Ken Warby
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n motorboat
Motorboat
A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...
racer, who currently holds the Water speed record
Water speed record
The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record of 511 km/h was achieved in 1978....
of 317.60 miles per hour (511.13 kilometres per hour). This was set in Blowering Dam
Blowering Dam
Blowering Dam is on the Tumut River in Australia. It is part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Associated with the dam is the Blowering Power Station....
, part of the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
, near Tumut, New South Wales
Tumut, New South Wales
Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...
, roughly 250 miles (400 km) south-south west of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, on 8 October 1978.
As a child, Warby's hero was Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell
Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE was a British speed record breaker who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s...
, who died attempting to break the record in 1967.
Warby designed the hull of his record-breaking boat, Spirit of Australia
Spirit of Australia
Spirit of Australia is a wooden speed boat built in a Sydney backyard, by Ken Warby, that broke and set the world water speed record on 8 October 1978.- The Record and Boat :...
, himself and built it in his backyard. He started the project as a Makita
Makita
Makita Corporation is a Japanese power tool company founded in 1915, and based in Anjō, Japan. Makita is a manufacturer of professional and consumer power tools, and operates factories in Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Romania, UK and USA. Annual turnover is equivalent to US$1.8 billion.-...
salesman who happened to team up with two Leading Aircraft Men at RAAF Base Richmond
RAAF Base Richmond
RAAF Base Richmond is one of Australia's oldest and largest air force bases. It is located within the City of Hawkesbury in the north-western fringe of Sydney, New South Wales, between the towns of Windsor and Richmond. The base is home to the Royal Australian Air Force's transport headquarters,...
in the early 1970s. Crandall and Cox were instrumental in installing and engineering the Westinghouse engine that was not in working order when first obtained. The Spirit was covered with a canvas tarpaulin when it rained and was made of wood and fibreglass. Warby was able to obtain the jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
himself as military surplus; obtained from an auction for only $69.
On 20 November 1977, he set the world water speed record of 288.60 mph (464.46 km/h), breaking the record of Lee Taylor by a little over 3 mph. With a subsequent 317.60 mph run, he became the first and only person to exceed 300 mph (482 km/h) on water and live to tell the tale; Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell
Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE was a British speed record breaker who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s...
died on his attempt after his hydroplane crashed at over 320 mph on his return run in his 1967 record attempt. Warby's record still stands, and the 300 mph barrier has never again been exceeded.
By 2003 Warby had designed and built another vessel, which he has called Aussie Spirit, and with which he planned to increase his own record. It is of similar dimensions to Spirit of Australia and also is powered by a Westinghouse J34
Westinghouse J34
-See also:-External links:* http://www.arkairmuseum.org/engines/engine-westinghouse.php* http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/j34.htm...
jet engine. The rudder alone on this new boat cost more than the $10,000 all-up cost of the original Spirit. Again, Warby designed, built, self financed and piloted his own boat.
In recent years, Warby has been associated with offshore power boat racing in the US with the AMF team. It was at such an event with AMF at Chattanooga, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
on 16 October 2007 that he officially ran his jetboat for the last time. On the 30th anniversary of the 1977 record, Warby announced his retirement from further record attempts.
Warby has commented "This date is the one that is most important to me as it was the realisation of a lifetime dream of holding the record for Australia. The 317.60 mph, though important, was only the icing on a wonderful cake. I intend to do some celebrating on that November 20th evening and have a toast to my departed team members, Prof Fink and Major Bob Apathy, who are sadly missed".