powerboat racing devonport

Devonport Regatta

New day, new location!

The 2024 Devonport Regatta, is on Saturday March 2 nd from 1 pm at Waterfront Horsehead Creek!

On the water Big Bad n’ Blown powerboat racing, including the Tasfreight John Palmer Memorial ‘Cock of the Mersey’ and the Dragon Boat Challenge!

Off the water Sea FM amusement rides, and live music by Tony Leonard Trio – Fashion on the Mersey – wood chopping – food stalls and giveaways!

Adults $15 – Concession & kids $10 – under 5, FREE.

Waterfront Horsehead Creek

Power Boat Racing

  2023- 2024 APBA Rule Book V23- 1.2

Updated December 2023

2023/2024 Calendar in PDF

P1 Offshore;

Powerboat P1 is the fastest growing marine motorsport series in the world and has a long term commitment to growing and developing the sport of power boating at all levels. The Powerboat P1 team works closely with the sport’s governing bodies, the UIM, APBA and the IJSBA. P1 has delivered more than 85 world championship events in over twelve different countries for more than a decade.

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Offshore racers in the flourishing MOD V class will be competing for a significant prize purse this year being provided by a sponsor. The MOD V National Money Series presented by Powerboat P1 will have total prize money of more than $120,000 comprising race event and overall prize purses. The series champion across the five P1 rounds will receive $50,000, with the runner-up earning $35,000 and the third-place finisher $25,000. The purse includes per-race payouts of $5,000 for the winner, $2,50 Continued

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Sheboygan Honored As APBA Best Race Site 2023

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04 Jan 2024

Bally sports p1 offshore broadcast times for january.

14 Nov 2023

Key west worlds race no.3 - imposing their will.

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12 Nov 2023

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10 Nov 2023

Key west worlds race no. 1 - dominance carries over.

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Powerboat P1 USA Adds Nicandri To 2024 Marketing/Media Team

The powerhouse marketer and organizer formerly behind the Suncoast Powerboat Grand Prix—now the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix — in Southwest Florida, Lucy Nicandri is back in the offshore powerboat racing marketing and media-liaison business. Nicandri, who also will retain her longtime position as executive director of Sarasota-based Suncoast Charities for Children , has joined the Powerboat P1 USA team as its media and marketing officer.

Lucy Nicandri (second from right) brings significant experience in the offshore racing marketing and media world to her new role with Powerboat P1 USA.

“Lucy has done it for years and can do this job with her eyes closed, to be honest,” Azam Rangoonwala, the chief executive officer of United Kingdom-based Powerboat P1, told me yesterday during a late-afternoon meeting in his London office. “This not only includes ensuring that our events are marketed properly in the local markets but also liaising with the press and the teams to get as much coverage as possible through the season.”

As part of her role with Suncoast Charities, Nicandri managed much of the Sarasota event. The nonprofit organization stepped away from the races after the 2020 event, which meant Nicandri’s race-organizing and marketing responsibilities ended, and the Powerboat P1 team took over that role.

Not only does the longtime Sarasota local bring significant experience to her new position with Powerboat P1 USA, she is well known within the offshore racing community.

Said Rangoonwala (captured here in his London headquarters), “Lucy could do this with her eyes closed, to be honest.”

“I’m extremely happy to be involved, especially after helping to organize the Sarasota Grand Prix for more than 30 years as well as the Qatar Cup,” Nicandri said. “Of course, I will continue to work full-time as an executive director for Suncoast Charities for Children.

“As a subcontractor to P1, I look forward to working with all the teams, area convention and visitor bureaus, and various local and regional media markets—many of whom I have worked with for years—to expand awareness and coverage of the sport, race teams, and for all the P1 race sites in the coming year,” she added.

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1970's Offshore Power Boat Wars - Part II - Detroit Iron

Last issue we learned that Gerard Richards and his mates were V8 racing addicts, seduced by the mighty Mustang and Camaro track cars of the late ‘60s, an allegiance transferred to the power boat racing scene of the 1970s, strongly contested in the early years by outboard-powered race boats. This issue features the major players later in the decade, when V8 power made inroads, plus some honourable mentions.

Just when it seemed multi-rig outboards were the recipe going forward, the focus shifted dramatically back to big V8s in 1973.

The arrival of the Jim Mackay designed 8.5-metre (27-foot) MacKay hull Old Crow for Spinner Black, equipped with a finelytuned 454 cu in LS7 Chevrolet V8 from Black’s engine shop, changed all that. This combo and its sister ships were to set the benchmark for speed and endurance over the next four to five years.

As Spinner told me in 2008, “After the mixed results with his first boat Turtle, that included it catching fire on one occasion and nearly sinking on another, he wanted the best craft he could put in the water.” In Spinner’s words, “Jim Mackay built a beautifully sculptured, strong and very seaworthy deep vee. It was also a very fast one, fitted with a hand-built 7440cc 454 cu in big block Chevrolet LS7 V8 race engine from our workshop”.

Along with fellow crew members Graeme Hastie, Mackay and Black, they won everything that mattered in 1973, with four wins and two sixth places. But with the championship pinned on one driver, rather than the boat, and Spinner not always available due to business commitments, it went by default to Max Johnson in his new triple 150hp Mercury rig Miss Comsec 2.

Spinner was looking to make amends, by taking out the driver’s title in 1974, with the same Mackay hull, now renamed Camel Filter.  Going head-to-head with Jim Mackay, running his own boat Topaz this season (co-owned and crewed by Dick Mitri), with similar 454 Chev V8 power, it looked like a massive showdown of the big-block titans. However, it wasn’t to be.

As Spinner relayed to me years later, “It would go like gangbusters for most of the races, then go off in the latter stages. Then the penny dropped – we’d mistakenly fitted too hot plugs when preparing for the season and never dropped to it until too late.”

Jim Mackay with Topaz cleaned up with seven wins from the nine races and Spinner and Camel Filter only managed a solitary win at Napier.

A big factor in the Mackay and Mitri Topaz demolition of the opposition was the beautifully-built racing engines prepared by Jim Carlise of C & W Motors. The only other outright victory went to Max Johnson’s triple 150hp Mercury rig Clipper Comsec at the Atlantic Six Hour Marathon.

Brian Crouch repeated the dose when he purchased Spinner’s old boat in 1976 (Old Crow/Camel Filter) now known as Cossack Vodka. He was to also enjoy a great winning streak with crew Neville Thomson, Bob Udy and Alywn Flexman, with five victories including the Atlantic 100, Rotorua, Taupo, the Auckland Marathon and New Plymouth, also going on to win the Atlantic Drivers’ Elite Offshore Championship.

Brian was a cow cockie out of Tuakau (South Auckland) and his crew were all volunteers. Preparing their boat out of a country garage on a shoestring budget, it was a great achievement to get those results – as Brian summed up in similar words to Spinner’s: “Racing frontline powerboats in the open water, with the turbulent water of mass starts, racing in choppy harbours and the swells of the open ocean, was a sobering experience. We were darned right scared shitless at times…” he said.

An interesting aside: Brian told me recently he still retains the trophy for winning the Atlantic 100 in 1977, as it was the last time the race was run and no one asked for it back.

Following a partially successful 1977 season, Brian sold Cossack Vodka to Harry Servicus, and it continued racing under the name of Brut 33.

Tracing the continuing incarnations of the Mackay 27-foot foot hulls is an interesting and somewhat confusing exercise in boat racing genealogical history. I make no claims to bulletproof accuracy here, but it seems the original Old Crow hull, continued through Camel Filter, Cossack Vodka, Brut 33 and then possibly became Pall Filter.

That owner apparently drilled holes in the boat’s ribs to lighten it, causing it to break in half. It was later rebuilt as The Nail, a reference to its previous calamity and it may have continued racing under the name Foden Force, but I stand to be corrected on this. The boat’s whereabouts these days are unknown, despite attempts by Brian Crouch and others to track her down.

The other Mackay boat was Topaz and she continued in 1975 as Paul Jones Bourbon. After that the trail goes cold, but this boat has since been found and restored to its Topaz livery and continues to appear at historic offshore power boat regattas. It seems there have been a couple of other copies made of these classic Mackay hulls, but to my knowledge there were only the two ‘official’ original hulls built.

While on the topic of surviving original offshore race boats of the 70s era, it would be interesting to know if there are any other classic offshore warriors still in existence. I know Tara Too has been partially restored – are there any others out there?

Email me at [email protected] if you have any information.

END OF AN ERA

For that brief window of the 1970s my adolescent mates and I were hardcore fans of that golden era of monohulls, when the heavy V8-powered artillery duked it out with the sophisticated multi-outboard rigs. We had grandstand seats, the best in the house on Devonport Wharf, Auckland and those thundering, heroic boats of the era certainly played to the gallery. Vintage times, they were, when big-time powerboat racing caught the public’s imagination.

As the 70s came to an end, the playing field for offshore powerboat racing was changing in New Zealand. The era of the large American automotive V8 inboard and multi-rig outboard monohulls was ending. The new competitive formula emerging was for multi-hulled outboard-powered catamarans, one of the early successes being E.I.T Mover, which won a trifecta of championships between 1982 and 1985. But that is a different story.

A legendary era of offshore powerboat racing monohulls had passed. BNZ

MORE NOTABLE BOATS

While the boat combos I’ve mentioned this issue and last were the heavy hitters through most of the 70s, many others saw a slice of the action.

Chevrolet V8-powered Roaring Rat was first in the Rothmans 70-mile Taupo race in 1971, third at Taupo in 1972, and fourth at Taupo, 1974.

Clipper Blackjack, 2 x 200hp Volvos, was second in the Atlantic 100 in 1974.

The Graduate powered by 3 x 150hp Mercurys and driven by N. Watts scored second in the 1973 Atlantic 100 and sixth at Queenstown in 1973.

Aurora, powered by a 454 cu in Chevrolet V8, was second in Tauranga, 1974.

Tormentor (later Big John) driven by W J Bryan and powered by 2 x 140hp Johnsons finished second in the 1972 Atlantic 100.

Gobbla Hunter, powered by 2 x 135hp Mercurys and driven by B. Shaw, was third at Gisborne in 1975.

Vanishing Point, a 26-foot Levi design, and Alamo were a duo of big inboard racers, but they didn’t score any significant finishes that I’m aware of.

Portage Hotel, powered by 3 x 150hp Mercurys finished second at Taupo in 1974.

These are just some of the many boats to score top places over the years – by no means a comprehensive list. My apologies to other worthy candidates that aren’t included here. Also, I haven’t included the South Island scene, as that is altogether another story.

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Shreveport-Bossier to Host Formula 1 Powerboat Racing in 2024

The may 24–26 event will feature 50 high-speed powerboats along the red river.

The Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission has announced the return of Formula 1 Powerboat Racing to Lousiana with the Red River Rumble F1 Powerboat Showdown, scheduled to take place from May 24–26, 2024.

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“We are looking forward to bringing Powerboats back to the Red River and Shreveport-Bossier in 2024-2026,” said Sara Nelms , director of sports for the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission . “We are excited to host this event in conjunction with Mudbug Madness and showcase the world class Formula 1 drivers.”

This event will feature approximately 50 high-speed powerboats along the Red River. The Formula 1 Powerboat Championship is an 8-race series contested across North America. US Powerboat racing has a 120-year heritage that began with the formation of the American Powerboat Association.

“On behalf of the Formula 1 Powerboat Championship, we are very excited to bring Formula 1 powerboat racing back to Shreveport-Bossier for the first time since 2018,” said Tim Seebold , managing director of the Formula 1 Powerboat Championship. “Shreveport holds a special place in my heart as it was the site of my last National Championship before retiring from driving.”

In addition to the races, the event will feature an open pit area that allows fans to meet the drivers and get a closer look at the boats. The event will happen the same weekend as Mudbug Madness 2024 in Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport. General admission viewing is free and there will also be a VIP area at the Shreveport Aquarium.

“On behalf of the Mudbug Madness Festival, we are excited that Formula 1 Powerboat Racing will be taking place the same weekend as our festival on the Shreveport Riverfront,” said Terri Matthews , event coordinator for Mudbug Madness. “Our mission is to support and promote projects and events to enhance downtown and the synergy this will bring will do just that.”

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