dch marine enters australia and new zealand, takacat t340lx-r – new for 2024, rip – bob wilson.

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Powerboat racing coming to Glendhu Bay

Tony O'Regan

06 November 2022, 4:00 PM

Two days of action packed boat racing are coming to Glendhu Bay this weekend (November 12-13) for round one of the 2022 Hydro Thunder NZ Championship.

It is the first time the event has raced at Glendhu Bay, which event organiser Denise Preece says is a perfect location.

“It's an ideal venue with the motor camp and the viewing right there in front of you,” she said.

“We hope this will be the first of many events out there.”

The racing will feature six boat classes from Juniors to the prestigious Grand Prix (GP) Hydroplanes which reach speeds up to 280 kilometres per hour.

Competitors will be looking for a strong start to the five round racing series with their accumulated points determining the New Zealand Champion. 

However the feature event this weekend is the competition for the coveted Masport Cup, which the GP Hydroplanes will race for on Sunday.

Denise said the cup holder gets to decide where they will defend the cup, so the decision to race at Glendhu Bay was made by Masport Cup holder Jason Haggerty (Cromwell).

Jason will defend the cup in his boat Lady Liz, and Denise said it will be hotly contested.

“Seven GP Hydroplanes will be competing and pretty much any one of them has a good chance of winning,” she said.

The strongest competition is likely to come from brothers Jack and Ken Lupton who have just returned from competing overseas. Jack has won the Masport Cup three times and is the only New Zealander to win a North American title.

The long range forecast for this weekend is for perfect racing conditions with warm temperatures and light winds.

“Spectator viewing will be excellent and there is viewing on the water in a specified zone,” Denise said.

Tickets can be purchased on entry and are priced from $25 with children 15 years old and under free.

PHOTO: Shot360 Photography

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NZ Offshore Powerboat Series

Come along and watch the NZ Offshore Powerboat Series, right here in Mercury Bay this March!

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Powerboats in Mercury Bay

This March the NZ Offshore powerboat series will return to Whitianga and Mercury Bay as part of the 2024 season. Bring a blanket down the beach and enjoy watching these magnificent boats as they race around the bay. Sure to be a spectacular sight! Race one starts at 12.00pm.

Racing spectating

The boats will be based at the Buffalo Beach Reserve. So pop along and take a look before and after the races at these machines. For best race viewing, the Buffalo Beach reserve is the place to be.

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• APBA Offshore Championship
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Powerboat Racing World

Frode Sundsdal

What is prw.

It’s a powerboat racing website that has covered circuit racing, offshore racing and PWC since 2016. Maintained by The Race Factory based in Norway who have specialists in event planning and promotion, social media, graphic design, and photography. We are currently working on our vision and believe that we can and will make a different in powerboating. We will dedicate our time to produce accurate factual stories and to promote the sport to a wider global audience.

Powerboat P1 has today announced the race calendar for the 2022 UIM Class 1 World Championship that will see eight races at six venues in the United States. Cocoa Beach will welcome the international fleet in the opening event of the season in May and the series will climax at the Key West Championships in November.

In October 2020, the UIM assigned to Powerboat P1 the international rights to Class 1 offshore racing in a ten-year agreement, but last year the series was significantly impacted by Covid travel restrictions preventing several teams from competing. With international travel having resumed, P1 has confirmed that five teams from three continents have already committed to racing this season. Scandinavian teams will have a strong presence, with Sweden’s Huski Racing fielding two boats and Zabo Racing flying the flag for Norway, and they will be joined by California-based Lucas Oil/E3 and 222 Offshore Australia .

P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala said.

We often talk about returning Class 1 to the summit of powerboat racing where it belongs and I’m very much aware that this is not an easy climb. We established a solid base camp before the pandemic halted our progress and, as we head towards the new season with renewed optimism and energy, we are pleased to publish the six-venue race calendar together with our broadcast and digital plans.

P1 will film and distribute Class 1 action through its international TV broadcast agreements, and livestream coverage is planned. New initiatives will include a Class 1 website – Class1World.com – dedicated social media channels and a comprehensive teams guide.

The series will get underway at the four-day Thunder On Cocoa Beach event, which returns to Florida’s Space Coast for the twelfth year. In 2019 it was estimated that the event brought in nearly $12 million to the local economy with an attendance of more than 100,000.

Race Director Kerry Bartlett commented.

We began working with race promoter Powerboat P1 in 2019 and we share their vision and ambition to grow the Class 1 World Championship . The world’s biggest and fastest race boats, with their Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines enabling speeds of up to 160mph, are a real favourite with the thousands of spectators and TV viewers worldwide, and the challenging conditions here on the Atlantic Coast always produce excitement and drama.

2022 Race Calendar

May 19-22                                   Cocoa Beach.         P1 Offshore.

July 1-3                                        Sarasota Powerboat Week Grand Prix.P1 Offshore

August 4-7                                   Michigan City.          Offshore Powerboat Association

September 2-4                             St. Petersburg Powerboat Grand Prix.P1 Offshore.

September 30 – October 2           Clearwater. Race World Offshore

November 6-13                         Key West.  Race World Offshore

Rangoonwala concluded by saying.

Our significant, far-reaching agreements with the UIM and APBA allow us to develop the World Championship commercially and promote the series both nationally and globally to deliver enhanced value for race teams, host venues, sponsors, and partners.

Azam Rangoonwala’s efforts to revive Class 1 offshore racing are beginning to pay off. Photo by Coleman McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

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UIM YEARBOOK LINK

The 2022-23 Powerboating racing season has given us a multitude of memorable moments, all compiled in the 28th edition of the UIM Yearbook.  

By clicking on the below Link, you will have the opportunity to dip into the world of Powerboating, MotoSurf, Aquabike, and the groundbreaking UIM E1 Series, the first-ever World Electric Powerboat Series.

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1970s Offshore Power Boat Wars - THUNDERSTRUCK

Gerard Richards revisits his youth, represented by a decade-long monohull battle for racing supremacy between the V8 inboard and multiple outboard monohull rigs of the seventies.

The 1960s, the turbulent decade of revolution that challenged the status quo, was just about to end, but its legacy lived on.

Growing up on Auckland’s North Shore and turning 14 in December 1969, I was perfectly positioned to soak up the kaleidoscopic shift in hot-rod, car and boat racing culture. Loud, brash and dressed in metallic/dayglo colours, it was ‘in ‘yer face’ and we loved it!

My mates and I were into slot cars, pushbike racing and model power boat racing. One of our tribe suggested we ride our bikes from Mairangi Bay to Devonport Wharf in to take in the 1970 Atlantic six-hour power boat race marathon in the inner harbour. Duffel bags were crammed full of sandwiches, plus warm jerseys and oilskins, since our prime spectating location was exposed to all the elements.

The earth shifted for us that day! We were blown away by the visual and sonic impact of the thundering V8 inboard-powered racers and their multi-outboard rivals as they leapt into the air over the swells, brushing close to our wharf vantage point. The world was never quite the same again…

This adventure became a compulsory ritual for the next five years, with us hanging out at the wharf for the two Auckland races on the National Offshore Power Boat Championship calendar, the Atlantic 100 and the Atlantic 6-hour Marathon.

We were V8 racing addicts, it would be fair to say, seduced by the mighty Mustangs and Camaros we’d seen on local racetracks in the late 60s. We transferred our allegiance to them on the power boat racing scene too. The heavenly thunder of a racing V8 on song was a spiritual experience for us back then.

Outright speed seemed to favour the Chevrolet V8, the favourite power unit for boat racers of the day, but not always the most reliable – the outboards purpose-built for the marine environment often proved more robust, particularly in heavy seas.

Fibreglass was the amazing new material of the 60s and 70s that really helped fire up the pleasure boat and offshore race scene. Light and strong, it enabled the creation of some of the fastest boats of the era.

V8 POWER ON THE RISE

Bill Stevenson, with his sleek yellow state-of-the-art offshore racer Mystic Miss, was breaking new ground with his triple 135hp Mercury-powered outboard rig. This was the cutting edge of the day, taking design and power to a new level. He and his crew of Drew Gordon and Gordon Holmes were the outfit to beat in 1969-70, with convincing wins in tough conditions in the 1970 Gisborne and 1969 Wellington 100 races.

But the mighty hot-rodded Chevy powerhouses were starting to make their presence felt in 1969. First up was Brian Millett and Bruce Perris, bringing their V8-powered Kitten home second to Tiger Hunter – twin 135hp Mercury outboards – skippered by John Meredith and Colin James in the 1969 Gisborne race.

A breakthrough win was achieved by Willie and Dennis Coughey from Auckland, with Panic Mouse in the 1969 Atlantic 100. Based on a Bertram hull and built by John Haines of Haines Hunter fame, it was equipped with a highly-modified 327 cubic inch (cu in) Chevy V8.

Willie told me: “It was fitted with big heads, needle roller cams, was balanced and built by top engine builder Kevin Lamb”. This was taking dedication to a new level, in a racing category that was initially intended for commercial pleasure boats…

With his brother Dennis on the trim tabs, stabilising the boat in the big swells out the back of Rakino, Willie remembers they mowed down Bill Stevenson’s Mystic Miss’s lead, reaching speeds as high as 70 miles an hour (61 knots/113kph). They ran out easy winners from another emerging V8 legend Tara Too. There was some talk Tara Too was closing the gap, but Coughey remembers they deliberately throttled back over the closing stages. They also went on to win the Rotorua race that year.

Tara Too was designed by Rex Henry and driven by the legendary Ivan Boyce in its winning years. Mechanical problems precluded any outright success in 1969, but 1970 saw two wins in the Atlantic 100 and later in the season at the very rough Wellington race. Built of heart kauri, with metal reinforcement, Tara Too was a strong, heavy boat, but this probably accounted for its excellent handling in tough conditions. Fitted with a 427 cu in Chevrolet Corvette V8 engine, with twin Holley 780cf carbs on an Edelbrock quad-ram inlet manifold, it was not short of power. Once reliability issues had been sorted, it took the 1971 offshore season by storm for Ivan Boyce and crew. Wins included the 1971 Atlantic 100 and the 1972 Taupo 100.

1972-73 saw the revenge of the multi-outboard rigs. John Meredith’s 3 x 140hp Mercury-powered Formula, Max Johnson’s twin Mercury 135hp Miss Comsec and Mick Sheridan’s twin 115hp Johnson Stinger-powered Vista Nicolette scored the lion’s share of the honours that season. Meredith took Formula to victory in both the 1972-73 Gisborne races, the 1972 Wellington BP 100 and fourth in the 1973 Atlantic 100. Miss Comsec won the 1972 Atlantic 6 hours and Clipper Commander, powered by 3 x 125hp Evinrudes, took victory in the 1972 Atlantic 100.

The inboard V8 opposition, included some interesting runners like Jetmark, a 350 cu in Chev V8-powered jetboat built by Bill Hamilton’s Hamilton Jet company, Tara Too, which was beginning to lose its edge, Hugh Fawcett’s Terrific Chev V8, plus the first appearance of Chev Camaro circuit racing legend Spinner Black, with his original 427 cu in Chev V8-powered Turtle.

John Meredith’s, 140hp triple-Merc powered Formula was the class act of the era though, particularly in rough conditions, heading out the opposition, if not necessarily with outright speed, but certainly in resilience in adverse seas. This mighty boat’s later incarnations included Bonz Formula before it was later skippered by Roger Ward under the new name Raro in 1977-78. BNZ

ROLL CALL OF OTHER NOTABLE BOATS

While the boat combos I’ve mentioned were the heavy-hitters through most of the 70s, it would be unfair not to mention some others that saw a slice of the action.

Accident prone Jetmark, a 350 cu in Chev inboard jet from Christchurch, scored a good second place in the 1970 Atlantic 6-hour Marathon and second place at Gisborne, 1972. She also sank twice, caught fire once and had multiple engine failures…

Paeroa’s Hugh Fawcett’s 350 cu in Chevrolet-powered Terrific, looked terrific and ran well – while it was running… Second place, Gisborne 1973 and fifth place, Gisborne 1974, were its best results.

Pathfinder skippered by Ian Reeves of Rotorua scored multiple Queenstown victories through 1971-73.

Big block V8-powered Shaft, later Mt Cook Airlines was second at Akaroa in 1973, fifth at Rotorua and sixth at Tauranga, 1974.

More honourable mentions next month.

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A date with Destiny

P1 Offshore;

Powerboat P1 is the fastest growing marine motorsport series in the world and has a long term commitment to growing and developing the sport of power boating at all levels. The Powerboat P1 team works closely with the sport’s governing bodies, the UIM, APBA and the IJSBA. P1 has delivered more than 85 world championship events in over twelve different countries for more than a decade.

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