2nd Annual New Orleans Powerboat Grand Prix: Everything You Need to Know

The 2nd Annual New Orleans Powerboat Grand Prix returns to Lake Pontchartrain on April 11 and 12, bringing offshore powerboat and personal watercraft racing back to the levee between Bonnabel Boat Launch and Bucktown Harbor Park in Metairie, Louisiana. The event is the second stop of the IHRA Offshore Series National Championship. General admission is free.

The event is presented by Harvey Gulf International Marine, Councilman Hans Liljeberg, and Jefferson Parish Council District 5. Full details are at IHRA.com.

What You Will See

Offshore powerboat racing is loud, fast, and genuinely difficult to describe until you have watched it from the bank. Competitors pilot purpose-built V-hull and catamaran powerboats at speeds capable of exceeding 100mph in the senior classes across open water, racing in parallel around a marked course. The IHRA fields twelve classes at each event, from single-engine entry-level boats to twin-supercharged Pro Class 1 machinery that generates enough noise to feel from 200 metres away. Personal watercraft competitors also race across the weekend, adding shorter, closer action between the main offshore heats. The venue – the levee between Bonnabel Boat Launch and Bucktown Harbor Park – puts spectators right alongside the course.

Event Schedule

Prize Money

The 2026 IHRA Offshore Series carries a total prize purse of $2 million for powerboat teams, with an additional $650,000 in tow money across the season. Personal watercraft competitors race for a separate $250,000 purse.

VIP Tickets and Parking

TV and Streaming

What the Organisers Say

Tommy Thomassie, IHRA’s Executive Vice President and Director of Powerboating, has a personal connection to the venue.

“We are looking to build on last year: amplifying everything from the boats to the entertainment and food offerings. We want to show off our racing world to the locals, and at the same time show off the area and its offerings to our racers.” – Tommy Thomassie, Executive Vice President and Director of Powerboating, IHRA

Councilman Hans Liljeberg highlighted the economic case for the event returning to Jefferson Parish.

“We are proud to welcome back the New Orleans Powerboat Grand Prix right here in District 5. This event not only promises thrilling racing and family-friendly activities but also provides a unique opportunity to boost our local economy. We look forward to welcoming visitors from across the nation for an unforgettable weekend in Jefferson Parish.” – Hans Liljeberg, Councilman, Jefferson Parish Council District 5

Title sponsor Harvey Gulf International Marine’s owner Shane Guidry cited the company’s long relationship with the Louisiana boating community as the reason for returning.

“Harvey Gulf is once again pleased to sponsor the offshore boat races in Lake Pontchartrain. At Harvey, we generate our revenue on water, and it is important for our company to give back to the recreational boating industry.” – Shane Guidry, Owner, Harvey Gulf International Marine

The New Orleans round follows the season opener at the Monster Energy St. Pete Powerboat Grand Prix, March 27 to 29 in St Petersburg, Florida. The IHRA Offshore Series runs seven national championship rounds across the United States before a World Championship finale at a date and location still to be confirmed.

Entry List

A History Worth Knowing

Offshore powerboat racing has a longer relationship with Lake Pontchartrain than most people watching from the levee in April will realise. It began in 1980 with the APBA’s Halter 200 – run on the same stretch of water the IHRA returns to today – and for more than a decade that followed, the lake hosted some of the most significant offshore events in the United States.

The driving force was Al Copeland Sr., founder of Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken and Biscuits, and one of the most colourful figures the sport has produced. Copeland formed the Popeyes race team in 1980 and turned it into the dominant offshore outfit of its era, winning six US national championships and back-to-back world titles in 1985 and 1986. From 1983 onwards, the team gave its name to the event itself: the Popeyes Offshore Grand Prix, held annually on Lake Pontchartrain.

The race drew the sport’s biggest names through the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1987, the series also staged the Mississippi River Challenge alongside the Grand Prix – a point-to-point race from New Orleans to St. Louis. The Popeyes Grand Prix continued through 1991, adding a world title that year to a record that still stands as the most successful run in New Orleans offshore racing history.

Racing returned to Lake Pontchartrain in 2002 and 2003 under Super Boat International, and again in 2008 when the Offshore Super Series held the Al Copeland Memorial Races – named for the man whose connection to this venue ran deeper than almost anyone in the sport. Copeland died in March 2008. His imprint on offshore racing in New Orleans is the reason this event’s history runs back not two years but forty-five.

The revival under IHRA began with the inaugural New Orleans Powerboat Grand Prix in 2025. The 2nd Annual in April 2026 extends a thread that connects the first APBA race on this lake to the present day.