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.
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.
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.
The acquisition, announced yesterday by IHRA owner Darryl Cuttell, arrives just seven days after the drag racing organisation confirmed a $250,000 purse for next month’s Key West World Championships and a $1 million purse for its inaugural 2026 national championship series.
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.
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.
Auckland’s Gulf Harbour delivered the opening salvo of the 2026 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship season on Saturday, with Grant Henry’s Nakita claiming the Nominated Speed victory alongside consistent performances across the Sports 140HP division.
Alec Weckström claimed his maiden sprint race victory after holding off a relentless late charge from Rusty Wyatt, the Victory Team driver withstanding intense pressure over the closing laps to win by just over two seconds.
Jonas Andersson extended his remarkable unbeaten sprint race record to 11 consecutive victories with a commanding performance in the opening sprint race, the Swede dominating from pole position to win by nearly 13 seconds.
Jonas Andersson stormed to pole position for the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou with a commanding 43.
951-second lap to head an all-Scandinavian front row after Alec Weckström produced a sensational performance to claim second.
UKOPRA regulars James Norvill and Andy Foster head to Englewood Beach, Florida this weekend for crucial practice ahead of November’s Key West World Championships.
Alec Weckström produced a stunning late surge to snatch second place in final practice, the Victory Team driver finding nearly three seconds of improvement to post a 45.
848-second lap and transform his qualifying prospects.
Rusty Wyatt snatched top spot in the closing stages of second practice, posting a 45.
366-second lap to edge Shaun Torrente by two tenths as lap times tumbled across the field on the Yellow River circuit.
Jonas Andersson set the pace in opening practice for the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou, lapping the Yellow River circuit in 45.
527 seconds to head Erik Stark by just under half a second as the F1H2O World Championship began its third round weekend.
Portugal secured three UIM international events for 2026 during this week’s General Assembly in Shanghai, with the Portuguese federation landing the Aquabike European Championship alongside two Formula 2 World Championship rounds including the season finale.
Paulo Ferreira, President of FPM (Federação Portuguesa de Motonautica), confirmed the successful bid package delivers major championship racing across three Portuguese venues between July and September.
COMINSPORT will propose establishing UIM teams titled events tomorrow, introducing a format combining three to five racing categories per team in single-weekend competitions designed to popularise powerboat racing and encourage nations to revive dormant classes.
The structure requires all team members to hold valid racing licences from the same nationality, with one driver per team per category competing across circuit, aquabike, motosurf or offshore disciplines.
The 98th UIM General Assembly is underway in Shanghai this week, marking the federation’s return to China six years after the 2019 Qingdao gathering, with delegates in Baoshan District through 12th October for the sport’s most significant institutional event of the year.
F4 crash boxes will become mandatory for all boats built after 1st January 2026 under proposals facing a UIM Council vote tomorrow, with detailed homologation specifications demanding multi-layer foam construction capable of absorbing 1.
2 kilojoules during drop tests to reduce driver injuries in lateral collisions.
HydroGP financial rules face a fundamental overhaul tomorrow with two competing proposals before the UIM Council, as Czech Republic seeks to eliminate travel money entirely whilst Poland proposes equalising Formula 500 payments to attract organisers struggling with current cost requirements.
