Redcliffe, the 'revhead' capital this weekend.

by Bob Wonders on 6 Sep 2007 For powerboating’s genuine ‘revheads’ it all happens this weekend when the tranquil waterfront suburb east of Brisbane vibrates to the roar of offshore race engines.

It’s the opening round of the Offshore Superboat Championships and with many vantage points along the Moreton Bay waterfront affording a clear view of the competitors, this event is sure to attract big crowds.

In the awesome Class I, it will be a case of Queensland versus Victoria, as three Gold Coast-based boats and crews face off against the crack Victorian entry, ‘Smorgon Steel’.

All four Class I boats are catamaran designs and given ideal conditions are capable of speeds in the region of 250km/hr.

Who’s the favourite? It’s anybody’s race according to ‘Simrad’ driver, Luke Durman.

Durman, with throttleman Ross Willaton, claimed the Australian Class I championship in 2006, but lost out this year to arch rivals, the brothers Steve and Andrew Searle in ‘Acme Fibreglass’.

'Spectators can be sure of one thing,' Durman said, 'every crew in Class I will be endeavouring to open the series with a win.

'It will be case of no holds barred when the starter’s flag drops, you can bet on that,' he said.

Winning the 2007 championship was quite a triumph for the Searle brothers; their own boat was damaged in an earlier raced and they managed to ‘do a deal’ and borrow ‘Smorgon Steel’ for the final race and earn the necessary points to claim the crown.

Now, this weekend sees them racing against the boat that allowed them to take the title.

With Matt Humphrey and Steve Jellick aboard, ‘Smorgon Steel’ will be no pushover.

Of course, despite some recent mechanical problems, no one would be prepared to write off seven-time Australian titleholder, Bill Barry-Cotter (throttleman) and son Thomas (driver) aboard ‘Maritimo.’

Father and son have both been involved in the highly competitive European and Middle East legs of the world championships and bring vast experience to the event.

‘Maritimo’ crew chief Peter McGrath is sure to have the boat running as smooth as silk and no one will be surprised if ‘Maritimo’ shows the field its transom.

These astonishing catamarans all boat dual engines around 900 horsepower each and will offer spectators along the waterfront some spectacular racing.

Other competing classes include the very quick SuperCat outboard classes and the introductory Haines Suzuki one class, guaranteed to provide some extremely close competition.

The day’s racing gets underway with the exciting Thunder Cats and that’s an event demanding spectators’ attention as these 4.0-metre 'fliers' race offshore.

Action begins at Redcliffe with a street parade featuring the competing boats on the Saturday morning.

They remainder of the day will involve testing and practice and final tuning as the boats ready for the hard core competition on Sunday.

Sunday racing begins with the Thunder Cats at 11.15am.

At 12.15, the field for the Redcliffe Offshore Superboat Championhip will undertake a warm-up lap prior to the start gun at 12.30.

The race, over a course of approximately 100 nautical miles, will take the leading boats about one hour to complete.

Presentation to winners will be held at the pit area at the Moreton Bay Boat Club at 3.30pm.

Following the race the Offshore Superboat Championship 'circus' moves to Townsville (September 22/23) for round two.