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 (317 mph) was achieved in 1978.
With an approximate fatality rate of 85% since 1940, the record is one of the sporting world's most hazardous competitions.
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Until 1911, the world water speed records were held by steam-powered, propeller-driven vehicles,[1] including Nathanael Herreshoff's Stiletto (1885, 26.2 mph),[1] William B. Cogswell's Feiseen (1893, 31.6 mph),[2] Charles Algernon Parsons' Turbinia (1897, 39.1 mph),[1] and Charles R. Flint's Arrow (1903, 45.06 mph).[1]
In 1911, a 40-foot stepped planing hull, Dixie IV, designed by Clinton Crane, became the first gasoline powered vessel to break the water speed record. Beginning in 1908, Alexander Graham Bell and engineer Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began experimenting with powered watercraft. In 1919, with Baldwin piloting their HD-4 hydrofoil, a new world water speed record of 70.86 mph (114.04 km/h) was set on Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia.
During the 1920s powerboat racing was dominated by American businessman and racer Gar Wood, whose Miss America boats were capable of speeds approaching 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph). Increased public interest generated by the speeds achieved by Wood and others led to an official speed record being ratified in 1928. The first person to try a record attempt was Gar Wood's brother George. On 4 September 1928 he drove Miss America VII to 149.40 km/h (92.83 mph) on the Detroit River. The next year Gar Wood took the same boat up a waterway Indian Creek, Miami and reached 149.86 km/h (93.12 mph).
Like the land speed record, the water record was destined to become a scrap for national honour between Britain and the USA. 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. Although the boat wasn’t capable of beating Gar Wood's Miss America,[3] the British team did gain experience, which was put into an improved boat. Miss England II was powered by two Rolls-Royce aircraft engines and seemed capable of beating Wood's record.
On June 13, 1930, Segrave piloted Miss England II to a new record of 158.94 km/h (98.76 mph) average speed during two runs on Windermere, in Britain's Lake District. 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.
Following Segrave's death, Miss England II was salvaged and repaired. Another racing driver, Kaye Don, was chosen as the new driver for 1931. However, during this time Gar Wood recaptured the record for the US at 164.41 km/h (102.16 mph). A month later on Lake Garda, Don fought back with 177.387 km/h (110.223 mph). In February 1932, Wood responded, nudging the mark up by 1.6 km/h (1 mph).
In response to the continued American challenge, the British team built a new boat, Miss England III. 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 July 18, 1932, improved the record first to 188.985 km/h (117.430 mph), and then to 192.816 km/h (119.810 mph) on a second run.
Determined to have the last word over his great rival, Gar Wood built another new Miss America. Miss America X was 12 metres long, powered by four supercharged Packard aeroplane engines. On September 20, 1932, Wood drove his new boat to 200.943 km/h (124.860 mph). It would prove the end of an era. Don declined to attempt any further records, and Miss England III went to a museum. 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 1971, Don in 1985.
Wood's last record would be one of the final records for a conventional, single-keel boat. In June 1937, Malcolm Campbell, the world-famous land speed record breaker, drove Blue Bird K3 to a new record of 203.31 km/h (126.33 mph) at Lake Maggiore. Compared to the massive Miss America X, K3 was a much more compact craft. It was 5 metres shorter and had one engine to X's four. Despite his success, Campbell was unsatisfied by the relatively small increase in speed. He commissioned a new Blue Bird to be built. K4 was a ‘three pointer’ hydroplane. Unlike conventional powerboats, which have a single keel, with an indent, or ‘step’, cut from the bottom to reduce drag, a hydroplane has a concave base with two floats fitted to the front, and a third point at the rear of the hull. When the boat increases in speed, most of the hull lifts out of the water and runs on the three contact points. The positive effect is a reduction in drag and an increase in power-to-weight ratio - the boat is lighter as it doesn’t need many engines to push it along. The downside is that the three-pointer is much less stable than the single keel boat. If the hydroplane's angle of attack is upset at speed, the craft can somersault into the air, or nose-dive into the water.
Campbell's new boat was a success. In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, he took it to Coniston Water and increased his record by 18 km/h (11 mph), to 228.11 km/h (141.74 mph). The return of peace in 1945 brought with it a new form of power for the record breaker – the jet engine. Campbell immediately renovated Blue Bird K4 with a De Havilland Goblin jet engine. The result was a curious-looking craft, whose shoe-like profile led to it being nicknamed ‘The Coniston Slipper’. The experiment with jet-power was not a success and Campbell retired from record-attempts. He died in 1948.
Early in the morning of June 26, 1950, a small red boat skipped across Lake Washington, near Seattle, and improved on Campbell's record by 29 km/h (18 mph). The boat was called Slo-Mo-Shun IV, and it was built by Seattle Chrysler dealer Stanley Sayres. The piston-engined boat was able to run at 160 mph (260 km/h) because its hull was designed to lift the top of the propellers out of water when running at high speed. This phenomenon, called ‘prop riding’, further reduced drag.
In 1952, Sayres drove Slo-Mo-Shun to 287.25 km/h (178.49 mph) - a further 29 km/h (18 mph) increase. The renewed American success persuaded Malcolm Campbell's son Donald, who had already driven Bluebird K4 to within sight of his father's record, to make a further push for the record. However, the K4 was by now 12 years old, with a 20 year old engine and Campbell struggled to run at the speeds of the Seattle-built boat. In late 1951 K4 was written-off when it suffered a structural failure at 170 mph (270 km/h) on Coniston Water.
At this time, yet another land speed driver entered the fray. Englishman John Cobb, was hoping to beat 320 km/h (200 mph) in his jet-powered Crusader. A radical design, the Crusader reversed the ‘three-pointer’ design, placing the floats at the rear of the hull. On September 29, 1952, Cobb tried for a 320 km/h (200 mph) record on Loch Ness. Travelling at an estimated speed of 210 mph (340 km/h), Crusader's front plane collapsed and the craft instantly disintegrated. Cobb was retrieved from the water but had already died of shock.
Two years later, on October 8, 1954, another man would die trying for the record. Italian textile magnates Mario Verga and Francesco Vitetta, responding to a prize offer of 5 million lire from the Italian Motorboat Federation to any Italian who broke the world record, built a sleek piston-engined hydroplane to claim the record. Named Laura III, after Verga's daughter, the boat was fast but unstable. Travelling across Lake Iseo, in Northern Italy, at close to 306 km/h (190 mph), Verga lost control of Laura III, and was thrown out into the water when the boat somersaulted. Like Cobb, he died of shock.
Following Cobb's death, Donald Campbell started working on a new Bluebird - K7, a jet-powered hydroplane. Learning the many lessons from Cobb's ill-starred Crusader, K7 was designed as a classic 3 pointer with sponsons forward alongside the cockpit.
The 26 ft (7.9 m) long, 10 ft (3 m) wide, 5 ft (2 m) high, 2.5 ton craft was designed by Ken and Lewis Norris in 1953-54 and was completed in early 1955. It was powered by a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl turbojet of 3500 lbf (16 kN) thrust. K7 was of all metal construction and proved to have extremely high rigidity.
Campbell and K7 set a new record of 325.60 km/h (202.32 mph) on Ullswater in July 1955. 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 444.71 km/h (276.33 mph) at Lake Dumbleyung in Western Australia in 1964. Donald Campbell thus became the most prolific water speed record breaker of all time.
It must be noted at this time that the world speed record (200.42 mph) for piston-powered propeller-driven boats was held by the Miss U.S. I owned by George Simon. This record was set at Guntersville, Alabama in 1962 by Roy Duby. This record stood for 38 years.
Donald Campbell arrived back at Coniston Water, scene of previous triumphs, in November 1966. Bluebird K7 had been re-engined with a Bristol Siddeley Orpheus jet rated at 4500 lbf (20 kN) thrust. His stated aim was to bump the record out of reach of the Americans, and push it beyond 300 mph (480 km/h). The new attempt suffered many setbacks, both mechanical and weather-related, and by the end of 1966, Campbell's existing 276 mph (444 km/h) record was still not broken. By the morning of January 4, 1967, mechanical problems with Bluebird had been solved and as the day dawned still, conditions seemed perfect.
Bluebird K7 was over a decade old, and an American called Lee Taylor was threatening the record with a new boat, Hustler. The patriotic Campbell desperately wanted a Briton to be the first to break 480 km/h (300 mph). His first run across the lake gave the appearance of being untroubled and was fast. K7 averaged 475.2 km/h (297.6 mph). A new record seemed in sight. Campbell applied K7's water brake to slow the craft down from her peak speed of 315 mph (507 km/h) as well clear of the measured kilometre and at a speed of approx. 220 mph. The wake caused by the water brake was very large from travelling at such high speeds, so Campbell had a choice to refuel and wait, before starting the mandatory return leg, for the lake to settle again or return quickly knowing that although the area where the water brake had been applied would be rough, the area immediately south of the measured kilo as well as the measured kilo itself would be undisturbed. Campbell immediately turned around at the end of the lake and began his return run. Bluebird came back on her return even faster. At around 512 km/h (320 mph), just as she entered the measured kilometre, Bluebird began to lose stability due to her unprecedented speed, far in excess of anything that had been achieved previously in her long career. Finally, 400 m before the end of the kilometre, Bluebird's nose lifted beyond its critical pitch angle and she started to rise out of the water at a 45 degree angle. 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. Prolonged searches over the next two weeks located the wreck, but it was not until May 2001 that Campbell's body was finally located and recovered. Campbell was laid to rest in the churchyard at Coniston on 12 September 2001.
Lee Taylor, a Californian boat racer, had first tried for the record in April 1964. 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 100 mph (200 km/h). Hustler was wrecked and Taylor was severely injured. He spent the following years recuperating, and rebuilding his boat. On June 30, 1967, on Lake Guntersville, Taylor and Hustler tried for the record, but the wake of some spectators' boats disturbed the water, forcing Taylor to slow down his second run, and he came up 3.2 km/h (2 mph) short. He tried again later the same day and succeeded in setting a new record of 459 km/h (286.875 mph).
Until November 20, 1977, every official water speed record had been set by an American or Briton. That day Australian Ken Warby broke the Anglo-American domination when he piloted his Spirit of Australia to 464.46 km/h (288.60 mph)[4] to beat Lee Taylor's record. Warby, who had built the craft in his back yard, used the publicity to find sponsorship to pay for improvements to the Spirit. On October 8, 1978 Warby travelled to Blowering Dam, Australia, and broke both the 480 km/h (300 mph) and 500 km/h barriers with an average speed of 511.12 km/h (317.6 mph).
Warby's record still stands today, and there have only been two official attempts to break it (although Campbell's attempt discussed in the previous section would have exceeded the value, it resulted in his death).
Lee Taylor tried to get the record back in 1980. Inspired by the land speed record cars Blue Flame and Budweiser Rocket, Taylor built a rocket-powered boat, Discovery II. The 40-foot (12 m) long craft was a reverse three-point design, similar to John Cobb's Crusader, albeit of much greater length.
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, 1980, 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. At 432 km/h (270 mph) Discovery II hit a swell and one of the floats collapsed, sending the boat plunging into the water. The cockpit section with Taylor's body was recovered three days later.
In 1989, Craig Arfons, nephew of famed record breaker Art Arfons, tried for the record in his all-composite fiberglass/Kevlar Rain X Challenger, but died when the hydroplane somersaulted at 483 km/h (301.875 mph).
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 [1] project is managed by Nigel Macknight. The design was initially based on concepts for a rear-sponsoned configuration by Ken Norris, who had worked with the Campbells on their 'Bluebird' designs. As the project progressed it became clear that a different concept would be required. Ken Norris left the Quicksilver project and the design of the boat changed to the final front-sponsoned configuration in order to assure proper static and low-speed buoyancy and high-speed stability. Nigel Macknight has emphasised that though the design was changed significantly much of Ken Norris's design remains.
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.101, and the rear section a monocoque extending to the tail. The front sponsons are also modules, one of which contains the driver.
In March 2009 Nigel Macknight, Managing Director of the Quicksilver company and pilot of the boat, was declared personally bankrupt and had to step down because it disqualified him from holding any company directorships [2]. At the same time the UK's Companies House issued a proposal to strike-off Quicksilver (WSR) from its register [3]. The Quicksilver WSR Ltd company was struck off on 1st Sept 2009 but the company appears to have come back as QWSR Ltd. Companies house return shows the company have very little in assets. One Director and a Company Sec
Current work includes sample testing of bonded structures to aid design of the horizontal struts that attach the sponsons to the main hull. This includes conducting test cycles with the samples fully submerged underwater.
The current plan is to fit the rear hull section (stern module) followed by both sponsons in preparation for the first trials on water. In this initial waterborne form, the craft will be known as Quicksilver Dash 1 and speeds will be limited to 200 mph.
The American Challenge project [4], has been spurred into action by the new challengers. The American Challenge project is a consortium of businessmen, engineers, and motor-sport professionals focused on returning the World Water Speed Record to the United States. The pilot, Russ Wicks, has committed to bringing the World Water Speed Record back to the United States. Russ Wicks is currently known as the "Fastest American on Water" and holds the world record for the fastest propellor driven boat.
Ken Warby has built a successor to the Spirit of Australia [5]. The new boat, Aussie Spirit, is of similar dimensions to Spirit of Australia and is powered by a Westinghouse J34 jet engine.
In 2001, Bluebird K7 was raised from Coniston Water by members of the Bluebird Project.[5]
| mph | km/h | Craft | Pilot(s) | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70.86 | 114.04 | Hydrodome IV | Casey Baldwin | Bras d'Or Lake | 19 September 1919 |
| 74.870 | 120.492 | Miss America | Gar Wood | Detroit River | 15 September 1920 |
| 80.567 | 129.660 | Miss America II | Gar Wood | Detroit River | 6 September 1921 |
| 87.392 | 140.644 | Farman Hydroglider | Jules Fisher | River Seine | 10 November 1924 |
| 92.838 | 149.409 | Miss America II | George Wood | Detroit River | 4 September 1928 |
| 93.123 | 149.867 | Miss America VII | Gar Wood | Indian Creek | 23 March 1929 |
| 98.760 | 158.938 | Miss England II | Henry Segrave | Windermere | 13 June 1930 |
| 102.256 | 164.565 | Miss America IX | Gar Wood | Indian Creek | 20 March 1931 |
| 103.49 | 166.55 | Miss England II | Kaye Don | Paraná River | 15 April 1931 |
| 110.223 | 177.387 | Miss England II | Kaye Don | Lake Garda | 31 July 1931 |
| 111.712 | 179.783 | Miss America IX | Gar Wood | Indian Creek | 5 February 1932 |
| 117 | 189 | Miss England III | Kaye Don | Loch Lomond | 18 July 1932 |
| 119.81 | 192.82 | Miss England III | Kaye Don | Loch Lomond | 18 July 1932 |
| 124.86 | 200.94 | Miss America X | Gar Wood | St. Clair River | 20 September 1932 |
| 126.32 | 203.29 | Bluebird K3 | Malcolm Campbell | Lake Maggiore | 1 September 1937 |
| 129.50 | 208.41 | Bluebird K3 | Malcolm Campbell | Lake Maggiore | 2 September 1937 |
| 130.91 | 210.66 | Bluebird K3 | Malcolm Campbell | Hallwilersee | 17 September 1938 |
| 141.74 | 228.11 | Bluebird K4 | Malcolm Campbell | Coniston Water | 19 August 1939 |
| 160.323 | 258.015 | Slo-Mo-Shun IV | Stanley Sayres, Ted O. Jones | Lake Washington | 26 June 1950 |
| 178.497 | 287.263 | Slo-Mo-Shun IV | Stanley Sayres, Elmer Leninschmidt | Lake Washington | 7 July 1952 |
| 202.32 | 325.60 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Ullswater | 23 July 1955 |
| 216.20 | 347.94 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Lake Mead | 16 November 1955 |
| 225.63 | 363.12 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Coniston Water | 19 September 1956 |
| 239.07 | 384.75 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Coniston Water | 7 November 1957 |
| 248.62 | 400.12 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Coniston Water | 10 November 1958 |
| 260.35 | 418.99 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Coniston Water | 14 May 1959 |
| 276.33 | 444.71 | Bluebird K7 | Donald Campbell | Lake Dumbleyung | 31 December 1964 |
| 285.22 | 459.02 | Hustler | Lee Taylor | Lake Guntersville | 30 June 1967 |
| 288.60 | 464.46 | Spirit of Australia | Ken Warby | Blowering Dam | 20 November 1977 |
| 317.596 | 511.13 | Spirit of Australia | Ken Warby | Blowering Dam | 8 October 1978 |
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