The Offshore Superboats are back for the Wyndham Harbour Grand Prix Weekend 2026

Written by Sean Henshelwood > February 2026

Imagine riding the waves at speeds of up to 250 kilometres-per-hour strapped into a cockpit in a twin-hulled fibreglass-composite boat up to 10 metres in length that weighs something similar to an unladen ambulance, and you have the foundations for what an Offshore Superboat is capable of.. 

These incredible machines have been tuned over decades to refine their largely bullet like shape to maximise their performance at speed on water in conditions that can vary widely from the start of a 30-minute race to the end. Predominantly catamaran designs, the two sponsons ride the water with the centre of the boat acting as a wing to compress the air under the boat to aid lift, ultimately pushing the boat out of the water to just skim the twin props along the surface; the more boat you have out of the water, the less drag and the faster you’ll be, but beware, get that wrong and you’ll be on the six o’clock news..! 

For 2025, the mighty Offshore Superboats will return to Wyndham Harbour on Port Phillip Bay’s western side to contest the second round of the 2025/26 season, a season which began in Lake Macquarie in the New South Wales Hunter region in October, before travelling to Victoria for back-to-back events at Wyndham Harbour (February) and Geelong (March) ahead of the season finale in early May in Port Adelaide. 

Contested for a variety of classes, from the mighty outright Supercat Extreme category; which feature twin inboard engines of up to 2000-horsepower, to twin outboard-engine Supercat Outboard machines - also purpose-designed twin-hulled cockpit boats powered by two 300-horsepower outboard engines, then the open cockpit speed restricted classes of 85 miles-per-hour and 65 miles-per-hour; these categories catering for a variety of different boat types. 

Most boats feature two occupants; in the faster cockpit-fitted boats, one driver handles the throttles, whilst the other the steering, providing for a unique relationship where both have an impact on the performance of the boat, whereas in the smaller speed-bracketed classes, the driver does the steering and throttles, whilst the second seat is often occupied by an observer who is monitoring rival boats and the GPS speed of the boat. Break out of your speed bracket by more than a couple of miles per hour and you will find yourself disqualified; repeat the error more than once, and you could be excluded from the event, so ensuring you monitor your speed bracket and stay below the class limit, is of vital importance! 

The Offshore category might be recognised by the fast, sleek, outright boats, but the category is open to all manner of boats, and often contested by fishing boats, ski boats and sometimes leisure boats provided they are capable of a minimum of 65mph (110kph). Races are contested across a set course on an anti-clockwise rotation, with race lengths from 5.5-7.0-kilometres in length across three 30-minute races. 

The fast cockpit boats in the Supercat Extreme and Supercat Outboard classes race together, although in two distinctly different starting groups, as do the speed-bracket 85 and 65mph classes. Events are set across two days with no practice or qualifying, instead starting positions are drawn randomly from a hat to mix things up, with the boats only going on the water to race. 

Safety is paramount, with all teams requiring drivers and observers to wear dedicated helmets and life vests, the teams running inside a cockpit are also strapped in with a multi-point race harness whilst they also have oxygen available in the event of an accident which could see them inverted in the water. Those boats - aside from the safety cell in which they sit - also have a release hatch in the bottom of the cockpit in case the boat suffers an incident and flips upside down. 

The course also features a variety of safety crews scattered around the perimeter, many on jetskis with divers allowing them to get to the scene of an incident quickly. So good are the safety measures today, that serious incidents are fast becoming a thing of the past. 

In Australia, the sport is campaigned by teams with immense experience on the world stage, a number of drivers like ‘222 Offshore’s’ Darren Nicholson and Peter ‘Muddy’ McGrath have been successful on the world stage - Nicholson a former UIM World Champion, whilst the likes of Tom Barry-Cotter - wheel-man in the iconic red ‘ACME Racing’ machine, have also been successful on the world stage. Drivers like Antony De Fina (Venturi Racing - Supercat Extreme) and Steve Jellick can also draw on their own experiences racing internationally. 

For the new season, the Supercat Extreme category also sees the return of 2005 Bathurst 1000 Champion Todd Kelly, the passionate boat racer - who at one stage was successful on the ski-racing circuit in Australia - has returned to the outright category with great mate and long-time support Stuart Eustice, but whilst they face a steep learning curve against the likes of ‘222 Offshore’ and ‘ACME Racing’, this year they won’t be alone! 

The outright category is facing a resurgence in 2025, in fact all four categories are experiencing their biggest fields in more than a decade, the outright category though leading the charge with six to eight boats expected at every round of the new season, including boats for reigning Supercat Outboard Champions Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly, and for reigning Supersports 85 Champions Mick Kelly and Jason Kelly (and yes, three of those Kelly’s are related!). 

Bottom line is that these boats are incredible to watch, the way they negotiate an ever changing course at incredible speeds has to be seen to be believed, their mastery of riding the waves a real eye-opener, especially when they get it wrong and the boats transform from a plane to a submarine, all within seconds. 

Victoria’s Wyndham Harbour is one of the most popular venues on the circuit, with boats accessible for the fans to come down and see them first hand and talk with the teams, whilst the venue features a wide variety of viewing points from which to watch the racing unfold. The Marina facility also blends the perfect mix of entertainment and relaxation, the popular ‘3030 Waterfront Café’ delivering world class cuisine in a relaxed environment right on the edge of the circuit in pristine surroundings. 

Come February 21-22 there will be no place better to be!