Offshore power-boat racers encounter blustery winds off Newcastle

by Bob Wonders on 14 Apr 2010 The 2010 Offshore Superboat Championships off Newcastle, north of Sydney.Thirteen boats in four classes gathered off the port city for the opening round.

Reigning Class 1 champions, Tom Barry-Cotter (driver) and Pal Virik Nilsen (throttleman), on board ‘Aegean', overcame strong, blustery winds to cover 16 laps of the course in 62 minutes, 29 seconds. The team's second boat, ‘Maritimo', with Luke Durman (driver) and Ross Willaton (throttleman) aboard, claimed second place, completing 14 laps in 57 minutes, five seconds. ‘Acme', the only other Class 1 competitor, failed to finish, with mechanical problems on lap six forcing the DNF.

North Queensland entry, ‘The Good Guys' (Brendan and Christopher Frier), racing in the Supercat Lite class, cruised to an easy win after rival ‘Global Racing' powered by the identical 525hp MerCruiser engines, broke down and retired after only one lap. ‘SUV Dodge Ram', Cameron Davis and Brett Luhrmann in the cockpit, faced strong competition from arch-rivals Jim Harris and Adam Nichols (‘Kwozzy 2') before winning Supercat Outboard by nearly three minutes.

There was some close racing in Supercat Outboard Lite during the opening laps, but sadly mechanical problems got the better of two boats when on lap five ‘Shaken Not Stirred' (Brian Dale and Brooke Ullrich) broke down and one lap later ‘Berwicks' (Ian Harris and Graham Fraser) also succumbed to mechanical failure. Mick Walker and Gary Smith (‘FGI) were untroubled to claim first place with Hog's Breath (Paul Gibbs and Paul Fowlds) just 90 seconds astern.

Peter Jack and Michael Ethell brought the smallest boat in the race, ‘Grumpy Mongrel', home safely to claim the Production Class, covering nine laps in 64 minutes, 32 seconds.

Tom Barry-Cotter described the conditions for the race: ' 'The water was relatively calm, but with a strong westerly wind blowing we experienced a few minor handling problems,' he said. 'Several times during the race we were blown off course by the gusty conditions,' he continued, 'Maritimo got away to a very good start, but appeared to head for the wrong buoy at one stage and we drew level. We were able to hold superior speed in the corners and eventually took the lead and were never really headed,' he concluded.

‘Aegean', named for a range of luxury cruisers produced by Maritimo, was powered by dual 930hp MerCruiser engines. Barry-Cotter said they never 'maxed the engines out', hitting a top speed in the region of 140mph (225km/hr) and only calling on 6400rpm.

‘Aegean' survived its first outing without problems, but ‘Maritimo' experienced a slight loss of power late in the race and will head straight for the race team HQ and the caring hands of crew chief Peter ‘Muddy' McGrath and his skilled 'surgeons.'

Five rounds remain for the 2010 championships.

The next three rounds will be decided in Queensland with races scheduled for Mackay (June 26-27), Townsville (July 3-4) and Redcliffe (September 18-19). Rounds five and six move to Victoria, with Geelong (November 6-7) and a new venue, Port Phillip Bay, one week later, November 13-14.

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