On the first weekend of March, a large number of NSW Maritime staff were out on Sydney Harbour involved with the patrolling and course set up of the Sydney Superboat Grand Prix test event.

A NSW Maritime Boating Officer on patrol Saturday morning responded to an emergency off Balls Head when a vessel capsized on the morning prior to the race polling event. The BSO retrieved an unconscious man and revived him. A second man in the boat died.

The vessel involved in the fatal incident was not an official entrant in the superboat event but had lodged an entry form which had yet to be accepted. An official investigation by race organisers is underway into the incident.

For the superboat test event, NSW Maritime declared it a Major and Special Event which was bounded by exclusion zones between the port hand beacon at Bennelong Point to Beulah Wharf at Kirribilli Point, and Chowder Head to Steele Point.

All non-competitors were required to keep to a speed of six knots or less and minimise wash when in the Special Event Area on both days.

NSW Maritime set more than 150 buoys to mark the race course - around Fort Denison to Shark Island. The authority coordinated a fleet of up to 30 patrol vessels and staff for the event.

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