Tag Archives: APBA

Vale Ian Dobbie

The Queensland Council of the APBA acknowledges the passing of Ian Dobbie recently.  Ian was a former patron of the Council and a long time supporter of power boat racing for many decades.  Ian worked tirelessly over this time to promote the sport and to assist in its administration.

The Council sends its condolences to family and friends of Ian, a man who will be greatly missed by all.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 am Monday 19 March 2018 at West Chapel, Mt Thompson Crematorium, 329 Nursery Road, Holland Park, with refreshments to follow.

New young driver licence exemptions in Qld!

Great news!  Maritime Safety Queensland has approved updated and extended licensing exemptions for younger drivers at APBA sanctioned events.  There have been exemptions in place for J2 and J3 for many years, but these have now been extended to 25hp and Formula 4 classes (with some conditions).  Younger drivers competing at APBA sanctioned events are now exempt from marine licence requirements for:

  • J2 – age 10-15, max 10 hp
  • J3 – age 12 to 15, max 15 hp
  • 25 hp & F4 – 14 or 15 years old, must have competed in J3 for at least 2 years.

The usual racing and safety rules, specific junior driver briefings and assessment of junior drivers before competing continue to apply.

This is an excellent outcome for growing the sport and allowing younger people to stay engaged and develop their driving skills in a safe manner.  Note that these exemptions only apply during APBA sanctioned events, so outside these events the usual licensing requirements apply.

The APBA Queensland State Council recognises and thanks the efforts of Maritime Safety Queensland in working through this process.

Cockpit Immersion tests this Sunday

Immersion tests are being conducted this Sunday 13 September 2015.  Don’t forget that you need to complete a test every two years if you need a reinforced cockpit endorsement on your licence!

You will need to bring your driving suit, helmet etc – harnesses are provided and the test cockpit can be equipped with either rotary or lever-type harnesses.

The Licence Issuing Officer will also be present, so bring your paperwork along and get your licence renewed at the same time.   A BBQ will be available after the testing.

The location of the test is 31-35 The Chase, FORESTDALE QLD  4118.  Please confirm you will be attending with your club contact.

Australian championships – new dates & venues

Following the cancellation of the Combined Australian Championships, previously scheduled to be held at Griffith, the New South Wales State Council has advised that new dates and venues for the championship events have been selected.

All entries previously lodged for the championship events are valid and those competitors do not need to re-enter.  Additional entries can be lodged with the NSW Race Secretary, but must be forwarded by the relevant closing date for each event.  Refer to the formal notification for details of dates, venues, classes and entry closing dates.  Note that only those classes with sufficient bona fide entries to constitute a class as of the original entry closing date have been re-scheduled.

Any enquiries should be directed to the NSW State Council – contact details are on the formal notification linked above.

Combined Australian championships cancelled

The New South Wales State Council has advised that the combined Australian Championships, schedule to be held at Griffith, have been cancelled.

This decision was taken for a number of reasons, including the lack of entries for the event with less than half of the allocated Championship classes having the required four bona fide entries at the closing date (3 October 2014).

The NSW Council will be seeking the approval of the National Council to postpone the classes with enough entries to run and conduct them at dates and venues in NSW, to be advised.

Original announcement on Facebook

Rule changes for 2014-15 race year

The National Authority has published a summary of all rule changes for the upcoming race year – available here.

Not too many changes this year compared with some previous years 🙂  Main areas of change are in Blown Lites, sample testing for reinforced cockpits, setting of a maximum age for harnesses and changes to restrictions on radio communication with drivers.

As always, the actual rule book is the authoritative source and you should check the wording there before taking any action on the changes.

APBA national web site down

The Web site of the national APBA is not currently available, meaning that all forms, race calendar etc are currently unavailable on-line.  Seems someone forgot to renew the domain registration …

We have contacted the national body to alert them to the situation.

UPDATE – licence and entry forms are temporarily available here.

FURTHER UPDATE – as the national site is back on-line, the above location for forms has been removed.