DOWNLOAD PDF THE WORLD WATER SPEED RECORD

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1 Chapter 1 : List of vehicle speed records - Wikipedia The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record is km/h ( mph) - achieved by Australian Ken Warby in the Spirit of Australia in It is a feat that has not been matched since. Wildest dreams can come true It was October and grey, fluffy clouds hung in the sky over the murky waters of Blowering Dam. An excited carnival atmosphere pulsated from the muddy banks of the waterway as the crowd waited in nervous anticipation. Ken had already broken the world water speed record, but he was aiming to better his performance. Ken Warby is helping his son prepare for a tilt at the world record. The attention of the nation was captured as Ken daringly chased his dream of breaking the world water speed record. Others held their breath. Before long, word came through that Ken had successfully chased down his dream. He remained the world record holder, with an even bigger margin. In my wildest dreams I never thought that I would hold the record this long," Ken said. With the power that we had in the engine at that stage, it was pretty much a walk in the park, and the boat behaved perfectly. Ken had not wanted his son at Blowering Dam, in case something horrific happened during the record attempt. He was inspired by his dad, and was particularly in awe of his focus and determination. Building dreams in an old shed A lot has changed since that day in Ken and David have grown older and life has taken them on meandering paths. The Warby men are now putting the finishing touches on a power boat they have spent the past three years building in a cavernous, cold metal shed in Newcastle. Robert Virtue To attempt the record, the boat has to be in precise condition, and the weather has to be perfect. Ken has designed the new boat to meet modern safety regulations, but in many ways, it is not dissimilar to the vessel he chased glory in. The new boat looks similar, and at its back is a large jet engine that used to be in an Italian G. Despite the minefield of dangers, David is not letting the prospective perils play on his mind. Final preparations are being made to the boat before testing begins. Robert Virtue The Warby team are in the home stretch in their preparations for the record attempt. They have not yet set a date, but for Ken, the prospect of having his son break his own record is alluring. The record should never live forever. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Water speed record (fastest boat) Guinness World Records The official world water speed record is knots ( km./h, or mph) by Ken Warby in the unlimited-class jet-powered hydroplane Spirit of Australia on Blowering Dam Lake, New South Wales, Australia, on 8 October However, it is estimated that Warby reached an estimated knots ( km/h., or mph) unofficially at the same location on 20 November In, with Baldwin piloting their HD-4 hydrofoil, a new world water speed record of Increased public interest generated by the speeds achieved by Wood and others led to an official speed record being ratified in American success in setting records spurred Castrol Oil chairman Lord Wakefield to sponsor a project to bring the water record to Britain. Famed land speed record breaker and racing driver Sir Henry Segrave was hired to pilot a new boat called Miss England. Having set the record, Segrave set off on a third run to try to improve the record further. Unfortunately during the run, the boat struck an object in the water and capsized, with both Segrave and his co-driver receiving fatal injuries. Another racing driver, Kaye Don, was chosen as the new driver for However, during this time Gar Wood recaptured the record for the US at A month later on Lake Garda, Don fought back with In February, Wood responded, nudging the mark up by 1. The design was an evolution of the predecessor, with a squared-off stern and twin propellers being the main improvements. Don took the new boat to Loch Lomond in Scotland, on July 18,, improved the record first to Determined to have the last word over his great rival, Gar Wood built another new Miss America. Miss America X was 12 metres long, and was powered by four supercharged Packard aeroplane engines. On September 20,, Wood drove his new monster-boat to It would prove to be the end of an era. Wood also opted to scale-down his involvement in racing and returned to running his businesses. Somewhat ironically, both of the daredevil record-breakers would live to their 90s. Wood died in, and Kaye Don in In June, Malcolm Campbell, the world-famous land speed record breaker, drove Bluebird K3 to a new record of Compared to the massive Miss America X, K3 was a much more compact craft. Despite his success, Campbell was unsatisfied by the relatively small increase in speed. He commissioned a new Bluebird to be built. When the boat increases in speed, most of the hull lifts out of the water and runs on the three contact points. The downside is that the three-pointer is much less stable than the single keel boat. Page 2

3 Chapter 3 : Introduction â Quicksilver Roy Calley works for BBC Sport as a TV Producer. He is the author of Blackpool: The Complete Record (), Hunt for Glory (), Blackpool's FA Cup Final (), The Playboy and the Rat () and The World Water Speed Record (). The information below is for water-borne vessels traveling over open water. As such, it does not include records set by vehicles traveling on or over frozen lakes. Additionally, the records below do not distinguish between different recognized classes of the land speed record, such as top speed for a motorcycle These are average speeds over the given distance. Two figures are given, one for the speed measured over a kilometer long course, and one for a mile long course. Early records were not set according to clearly defined rules and thus some of them are controversial. The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. From to the record was an unofficial listing from the organisers of powerboat races. In the record category was officially established. From the rules of the record stipulated that a craft must make two runs over a timed kilometre course in opposite directions, with the record being the average speed of the two runs. Increased public interest generated by the speeds achieved by Wood and others led to an official speed record being ratified in American success in setting records spurred Castrol Oil chairman Lord Wakefield to sponsor a project to bring the water record to Britain. Famed land speed record breaker and racing driver Sir Henry Segrave was hired to pilot a new boat called Miss England. Having set the record, Segrave set off on a third run to try to improve the record further. Unfortunately during the run, the boat struck an object in the water and capsized, with both Segrave and his co-driver receiving fatal injuries. Another racing driver, Kaye Don, was chosen as the new driver for However, during this time Gar Wood recaptured the record for the US at A month later on Lake Garda, Don fought back with In February, Wood responded, nudging the mark up by one mph 1. The design was an evolution of the predecessor, with a squared-off stern and twin propellers being the main improvements. Don took the new boat to Loch Lomond in Scotland, on July 18,, improved the record first to Determined to have the last word over his great rival, Gar Wood built another new Miss America. Miss America X was 12 metres long, and was powered by four supercharged Packard aeroplane engines. On September 20,, Wood drove his new monster-boat to It would prove to be the end of an era. Wood also opted to scale-down his involvement in racing and returned to running his businesses. Somewhat ironically, both of the daredevil record-breakers would live to their 90s. Wood died in, and Kaye Don in In June, Malcolm Campbell, the world-famous land speed record breaker, drove Bluebird K3 to a new record of Compared to the massive Miss America X, K3 was a much more compact craft. Despite his success, Campbell was unsatisfied by the relatively small increase in speed. He commissioned a new Bluebird to be built. When the boat increases in speed, most of the hull lifts out of the water and runs on the three contact points. The downside is that the three-pointer is much less stable than the single keel boat. The return of peace in brought with it a new form of power for the record breaker â the jet engine. The experiment with jet-power was not a success and Campbell retired from record-attempts. He died in In, Sayres drove Sho-Mo-Shun to However, the K4 was completely out-classed and Campbell could not run at the speeds of the Seattle-built boat. In K4 was written-off when it hit a submerged object on Coniston. At this time, yet another land speed driver entered the fray. Cobb was rescued from the water but died of shock soon afterward. Two years later, on October 8,, another man would die trying for the record. Italian textile magnate Mario Verga, responding to a prize offer of 5 million lire from the Italian Motorboat Federation to any Italian who break the world record, built a sleek piston-engined hydroplane to claim the record. Like Cobb, he died of shock. Meanwhile, Donald Campbell had been working on a new Bluebird - K7, a jet powered hydroplane. The craft was almost too stable: After modifications, Campbell set a new record of Campbell and K7 would hold the record until June, increasing it His first run across the lake was relatively untroubled. Minutes later he was dead. Lee Taylor, a Californian boat racer, had first tried for the record in April His boat Hustler was similar in design to Bluebird K7, being a jet hydroplane. During a test run on Lake Havasu Taylor was unable to shut down the jet and crashed into the lakeside at over mph. Hustler was wrecked and Taylor was severely injured. He spent the following years recuperating, and rebuilding his boat. Page 3

4 He tried again later the same day and succeeded in setting a new record of Warby, who had built the craft in his back yard, used the publicity to find sponsorship to pay for improvements to the Spirit. There have only been two official attempts to break it. Lee Taylor tried to get the record back in Originally Taylor tested the boat on Walker Lake in Nevada but his backers demanded a more accessible location, so Taylor switched to Lake Tahoe. An attempt was set for November 13,, but when conditions on the lake proved unfavourable, Taylor decided against trying for the record. Not wanting to disappoint the assembled spectators and media, he decided to do a test run instead. Despite the high fatality rate, the record is still coveted by boat enthusiasts and racers. Currently there are three major projects aiming for the record. The British Quicksilver, The American Challenge project, and spurred into action by the new challengers, Ken Warby has also built a new boat. Page 4

5 Chapter 4 : THE ABSOLUTE WORLD WATER SPEED RECORD HISTORY TO SPEED ACES CHRONO Great story on the world water speed record, set in by Australian Ken Warby. Has great information on Donald Campbell and others. Amazing that this speed record still stands. In, with Baldwin piloting their HD-4 hydrofoil, a new world water speed record of American success in setting records spurred Castrol Oil chairman Lord Wakefield to sponsor a project to bring the water record to Britain. Famed land speed racer and racing driver Sir Henry Segrave was hired to pilot a new boat, Miss England. Having set the record, Segrave set off on a third run to try to improve the record further. Unfortunately during the run, the boat struck an object in the water and capsized, with both Segrave and his co-driver receiving fatal injuries. Kaye Don was chosen as the new driver for However, during this time, Gar Wood recaptured the record for the U. A month later on Lake Garda, Don got the record back with In February, Wood responded, nudging the mark to The design was an evolution of the predecessor, with a squared-off stern and twin propellers being the main improvements. Don took the new boat to Loch Lomond, Scotland, on 18 July, improved the record first to It would prove the end of an era. Wood also opted to scale down his involvement in racing and returned to running his businesses. Somewhat ironically, both record-breakers lived into their 90s. Wood died in, Don in In June Malcolm Campbell, the world-famous land speed record breaker, drove Blue Bird K3 to a new record of Compared to the massive Miss America X, K3 was a much more compact craft. Despite his success, Campbell was unsatisfied by the relatively small increase in speed. He commissioned a new Blue Bird to be built. When the boat increases in speed, most of the hull lifts out of the water and runs on the three contact points. The downside is that the three-pointer is much less stable than the single keel boat. The experiment with jet-power was not a success and Campbell retired from record-attempts. He died in In, Sayres drove Slo-Mo-Shun to However, Blue Bird K4 was by now 12 years old, with a year-old engine, and Campbell struggled to reach the speeds of the Seattle-built boat. At this time, yet another land speed driver entered the fray. Cobb was retrieved from the water but had already died of shock. Two years later, on 8 October, another man would die trying for the record. Like Cobb, he died of shock. She was designed by Ken and Lewis Norris in and was completed in early K7 was of all-metal construction and proved to have extremely high rigidity. Campbell and K7 set a new record of Campbell and K7 went on to break the record a further six times over the next nine years in the USA and England Coniston Water, finally increasing it to Campbell thus became the most prolific water speed record breaker of all time. I [6] at This record was set at Guntersville, Alabama in by Roy Duby and stood for 38 years. On 4 January he tried again. His first run averaged Rather than waiting for the lake to settle again before starting the mandatory return leg, Campbell immediately turned around at the end of the lake and began his return run. The boat took off, somersaulted and then plunged nose-first into the lake, breaking up as she cartwheeled across the surface. Campbell was killed instantly. Campbell was buried in the churchyard at Coniston on 12 September Hustler was wrecked and Taylor was severely injured. He spent the following years recuperating, and rebuilding his boat. That day Ken Warby became the first Australian holder when he piloted his Spirit of Australia to Warby, who had built the craft in his back yard, used the publicity to find sponsorship to pay for improvements to the Spirit. There have only been two official attempts to break it, both resulting in the death of the driver. Originally Taylor tested the boat on Walker Lake in Nevada but his backers demanded a more accessible location, so Taylor switched to Lake Tahoe. An attempt was set for 13 November, but when conditions on the lake proved unfavourable, Taylor decided against trying for the record. Not wanting to disappoint the assembled spectators and media, he decided to do a test run instead. It has been speculated that it may have hit a swell. The cockpit had not floated as intended and Taylor drowned as a result. Current projects[ edit ] Despite the high fatality rate, the record is still coveted by boat enthusiasts and racers. While a number of projects aiming for the record have been started, currently just those below appear to be active: The design is of modular construction with the main body consisting of a front section with a steel spaceframe incorporating the engine, a Rolls-Royce Spey Mk. The front sponsons are also modules, one of which contains the driver. A test on Loch Ken, in south-west Scotland, in October was also unsuccessful; although the boat Page 5

6 did not sink, it was again unable to plane. The boat was planned to be tested during However, after finishing building the boat he died of cancer in before he managed to trial the craft. Chapter 5 : Unseen Donald Campbell speed record footage restored - BBC News The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record of km/h ( mph) was achieved in The current record of km/h ( mph) was achieved in Chapter 6 : NIGEL MACKNIGHT QUICKSILVER Steam-powered, propeller driven: Internal combustion engine, propeller-driven: Jet engine, not propeller-driven. Chapter 7 : Ken Warby - Wikipedia Ken Warby & The World Water Speed Record. On the 8th of October, Ken Warby broke his second and current world water speed record at a speed of MPH. Becoming the first man in history to break the MPH & KMH barriers. Chapter 8 : WORLD WATER SPEED RECORDS BOATS ACES LAKES OPEN SEAWATER The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. From to the record was an unofficial listing from the organisers of powerboat races. Chapter 9 : Record Attempt - Warby Motorsport No matter what the water conditions, miles per hour is seriously dangerous -- much more so than the same speed on land, where the current record is mph. Boats running at record speeds. Page 6

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions Improving recreational boating safety Who will be most affected by these reforms? The primary focus of the reforms is the estimated 676 000 recreational marine licence holders