9:35 AM Fri 26 Aug 2011 GMT
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'Mazlin Electrical - Offshore Superboat Championships 2011'
Andrew Gricks
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Offshore Superboat Championships round four will be held in Redcliffe, Queensland on the 17th and 18th September. Round four will enjoy the two race format that has been a great success with spectators at previous rounds throughout the 2011 season.
The boats will race on Saturday and Sunday in Moreton Bay and spectators will be able to have a clear view from along Redcliffe's foreshore. With the support of Moreton Bay Regional Council, the boat harbour will be transformed into the Offshore Superboat Pit Area. The general public are invited to come down and view the boats both in and out of the water and chat to crews. Entry is free and the Dry and Wet pit area will again be based at the Scarborough Boat Harbour, Bird 'O' Passage Parade, Scarborough.
The format of Round four racing will be as follows:
Saturday: Pole Position Shoot Out between 2pm to 3pm.
Sunday: Race one - start at 11:30am for 30min race.
Race two - start at 1:30pm for 40min Race.
Between the two races the boats will moor at the Redcliffe Pier.
With half the season remaining, teams will be out to get maximum points to secure a class title.
The North Queensland rounds were not kind to some teams who experienced blown engines, drives and broken boats. As such, these teams have been working hard to be ready for the Redcliffe round and put on a great display for the fans.
Mazlin Electrical destroyed a drive unit in the pole position shootout at Townville and missed their home race; a new drive has been installed and they are ready to race in Redcliffe.
Australian Vehicle Wholesale received structural damage at the Mackay round when they came to close for comfort to Mackay's rock wall. Accordingly, they missed the Townsville round and headed for home where Mark and his crew have been working hard to have the boat repaired and ready for round four.
As Redcliffe represents the start to the second half of the Offshore Superboat Series, teams across each of the four classes will have the opportunity to race for the championship finale at Geelong and Williamstown later in the year.
Class One: with stable mates Maritimo and Mustang fighting it out for supremacy in Redcliffe, its Maritimo who will start round four ahead in points. But the Australian 1 champions Mustang will be out to run a race similar to the one in Townsville where their boat performed close to its best.
Supercat 1000: This class has displayed some awesome competition with all of the Twin Mercury 525 boats running side by side to date with the Good Guys leading the Championship, followed by Team 3, Global Racing, Australian Wholesale Vehicles and Mazlin Electrical. With not much separating the top three placed teams, this class is expected to put on a fantastic display of V8 racing.
Supercat 600: The upgraded boat from Supercat 400 of Graham Frasier and Scotty Gehrman got just the water they were keenly awaiting in Townsville to have the twin 2.5, 280HP Offshore Mercury outboards running at 100% wide open throttle all the way to the chequered flag and take the Championship lead. Running in a close second was the Melbourne entrant of Antony DeFina and Nigel Craven in Saracen. Gremlins ran through the remaining Supercat 600 boats, but it's expected that SUV Dodge Ram and Kwozzy will be back in fighting form for Redcliffe and push the Townsville leaders all the way to the line.
Supercat 400: Mick Walker and Gary Smiths new boat 'The Phantom/FGI' has been absolutely flying around the courses of the first three rounds. The boats new Mercury 200XS, supplied from Melbourne's Mercury HP Dealer Simon Isherwood at Race Marine, proves that reliability and performance is the key to taking the chequered flag. Not to be outdone, Paul Gibbs and Gryff Ethell from Hogs Breath Racing have been mounting a stiff challenge with their Evinrude 200hp, Etecs providing close competition. New entrant to the season Adam Nicholls and Tubby Taylor debuted their boat in the North Queensland Rounds. The duo completed both rounds and obtained a very respectable second place in the Class at Townsville.
The 2011 Offshore Superboat Championships Series is competed in six stunning venues along the east coast of Australia. We would like to thank our valuable sponsors - Moreton Bay Regional Council, Moreton Bay Marine Parks, IMG Media, Scarborough Boat Club and Marina, WHF Group of Companies Mackay and Maritimo Australia.
Offshore Superboat Championships website
by Paul Fowlds
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Casey, TAS
