team history

This Tasmanian based powerboat team was established in 1970 by Bill Cleary, the son of a boat builder and occasional dingy racer.

After purchasing an outboard powered half cabin cruiser named Diana D in the late 1960's Bill started competing in express cruiser time trials and races conducted by the Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania on the Derwent River near Hobart, Tasmania.  

It was not long before Bill felt the need for more speed. In 1970 he purchased a Nipper Tunnel (naming it 'Juliet' after his well known Jewellery store - Juliet Jewellers) powered by a 80hp Mercury to compete in the 75ci (1250cc Sports) class against friends Alan McTye (Nip a Long) and Ralf King (Nipper Tunnel).

Bill raced 'Juliet' and then a later model Nipper Tunnel  'Juliet's Gem' with success at major events in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. He raced hard and on occasion flipped and crashed but, he won events like the Robert Richardson Memorial Trophy in Tasmania and the the 75ci class at the Eppalock Outboard Cup in Victoria.

Whilst he competed in numerous state and national titles often as the runner-up , a win in these events eluded Bill until he raced a new boat that he designed, named 'Omega' powered by a new 85hp Mercury.

'Omega' was completely different to the Nipper Tunnels that had dominated the 75ci class for years.

Bill won a couple of Tasmanian championships with the boat before ill heath prevented him competing again. He never had the opportunity to follow his dream of competing in the Unlimited Outboard class  as he lost his life after a long battle with cancer.

 

  ‘Crash' Mike, eldest son of Bill Cleary  started his racing career racing in his dad's Mercury powererd 20hp flat bottom skiff 'Juliet Junior' at venues in Victoria that did not require marine driver's licences as he was just 14 years old.   At the age of 16, Mike was one of the two Tasmanians to officially receive the first Junior powerboat racing licences in Australia from the Marine Board of Hobart.
 

From that moment forward he competed successfully for 35 years in classes from 20hp to Unlimited Outboard and Formula 1 during its most competitive era to date in Australia.
 

It was during his stint, driving for the Castrol and Wilson Freight Formula 1 team that he became known as ‘Crash’ after several high speed crashes, fortunately without injury.     

 ‘Crash’ Mike accumulated numerous Club, State and Australian Speed Records and Championships. He also won several feature events such as the Robert Richardson Memorial, Wayne Cross Memorial, East Coast Cup and King of the River races to name a few. 

He served for 21 years on Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania committee’s, many as Vice Commodore of the club heading the race committee. In addition he served several years on the National Australian Power Boat Association initially as the Tasmanian delegate and then as the Vice President for Outboards.   

For the past 40+ years, initially a part time contributor to the Tasmania’s leading Newspaper ‘The Mercury’ and other publications he has written thousands of boating columns and stories, many promoting the sport of powerboat racing. Until recently he was also acting as media officer for the AFPGP series.
 

‘Crash’ Mike has also been honoured with Life membership of the MYCT and recently been added to the small and elite group on the MYCT’s Powerboat Racing Hall of Fame – Honour Roll      

He now serves as Crew Chief of Diamond Racing.  

Scott Cleary started his racing career in 2006 at the age of 21 learning and refining his skills in a variety of craft from tunnel hulls to sports monos. 

In 2009 Scott took over the seat of his dad's F1 and raced with much success in Tasmania. Scott the entered the boat in a few rounds of the 2011/2012  Australian Formula 2 Powerboat Grand Prix Series conducted at various venues on the East Coast of mainland Australia.

The twenty one year old Formula 1 boat was no match for the newer and lighter craft built especially for the Formula 2 class, but it gave Scott and the team an insight into what was needed to achieve their goals.  

The team moved forward and acquired a proven USA winning Seebold hull. It hit the water for the first time at Round 1 of the 2012/2013 Australian Formula Grand Prix Series at Bundaberg. Scott won three straight races to take the lead in the Australian series until Round 3 where his boat was destroyed in a major two boat crash and flip.

Scott returned to club racing in Tasmania whilst the team worked on putting together another F2 boat. 

In 2015 the team acquired another Seebold hull which Scott developed over time and successfully won the 2016 Tasmanian Unlimited Powerboat Championship. 

In 2017 the team moved forward again and acquired a proven F2 Italian  DAC hull. At its Australian debut it proved to have great potential and at the final round of the season Scott drove it to its first race victory.

Scott is now planning on challenging for the upcoming 2018 Australian Formula Grand Prix Powerboat Series -  Formula 2 Championship.