Qatar Returns to World Championship After Decade The State of Qatar makes its return to the international powerboat racing calendar this weekend when Doha hosts the final round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship for the first time in 10 years.
Aquabike Promotion and the Doha Marine Sports Club will stage the three-day Old Doha Port Grand Prix of Qatar on Doha Bay from October 30 to November 1.
Team RPM has confirmed plans to field a second boat in the 2026 UIM F2 World Championship, with team manager Alessandro Canzi revealing the news on social media.
The three-minute starter board was raised.
Not a sound could be heard in Bristol Docks.
Aquabike Promotion has announced a provisional five-race calendar for the 2026 UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship, with the season spanning from mid-June through early September.
The Seebold family has released a statement thanking the global powerboat racing community for its overwhelming support following the death of Billy Seebold on 22nd October.
Hungarian textile company ProSport Apparel has established itself as a trusted supplier of race apparel to leading powerboat racing teams across multiple UIM championships.
Custom Solutions for Powerboat Racing Based in Dunaújváros, the company under the direction of Elek Kozma has supplied Powerboat News alongside teams competing in UIM F1H2O, F2 and F4 championships.
The UAE F4 Powerboat Championship starts in Abu Dhabi on 22-23 November 2025, with four championship rounds to be hosted by Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Championship Changes The 2024/2025 season saw Salem Al Yafai and Obaid Bin Mubarak of Mubarak Racing Team take the top two positions, supported by TheRace Factory team led by Frode Sundsdal.
The UIM E1 Series makes its United States debut in Miami on 7-8 November, bringing the all-electric powerboat racing championship to American waters for the first time as the 2025 season reaches its conclusion.
Monégasque powerboat racer Giacomo Sacchi made his UIM E1 World Championship debut in Lagos, Nigeria, stepping in as reserve pilot for Team Miami alongside Patricia Pita Gago.
The appointment came as regular Team Miami pilot Erik Stark competed for Team Abu Dhabi in the UIM F1H2O World Championship.
Powerboat racing has lost its greatest champion.
Bill Seebold Jr, known throughout the sport as Billy or Mr Bill, has passed away following a battle with ALS.
Watch any UIM F1H2O or F2 race today and the sight of drivers racing behind enclosed canopies seems entirely normal.
Modern drivers benefit from composite safety cells, HANS devices, airbags, and life support systems, technology that keeps them strapped securely into crash-tested capsules designed to withstand huge impacts.
Two spectacular blow-overs at Stewartby Lake on Saturday produced dramatic photographs but, crucially, no injuries as both drivers walked away unscathed from their high-speed incidents.
Mantripp’s Inverted Flight Racer and commentator Jason Mantripp provided the first eye-catching moment when his hydro launched into a complete barrel-roll, captured in a sensational photograph by Fred Emeny.
Six world champions were crowned and four Grand Prix victors celebrated in a thrilling finale to the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy in Olbia, where dramatic battles and stunning comebacks defined three days of fierce competition.
Siimann Snatches World Title with Final Lap Heroics Mattias Siimann produced the performance of the weekend in Runabout GP2, storming from sixth place to win the final moto and retain his world title in sensational style.
Poppy Stewart secured a third consecutive GT15 British Championship title at Stewartby with a masterclass performance that saw the 14-year-old claim three victories from four heats across the weekend.
The International Hot Rod Association has acquired Powerboat P1 USA/P1 Offshore in a calculated move to consolidate American offshore racing under fresh leadership, whilst maintaining dialogue with Race World Offshore (RWO) towards potential unification ahead of the 2026 season.
A hectic Friday at the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy saw 145 riders from 26 nations tackle a revised course in Olbia, with nine category winners emerging from qualifying before darkness descended on the opening Motos.
Stewartby Water Sports Club hosts the decisive final round of the 2025 GT15 British Championship this weekend, where Poppy Stewart will aim to secure an unprecedented third consecutive title before her planned transition to the GT30 class.
A heated confrontation between three-time F1H2O World Champion Shaun Torrente and British driver Ben Jelf at the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou has sparked controversy online following an on-water dispute that escalated into a physical altercation in the pits.
This weekend sees the beautiful island of Sardinia hosting the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy out of the idyllic city of Olbia.
The second round of the 2025 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship takes place from Friday morning through to Sunday afternoon.
Since its inception in September 2023, the Battery World National Drivers’ Championship has developed into one of the most widely followed boat racing competitions in the country.
Developed for Forced Induction Unlimited Displacement inboard boats; once affectionately known as ‘Blown Displacements’ for their predominantly supercharged powerplants, the category has taken on a life of its own in recent years with a number of varying powerplants now involved including a range of turbo-charged V8s and 6-cylinder Ford and Toyotas; it has really grabbed the attention of the fans, the new four-round Series leading the charge.
2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships Round 1: Lake Macquarie, NSW 18-19 October, 2025 The 2025/26 Australian Offshore Superboat Championships will return to the New South Wales Hunter Valley and the waters of Lake Macquarie for the highly anticipated opening round of the new season, a season which promises some of the biggest fields in more than a decade, led by the stunning outright Supercat Extreme category that will feature a number of new and returning boats campaigned by both rookie and experienced crews.
Having worked tirelessly to re-establish themselves after setbacks post-Covid, the Australian Offshore Powerboat Club has been rewarded for their efforts with what will be the best field of boats to contest the Championship for more than ten years.
Kuwait will host the penultimate round of the 2025 UIM XCAT World Championship following confirmation from the UIM during its General Assembly in China.
The Kuwait Sea Sports Club will organise the event from 20-22 November in cooperation with the Public Authority for Sport, setting the stage for a title showdown before the season finale in Dubai on 12 December.
Karolis Ramoska successfully secured adoption of his F2 long lap proposal during the 98th UIM General Assembly in Shanghai, capping 10 days of intensive negotiations with federation leaders from more than 30 countries as the Lithuanian powerboat chief advances his youth development agenda.
The UIM believes that powerboating competitions have recently attracted fewer participants.
The reasons for this phenomenon are both the seasonality of the sport and the growing passion of young people for electronic gadgets.
The UIM Council has approved four significant rule updates for F1H2O, set to take effect from 1 January 2026.
These changes reflect evolving priorities in sustainability, fairness, and race integrity.
The UIM Council has officially adopted a trio of safety upgrades for F4, confirming mandatory crash boxes, rear-mounted balloon airbags, and a minimum weight increase from 1 January 2026.
The decision, made during the 98th UIM General Assembly on Friday 10 October, marks a major evolution in cockpit protection standards.
The UIM Council has officially adopted Rule 105.
05, establishing a new Teams Titled Event format that will debut in the 2026 season.
The UIM Council has voted to adopt the Czech Republic’s prize money model for HydroGP events, confirming a major shift in financial philosophy for the 2026 season.
Poland’s competing proposal to equalise travel money across all classes was rejected.
UIM F2 will introduce long lap penalties and passed a European Championship proposal from January 2026 after the UIM Council adopted five of seven F2 rules proposals last Friday at the Shanghai General Assembly, whilst rejecting an overhaul of the penalties table and withdrawing championship structure clarifications.
The Formulae Committee’s package delivered major changes to race procedures and competition formats, with long lap implementation receiving unanimous support across three interconnected proposals introducing the strategic element to F2 racing.
Doctor Raffaele Chiulli secured a fifth term as UIM President at the 98th General Assembly in Shanghai on Saturday, standing unopposed in the election for the 2025-2029 mandate.
The Italian sports executive’s candidature, submitted by the Italian Federation, received approval from delegates gathered at Baoshan District for powerboating’s most significant institutional event of the year.
Alec Weckström claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory to seize the championship lead after Jonas Andersson’s calamitous afternoon saw the defending champion spin from pole position at the start before retiring with technical issues.
The Victory Team driver controlled the 36-lap race in challenging conditions to head team-mate Shaun Torrente by 3.
