If you are in need of some speed and high octane adrenaline action, well the Offshore Superboats on Corio bay is the just what you need. Usually tranquil Corio Bay turns into a high speed course for high powered jet boats reaching incredible speeds of up to 200kph.
The noise and the spectacle are amazing with water spraying some 100 meters behind the mighty high octane vessels. With sounds like the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, the roaring thunder from the engine can be heard well into Geelong’s suburbs, so their is no mistake the powerboats have once again come to Geelong.
Spectators line the shores of Corio Bay to witness the thundering and lightning fast spectacle; Steampacket Place is one of the best places as the boats are winched in and out of the water there. The boats strangely are not able to stay afloat very well when not moving at incredible speeds. The more popular places for onlookers are Cunningham Pier, Steampacket Gardens and Western Beach with the whole area around Eastern Gardens very popular locations for this free event. Steampacket Place is also the place to get up close to this huge and magnificent watercraft. Many of the boats require full size semi trailers to ship them between competition locations. The total setup of many of the larger boats runs into several millions of dollars. Some of the stats on the boats are impressive with one boat alone running twin Lamborghini V12 engines that both pump out nearly 1000 horse power.
The competition usually runs two days with speed trials and tryouts happening on the Saturday before the main competition on the Sunday afternoon.
The action is filmed for national TV and part of the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships, Even filming from the helicopters look like they struggle keeping up with these monstrous powerful racers.
The beautiful waters of Corio Bay are becoming one of our most popular places for Major Events with various Swim Events the huge Australia Day weekend of Sailing with the RGYC and now the Offshore Superboats making the bay a regular on its calendar of events.
The Offshore Superboats last came to Geelong on the 26 and 27th of November in 2011. There is currently no scheduled upcoming event.