Race World Offshore has confirmed that Super Stock is now a UIM-recognised World Championship class for 2026, under an agreement with the Union Internationale Motonautique signed by UIM President Dr Raffaele Chiulli. It becomes the fourth offshore class to carry official UIM world championship status under RWO’s promotion, joining Class 1, Class 2 and Super Cat.
RWO became the UIM’s promoter for North America under a licensing deal with UIM Events S.A.R.L. covering 2026 through 2031, formally executed in April. That six-year agreement established RWO as home of the UIM Offshore World Championship Series in North America. Super Stock’s addition extends the same framework to a fourth class.
The Schedule
The Super Stock UIM World Championship runs across three two-day events, six races in all. It opens August 1-2 at the XINSURANCE Great Lakes Grand Prix in Michigan City, Indiana, moves to the XINSURANCE Clearwater Offshore Nationals on September 25-27, and concludes across the final two race days of the Key West World Championship, November 1-8. Champions across all four UIM classes are decided on the finale day, Sunday, November 8, and honoured that evening at the Key West Amphitheater.
A Complicated Route to UIM Recognition
Super Stock arrives at UIM status after a complicated year. The Superstock Racing Group voted in January to commit exclusively to the IHRA national championship, a decision its president Cole Liebel called a move toward stability and professionalism for the class. Despite that vote, Super Stock boats have raced at every RWO round so far this season, from Atlantic City in June through last week’s Great Lakes Grand Prix, competing for their own class points alongside the UIM-sanctioned classes.
IHRA’s offshore programme, meanwhile, has unravelled. The organisation cut its remaining 2026 offshore schedule to a single round in June, then cancelled that round, the Sheboygan Midwest Challenge, this month after telling the City of Sheboygan it could not safely staff the event. IHRA’s 2026 national champions will now be decided on points already earned at Lake of the Ozarks in June rather than at a season finale. Against that backdrop, UIM recognition gives Super Stock a world championship stage that IHRA’s national title can no longer offer.
Full standings for Super Stock and every other RWO class are on the Race World Offshore standings page.
Follow the 2026 Race World Offshore Season
Powerboat News is covering the full XINSURANCE UIM World Championship Series season, from Atlantic City through to Key West.
Race World Offshore Standings
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
