Boating NZ

Invercargill amphibious boatbuilder StabiX has completed its first 250UCC, expanding the company’s 250 model range with a practical walkaround version of its 25-foot hull. Built for an owner upgrading from a StabiX 240UCC, the project was driven by their need for a larger boat while retaining the walkaround layout. The build highlights StabiX’s ability to develop custom solutions around the way individual owners use their boats.

Forty nations, new boats and a Wellington father-and-son crew line up at the second World Sailing Inclusion Championships, ahead of an expected decision on the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic programme. Racing starts today at the 2026 World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão, Portugal. World Sailing says 222 athletes from 40 nations are entered across nine medal events. The inaugural championships in Mussanah, Oman, last December drew 154 athletes across four classes.

It may surprise many boaties to learn that there is currently no reliable way to navigate underwater. GPS signals– and indeed almost all radio waves – are rapidly absorbed by water, leaving a compass and dead reckoning as the only practical navigation tools available to divers. So, when Suunto announced the Nautic dive computer, featuring built-in GPS, a digital compass and inertial navigation, it generated considerable excitement within the diving community.

Avikus, a leader in AI-powered marine navigation and docking solutions, is partnering with Vision Marine Technologies to test the integration of its NEUBOAT smart navigation platform with Vision Marine’s twin-motor E-Motion™ electric propulsion system. Using the STERK 31E electric boat as the test platform, the companies will evaluate how NEUBOAT’s perception, navigation and vessel-control capabilities work with Vision Marine’s propulsion, steering and helm-control systems.

Tim Porter (above) joins the NZ Marine Board as an independent member for the 2026-2027 year, and Richard Thorpe of TNL Pindar (below right) will sit on the board as NZ Marine Export Group board chair. They will join existing board members Tracey Stevenson, Jason Dickey, Blair Geldard, Denis Kendall and Tristram Fink, Tim Porter has been part of New Zealand’s marine industry for more than 30 years through his leadership of Boating New Zealand magazine.

Consistency pays off when the racing gets tight. Mauro Roversi’s J Curve proved that point decisively in Porto Cervo this week, clinching both the Italian J/70 Class Championship and the J/70 Cup after three days of racing in conditions ranging from light easterlies to a solid Scirocco at 13-15 knots.

Federico Pilloni came agonisingly close to claiming the iQFOiL Under-23 World Championship in Puck, Poland last weekend. The young Italian arrived at the final medal race holding the overall lead after winning twelve of twenty races in front of a 108-strong fleet, only to watch the title slip away on the final day. Leonardo Tomasini took gold, leaving Pilloni to settle for silver and the U23 vice-world-champion title.

New Zealand windfoiler Aimee Bright has capped a breakthrough international season in spectacular fashion, coming from behind to win the iQFOiL Under-23 World Championship in a dramatic Grand Final in Puck, Poland. The 20-year-old Manly Sailing Club rider overturned a deficit against Norway’s Maya Gysler at the final mark before holding on through the closing reaches to claim her first world title.

Victory Team dominated Sunday’s sprint races at Shanghai, with Alec Weckstrom and current World Champion Shaun Torrente posting commanding victories that have set them up perfectly ahead of tomorrow’s Grand Prix, the third round of the 2026 UIM Formula 1 powerboat championship season. Photo credit: Mike Magnin / F1H2O Weckstrom’s performance in Sprint Race 1 was a clinic in hydroplane racing.

Swedish driver Alec Weckstrom has secured his maiden pole position in F1H2O, claiming top spot on the Shanghai circuit ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix races in the third round of the UIM Formula 1 powerboat world championship. The Sharjah Team pilot delivered the performance of the qualifying sessions with a blistering 43.986-second lap, becoming the first driver all weekend to dip below the 44-second barrier on the tight Chinese course.