Glenmaggie Cup 2026: Everything You Need to Know

The 2026 Lucas Oil Hydroplane National Drivers’ Championship ends at Lake Glenmaggie, in Victoria’s Gippsland, on Saturday and Sunday, October 3-4, 2026, as part of the Glenmaggie and District Boat Club’s annual Glenmaggie Cup. Entry is $15 per adult per day, $10 for seniors, and free for children under 14, paid at the gate.

The lake, around 200 kilometres east of Melbourne, staged the category’s first NDC event at last year’s Glenmaggie Cup. This weekend is the second and final round of 2026, after the Lake Eppalock opener in January, and Grant Harrison arrives leading both the GP/Unlimited and 1.6-litre OzLites classes by six points.

What Spectators Will See

Three classes race across the weekend: the outright GP/Unlimited hydroplanes, the 5 and 6-litre hydroplanes, and the Toyota-powered 1.6-litre OzLites. The organisers quote more than 2,000 horsepower and speeds above 250 km/h for the GP/Unlimited boats, which hold their speed through the corners with roostertails trailing behind them.

Parts shortages have thinned the entry in all three classes. The organisers put it down to global conflicts, rising interest rates and fuel prices, with the 6-litre teams hit hardest. They say 100 race points are on offer this weekend, so a single breakdown could decide a title.

GP/Unlimited: Harrison, Clark and Krusic

Harrison (GP1), the reigning GP/Unlimited champion and a two-time World Champion, won at Eppalock and leads Ben Clark (GP101) 144 points to 138. Since January he has also won the E.C. Griffith Cup at Yarrawonga in April, his tenth, beating reigning HRL Champion Ken Lupton, according to the organisers.

Clark races an updated GP101, the boat Harrison won a world title in. Dan Krusic, the local favourite in GP21 Krusader, pushed Harrison hard here last year but missed Eppalock and has yet to score this season. Clark had early setbacks at Glenmaggie 12 months ago.

Russell Jones’s Aussie Connection, fourth in the standings, and fellow Unlimited Hyper Active are both out with parts delays, as is local team The Wasp. Two-time Griffith Cup Champion Ricky Howard and Coby Howard have not been able to finish an engine package in time.

6-Litre Hydroplanes: Vella and Macansh Out

Eppalock winner and points leader Lochie Vella has withdrawn Impatient after a significant failure during a final test session a week before the event. Kelvin Macansh, the 2025 Glenmaggie winner and 6-litre NDC Champion, is also out, with component delays sidelining The Gator. Paul Jones has retired his boat until he can trace an intermittent fault that hampered him at both Glenmaggie and Eppalock.

That puts Brendan Anderson, second on 138 points to Vella’s 144, in position to take the title with a clean weekend. The Sydney driver finished on the podium here last year and switched to a six-litre engine mid-season.

Local driver Tony Murphy (The Enforcer) set the fastest Hot Laps time at Glenmaggie last year and won the opening heat, then struck trouble in the second round of heats and the final. He still left the round second on points behind Macansh. At Eppalock his weekend ended in Hot Laps with a rudder failure, and he sits fourth on 50 points.

1.6-Litre OzLites: Harrison Has Two Yellow Boats Behind Him

Harrison, who runs the Melton Toyota team, won the OzLites title at Glenmaggie last year, beating Wendy Gielen in Miss Hydromania. He stayed unbeaten at Eppalock, though Oscar Stevenson in the HBR Racing BioHazard kept him under pressure across three sessions before high winds cancelled the final. Harrison leads Stevenson by six points, with Gielen a further eight back.

Stevenson now has a team-mate. Brad Holland, one of the few drivers to have beaten Harrison in recent seasons, makes his NDC debut in a second yellow HBR boat after a break from racing. Dooie Nicholls returns in S15, having missed Eppalock with parts delays.

Two Mazda 2-litre-powered boats, Graham Molloy’s Lil Hurricane and Kym Behrndt’s Holy Smoke, are non-starters because of component delays. The Mazda engine is being introduced as an alternative to the established Toyota unit, which has become harder and more expensive to source, according to the organisers.

Championship Points After Round 1, Lake Eppalock

GP/Unlimited Hydroplanes

5 and 6-Litre Hydroplanes

1.6-Litre OzLites

Kym Behrndt scored 138 race points at Eppalock but takes no championship points, having run in the experimental class with a Mazda engine.

Event Timetable

Victoria moves to daylight saving time at 2:00 AM on Sunday, October 4, so Sunday’s racing runs on AEDT. The organisers give Saturday’s start as 9:00 AM and say Sunday’s will be at a similar time.

Venue and Tickets

Racing takes place at the Glenmaggie and District Boat Club, Glenmaggie Road, Glenmaggie, VIC 3858. Tickets are sold at the gate on the day: $15 per adult per day, $10 per day for seniors, and free for children under 14.