The 2 North Queensland legs of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships produced completely opposite conditions with Mackay testing teams and their boats in 30 knot winds and Townsville allowing teams to push their boats to full speed in the glass like conditions on the weekend.
Class One was spectacular to watch with the Aus 1 champions Mustang back in form and taking out both race 1 and 2 to position themselves 1st in their class for round 3. Their counterparts Maritimo glided effortlessly through the course but couldn’t match the speed of their team mates Mustang and came in 2nd for the weekend.
Supercat 1000 was again a competitive clash with Global Racing, Team 3 and The Good Guys battling it out in idyllic conditions. Global took it out hard in the 1st race and left Team 3 and the Good Guys to battle it out in the rear. As the race progressed, Team 3 and the Good Guys started to gain on Global and with some fantastic cornering on the buoys, The Good Guys managed to punch through to take a convincing 1st place with Team 3 coming in 2nd and Global Racing finishing 3rd. In the 2nd race, it was only Team 3 and The Good Guys who took to the water with Global unfortunately experiencing mechanical problems which saw their boat craned out of the water and placed on the truck ending their round 3 competition. Team 3 took it out hard and lead The Good Guys for half the race, but the cornering of The Good Guys was too tight for Team 3 to match and the boys from Mackay strode away for back to back wins in Townsville taking out 1st place for the weekend. Team 3 took 2nd place overall for the class with Global coming in 3rd.
The Supercat 600 class thrived in the calm conditions, but despite the conditions, saw 2 of the 4 boats in the class pull out by the end of race 1 due to mechanical issues. SUV Dodge Ram managed to bring the boat in for repairs after race 1 and made it out for the 2nd race to take 3rd overall for the weekend. Kwozzy blew an engine in race 1, which inevitably ended their Townsville competition. The unmistakable yellow BBC Digital boat seemed to skim along the water at top speed and the team’s consistency saw them take out first place in both the 1st and 2nd race giving them an overall 1st placing for the weekend. The Victorian based boat Saracen was not disappointed after making the trip to North Queensland as they came out with 2 second places over the 2 races to take 2nd overall for the Round.
In the smallest boats of the Series, the Supercat 400 class put on a show for the Townsville crowd. Local’s “It’s About Time” in the Civic Video boat had a great race in their new boat and finished the day with a solid 3rd placing. FGI and Hog’s Breath duelled it out again with Hog’s Breath taking the first race and FGI taking the 2nd. Unfortunately Hog’s Breath ran into problems in the 2nd race which resulted in them not finishing, giving FGI the win for the weekend. Hog’s Breath still managed to come in 2nd overall based on lap times in the 1st race.
The Australian Offshore Superboat Championships ends its North Queensland leg for another year and now heads South to Redcliffe on the 17th & 18th September followed by the Victorian legs in November and December.
