A dramatic roll-over in race two at the third round of the Australian Superboat Championship brought out the red flags in Hervey Bay, South Queensland.

Fortunately, the crew of Saracen, Antony De Fina and Matt Kelly both emerged ok from their upturned hull.

Once ashore De Fina said

Not the way we wanted to finish the weekend at Hervey Bay! Certainly, a bit of force involved. Thanks to Tom Barry-Cotter and Stephen Kelly who were there quickly and helped us out. A few bruises and a bit sore but we will regroup and see if we can get her going for round four at Lake Macquarie.

De Fina and Kelly are no strangers to ‘high siding’ their Saracen hull as the pair almost capsized during the final race of the 2018 season on the shores of Hervey Bay. As the race had been underway for seventeen minutes the officials felt that gave them enough time to call it a race and the points were awarded accordingly.

AMT Racing now move to the top of the Supercat Outboard class as well as topping the AUS 1 category.

Taking maximum points in the Supercat Extreme class were Maritimo Racing.

When PRW spoke to Barry-Cotter he replied

Maritimo Racing were incredibly happy to be back competing in the Offshore Superboat Championships. The boat felt great, and although we had a small field this weekend, it was great to use the weekend’s races for a strong test session before next weekend’s round at Lake Macquarie, where we will see some more competition. It was an action-packed weekend. Glad to see Antony and Matt were ok after Sunday’s accident.

Round Four of the 2022 Offshore Superboat Championships is at Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. The weekend is part of the Fast & Loud Festival and will consist of five Offshore Championship races.

All images including the roll over sequence by Reg Blunt.