Trade-A-Boat — December 2017

T

he fifth and final round of

the 2017 Offshore Superboat

Championships was held

in Hervey Bay (Qld) on the

last weekend in October.

Considered to be the region’s premier

sporting event, this is the sixth time a

championship round has been hosted

by the Fraser Coast city and this year

attracted teams from as far afield as

Mackay and Melbourne.

Offshore powerboat racing is the

marine equivalent of high-performance

car racing, with catamaran-hulled

superboats competing in two classes.

The 14-metre Supercat Extremes are

powered by two 750hp supercharged

V8 inboard engines capable of hurling

these five-tonne craft across the water at

speeds approaching 210kph. While no

match for their big brothers, the smaller,

lighter Supercat Outboard boats are no

slouch in the speed department either.

Powered by two 300hp outboard engines

(Mercury or Evinrude), they can achieve

a top speed of around 185kph.

On the morning of day one, a small

but avid crowd gathered under a

flawless sky at Urangan boat ramp to

watch as the boats were transferred

THE MARINE EQUIVALENT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE CAR RACING,

OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING IS FAST, FURIOUS AND HEATING UP

Hervey Bay powers up

18 tradeaboat.com.au

news

feature

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BOATS

Offshore Superboat Championships

STORY & PHOTOS

CHRIS WHITELAW