Thread: World Land & water speed Records

Now we have Ken Warby son, David Warby preparing to go for the World Water Speed Record

Spirit of Australia II is the new second generation, Outright Unlimited World Water Speed Record Challenger by Warby Motorsport, the boat has taken 5 years to complete. Designed by Ken Warby, Spirit of Australia II is an new & improved version of Ken’s World Record holding boat, the original Spirit of Australia, Ken & Dave analysed the information collected from Ken’s 2 world records in Spirit of Australia, then set about making small improvements in the hull design to ensure the new Spirit of Australia II would be a record breaker. The improvements made includes the boat being slightly longer, sponsons altered, balance ( CoG) powerplant change, rudder modifications and safety. Spirit of Australia II has close to 50% more power than the original boat, Powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus 803 Ex Italian Air Force Jet engines, removed from a Fiat Gina G-91 jet fighter. Construction of Spirit of Australia II was lead by Dave Warby, (an experienced boat builder & UIM & APBA accredited reinforced cockpit builder) along with the Warby Motorsport Team.
Safety has come along way since Ken drove Spirit of Australia in 1977 & 1978 to a World Record, in fact Ken didn’t have seat belts, Warby Motorsport believe the safest thing you can have is the right boat design, knowing what works & what doesn’t on water, Plus experience, you must understand what you are driving, as there are no second chances here, despite this, Spirit of Australia II does feature the latest in safety equipment, featuring a reinforced cockpit, 6 point harness ,HANS Device, the latest Lifeline on-board air system, GPS tracking system, two way radio system, 3 stage on-board fire extinguisher system. Spirit of Australia II also has an on-board flotation system.






Australia's David Warby hopes to break his father's 40-year world water speed record. All photos courtesy Warby Motorsport
Currently soliciting sponsors and promoting a crowd-funding campaign called Help Dave Smash His Old Man’s Record (check out the video promotion the campaign at right) to raise money for the attempt, the 50-year-old David Warby is confident he’s going to set a new record by the end of this year or early next year. He and an incredible team of volunteers have been testing the boat incrementally in anticipation of the attempt on the same waterway. In fact, David’s ambition is to shatter his father’s record with a speed of 560 kph, which is approximately 348 mph.
“Growing up as a kid, I watched my father build a boat in our backyard—not in a workshop—to take on the world and beat the world record not once, but twice,” said David Warby, who built Spirit of Australia II, a 28-foot jet-powered boat, with help from his father and many people who were involved with his father’s attempts four decades ago. “That’s my inspiration. I grew up around it all my life. I’ve raced and built my own boats, and my dad’s record is the holy grail of performance boating, in my opinion.
“For me, having the guy who did all this next to you is a blessing,” he continued. “Of course, being father and son, we give each other crap all the time, but we work well together and we really plan out what we’re doing. None of what we do is a knee-jerk reaction.”





The Spirit of Australia II boat features the latest and greatest in technology and safety equipment.
In support of the team’s bid, Warby Motorsport recently announced a partnership with Road Tech Marine. David Warby said the team is looking to engage partners with synergetic views, and that RTM, which is a specialist marine tech store that carries many of the parts and specialty equipment the team needs for the boat, was a natural fit. The local RTM store in Newcastle is frequented regularly by the team in its bid to ensure all safety measures are met and modifications can be made.

“It’s all about slowly building up the speeds and continuously testing the boat and her responses to our modifications as we push her faster,” said David Warby, who has tested the boat several times and has ran it faster than 200 mph. “RTM brings an extra level of expertise, trust and network to our team to ensure safety during speed trials.”
A relative newcomer to the marine and road enthusiast market, RTM was started in 2013 by Gary Johnston following the success of his JAYCAR specialist electronic stores.
“I watched intently when Ken Warby crucified Donald Campbell’s record back in ’77 and set the current world record in ’78,” Johnston said. “I am now delighted to come on board as a major sponsor with RTM. RTM specializes in providing solutions for all marine expedition and road-trip needs and we do mean all, having developed specialist solutions for the record attempt with Spirit of Australia II.”
David Warby also thanked longtime Warby Motorsport supporter John Haggin, who was instrumental in founding the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team.
“I feel like we have all the right things in place to put a record-breaker on the water,” David Warby said. “I know the boat is a lot safer than the one my dad drove. He didn’t even have a seat belt and we have a six-point harness, the latest and greatest safety capsule, better communications, not to mention a more powerful engine.”
Featuring a Rolls Royce Orpheus 803 ex-Italian Air Force jet engine, the boat seems positioned to break the Outright Unlimited World Water Speed Record, or at least bring the world’s attention to Australia for the historic attempt.
If it does happen, the boat is going to be displayed alongside the original Spirit of Australia at the national maritime museum for the entire world to see.

Donald Campbell killed in water speed record attempt – archive, 1967

5 January 1967: Campbell was trying to break his own record in the boat Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in Cumbria

Donald Campbell died yesterday while driving his jet-engined boat Bluebird on Coniston Water. He was 46.
The 12-year-old boat was making more than 300 m.p.h. when its nose lifted. Then it tipped over backwards and somersaulted 50 feet in the air and fell nose first. A curtain of spray rose. When it subsided Bluebird was gone.
Divers tried to recover Mr Campbell’s body from some 120 feet of water, but there was not enough equipment. Lifting tackle and submarine lighting will be available when attempts are resumed today. Only plastic buoyancy bags and the two sponsons which carried the knife edges on which Bluebird planed at high sped were brought back yesterday, and they lie now by the slipway from which the craft was launched.
Smooth water
Yesterday morning was clear, with ice around the lake and snow on the hills when Bluebird was launched at about 8.45. Mr Campbell, whose latest pursuit of the world water speed record has been troubled for nine weeks by weather and engine failure, gave the thumbs-up and started his first run on seemingly smooth water.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/th...n-archive-1967

Originally Posted by bobo746

Donald Campbell killed in water speed record attempt – archive, 1967



5 January 1967: Campbell was trying to break his own record in the boat Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in Cumbria

Donald Campbell died yesterday while driving his jet-engined boat Bluebird on Coniston Water. He was 46.
The 12-year-old boat was making more than 300 m.p.h. when its nose lifted. Then it tipped over backwards and somersaulted 50 feet in the air and fell nose first. A curtain of spray rose. When it subsided Bluebird was gone.
Divers tried to recover Mr Campbell’s body from some 120 feet of water, but there was not enough equipment. Lifting tackle and submarine lighting will be available when attempts are resumed today. Only plastic buoyancy bags and the two sponsons which carried the knife edges on which Bluebird planed at high sped were brought back yesterday, and they lie now by the slipway from which the craft was launched.
Smooth water
Yesterday morning was clear, with ice around the lake and snow on the hills when Bluebird was launched at about 8.45. Mr Campbell, whose latest pursuit of the world water speed record has been troubled for nine weeks by weather and engine failure, gave the thumbs-up and started his first run on seemingly smooth water.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/th...n-archive-1967

Donald Campbell was using a 12 year old boat,

Dave Warby has a new boat.

Ken Warby is the first man in history to break the 300 MPH & 500 KMH barriers with an average speed of 317.60 MPH, not bad for a boat build in a shoe string budget,built in the backyard.
Ken is also the first and only person in history to design, build and drive a boat to an unlimited water speed record.

bobo you have a story to post in here mate.

Originally Posted by bobo746

Donald Campbell killed in water speed record attempt – archive, 1967



5 January 1967: Campbell was trying to break his own record in the boat Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water in Cumbria

Donald Campbell died yesterday while driving his jet-engined boat Bluebird on Coniston Water. He was 46.
The 12-year-old boat was making more than 300 m.p.h. when its nose lifted. Then it tipped over backwards and somersaulted 50 feet in the air and fell nose first. A curtain of spray rose. When it subsided Bluebird was gone.
Divers tried to recover Mr Campbell’s body from some 120 feet of water, but there was not enough equipment. Lifting tackle and submarine lighting will be available when attempts are resumed today. Only plastic buoyancy bags and the two sponsons which carried the knife edges on which Bluebird planed at high sped were brought back yesterday, and they lie now by the slipway from which the craft was launched.
Smooth water
Yesterday morning was clear, with ice around the lake and snow on the hills when Bluebird was launched at about 8.45. Mr Campbell, whose latest pursuit of the world water speed record has been troubled for nine weeks by weather and engine failure, gave the thumbs-up and started his first run on seemingly smooth water.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/th...n-archive-1967

They didn't find Campbell's body until 2001, thirty four years later.

Originally Posted by kmart

They didn't find Campbell's body until 2001, thirty four years later.

And they recovered the boat, which recently ran again. I'm assuming that's what sparked this thread?

Although the bloke did say he has no intention of trying to run it a record speeds again, for obvious reasons.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ched-daughter/