As AFJSA secretary and a member of the V8 Superboats family since 2017, Tahlia Elphinstone knows what makes the sport so special. Here, she shares what goes on behind the scenes and what makes racing on water so exciting.
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For someone completely new to the sport, how would you explain Australian V8 Superboats and what makes it different from other forms of motorsport?
We are motorsport on water — fast, loud and incredibly exciting! Our tracks are purpose-built for our boats, and our drivers and navigators race against the clock through a tight, twisting course of channels, navigating a set rotational sequence at incredibly fast speeds. It’s incredible how close our spectators get to be to our track, you can literally feel a boat fly past and as you watch these skilled drivers navigate the tight corners and change directions unbelievably quickly, there is just such little room for error. That electric feeling watching them, combined with the sheer horsepower of these engines, the atmosphere of the spectators, it’s just everything I love about motorsport with a touch of unpredictability of racing on water.
How has the Australian V8 Superboats Championship evolved over the years, and what do you think has been the biggest change in the sport?
The sport has evolved enormously over the years. The boats are faster, the technology and engineering have become more sophisticated, and the level of competition continues to rise. At the same time, the championship itself has become much more professional in the way we present and promote the sport. For me, one of the biggest changes has been the accessibility and visibility of the V8 Superboats. Between television, social media and our digital coverage, we now have so many more opportunities to take people behind the scenes, introduce them to our teams and drivers, and showcase what makes the sport so incredibly unique.
What I love, though, is that despite all that growth, our sport has managed to retain its grassroots; it has a real family feel. There are generations of families involved in the sport, huge amounts of work happening behind the scenes, and a genuine sense of community. I think maintaining that, while continuing to grow and professionalise it, is something really special.
What are some of the things people might not realise about what goes into running a championship — from the AFJSA, officials and volunteers to the teams themselves?
I think people would be surprised by just how much work happens behind the scenes to get a championship round to a race weekend. For the AFJSA, there are months of planning that go into a single season, with future seasons and world championships being planned simultaneously — co-ordinating with venues, officials, competitors and sponsors, managing entries and changes in race-day schedules, promoting events and making sure everything is in place to deliver a safe, professional and really exciting championship.
Then you arrive at a race weekend and there is an incredible group of people working behind the scenes. Our officials and volunteers give up their time to keep events running safely and smoothly, often doing jobs that spectators would never even know are happening. We simply couldn’t go racing without them.
And then there are the teams themselves. What spectators see is a boat on the water for less than a minute at a time, but behind that run is countless hours in the shed, travelling huge distances around the country, maintaining and repairing boats, finding sponsors and, quite often, entire families pitching in to make it happen and attending these race weekends supporting (and feeding) our teams before, after and during qualifying and elimination rounds.
That’s probably one of my favourite things about the V8 Superboats — when you see a boat cross the finish line, you’re really seeing the work of whole community behind it. It takes a huge number of people who genuinely love this sport to make a championship happen, and to be part of that community makes me incredibly proud.
How excited are you to see the championship finally kick off at Elmore, and what are you most looking forward to about the event?
We are incredibly excited to kick off the new championship at Elmore! There has been so much work happening behind the scenes to get to this point, so there will be a real sense of pride and excitement for both the Elmore team and the AFJSA when that first boat hits the water. Elmore is particularly special because it’s a brand new venue for us and marks the return of V8 Superboats to Victoria. It gives us an opportunity to re-introduce the sport to a whole new crowd, and I honestly can’t wait to see people experience it for the first time.
