Date for the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Series

Among the field in the Gisborne round last year were Hijinx Racing and New Zealand Home Loans in the Superboat 400 class (pictured). File pictures by Liam Clayton

Gisborne will again host a round of the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Series this summer. Boats will roar across Poverty Bay in Round 2 of the series on Saturday, February 9.

The field is set to include boats from Australia this time.

The series starts in Taupo on January 27 and will be followed by rounds in Gisborne, Whitianga, Napier, New Plymouth, Marsden Cove, Doubtless Bay and Timaru.

Described as the “ultimate motorsport on water”, offshore powerboat racing features a fleet of multi- and mono-hull boats, large and small, thundering across the water at speeds of up to 200 kilometres an hour.

Sixty- and 100-mile championships will be held in various classes, depending on the type and size of the boats and motors.

Among the field in the Gisborne round last year were Hijinx Racing and New Zealand Home Loans in the Superboat 400 class.

Hijinx won the class, with NZ Home Loans second.

The series will again support the Race4Life Trust, whose aim is to fulfil the wish lists of people living with life-limiting illness.