An excellent and accurate history of the World Water Speed Record. As of April 2014, Ken Warby's record is almost 36 years old with no serious challengers. Probably the most underrated achievement in racing history.
Hardly Anyone seems to realise that the odd looking dart shared white boat just inside the foyer of the Sydney maritime museum is STILL the fastest ever water craft in the world.
I don't think there will be serious challengers. Too expensive for zero return and I doubt today's billionaires want to die soggy. Tech since then would help though. They're much more aircraft than vehicles. All those boats were mechanical or simple analogue circuitry. Since then all fighter aircraft have low stability fly by wire, without the computer correcting the pilots inputs it'll fall out the sky. I'm up for it, I'll sit in the soggy (Martin-Baker mk18 zero-zero ejection) seat. I can probably write the avionics too. Can't be avionics. Aquavonics? Who's with me!? 🤔🤓
Warbys record is even more amazing when it's remembered he built the boat himself in his own backyard compared to his competitors who had access to much more technology and resources. Currently Warby is assisting his son to prepare for an attempt on his own record. The man deserves far more recognition than he has received.
Daamnnn.. Ken Warby has balls of steel. When they talk about the man of steel many people think of superman, when I hear it I will always think of Ken Warby..
And the only one that succeeded and survived was on a boat with and obvious and gigantic airplane-like stabilizer tail on top....wonder why all the others, even after him, didn't learn the lesson and kept building long flat things without one which inevitably caught air under them and were lifted up and crashed... To me it's pretty clear that you need a stabilizer, possibly with a balanced downforce, to prevent the hull from gliding loosely on the bumpy water surface and catching air under it...probably the best would be to have a fromt stabilizer wing too just like Formula cars.
back around 2000 he was learning to fly at the airport I worked at. I got the chance to meet him and talked to him on several occasions. One day he showed up with his new boat with which he hoped to break his record in the following year. I jokingly asked him if he would pull skiers with it, He laughed and said if I got the balls to ski behind it he would do it. That boat was awesome it was powered by an engine used in the F 16 with full afterburner. I remember him laughing about the military was wanting to know how and where he got it. I never did hear if he broke it or not guess I could look that up.
I'm surprised there's no comments saying that Arfons boat needed to have a wing. We've all had the experience where the wind nearly lifts you off your feet - you need to have some wind stability. Wind is like a brick wall at 70 or 80, I can't imagine it at 300
There are comments about the instability of the boat and one informed one about chine walking (although obviously wrong since there are no chines :-)), it this case it is walking the front hydroplanes as they hit disturbances in the water shifting the contact area from side to side. On the fastest runs, it appears that both front planes are intermittently off the water. I was told (many years ago) that in the quest to increase the speed Warby progressively reduced the rudder area as this was considered the highest water drag. At the time of the record, the rudder area was considered dangerously small so even lateral stability could have easily led to disaster, it would not have taken much yaw. It is going to be difficult for anyone to break the record, it requires so much good luck (or lack of bad luck). There is also some comment about momentary maximum speeds, there are reasons why the speed records have the distance and direction rules, instantaneous speeds are much easier and safer than sustained multiple runs (bloody obvious!). Much the same as getting massive power out of engines for seconds compared to minutes or hours. I like the comment at 5.23 about Ken scoring a duck, probably went over the heads of the non-cricketing population. Overall a nice change for RUclips, a concise, accurate video actually showing only video that is germane to what is being said.
Initially, Warby was struggling to hit WR speeds. He initially tried fitting an afterburner to the J-34 but could never get it to work. Warby instead reduced the length of the rudder by 2.5 inches. This reduced both drag and stability, as the rudder also produced a bending moment about the nose to keep it from lifting up at speed
@@ccx806 Yes, although my memory (very fallible these days so very possibly wrong) was that he changed the depth, this would have a greater effect on drag than length, perhaps both were changed. Change in depth should have had a smaller effect on stability compared to drag, but and a big but, would also have exposed the boat to a much greater risk should there have been any significant change in pitch of the boat (porpoising, etc.). I remember reading that he changed the rudder despite serious warnings not to do so from the (one would think marine, hydrodynamic?) engineer who was advising him - I have not been able to verify this. He knew the fate of his predecessors when they pushed the boundaries, so, as has already been stated by others, made of steel! I have not heard anything about Warby's son's effort for some time, as he knows the fate of those who tried before his father as well as those who have followed, perhaps rational thought has prevailed.
They knew that driving those boats had an extremely high chance of killing them but did it anyway?! Wow, mad props, these are the type of people responsible for paving the way of innovation and discovery of what humans are capable of!
Pretty amazing what he did and on a shoestring budget. The engine for this boat wasn't very big. As I remember it was an old Westinghouse J-34 which maxed out at about 6,000 lb thrust. The lesson possibly being that the others have concentrated a bit too much on outright power at the expense of balance...?
Frank de Ruiter is absolutely correct. It's to cancel out the effects of wind or any other advantage. It applies to the land speed record as well where a slight slope could be advantageous in one direction. Both runs must be within one hour of each other. The rule works as you will notice that with the exact same power settings the two runs will differ from each other and the rule is fair because it applies to all attempts by all competitors which makes for a level playing field.
Because those are the rules of the competition. The drivers know this and they work within those rules. The last time someone tried to achieve a peak speed was a joke - the Budweiser Rocket at about the same time as Warby’s record and with none of the credibility.
...just read an old news article (from last year 2016) that Kens son David Warby has built a boat and wants to break his fathers record....testing runs are scheduled....when and where there will be an attempt i have no idea...indeed Ken Warby's Water Speed Record has stood for nearly 40 years ... absolutely unbelievable when you think about it, that his record has stood for so long.
R.I.P Ken Warby, I am glad you followed your dreams to get the speed record and I hope you and Donald Campbells who inspired you, legacy live on in these records
Warby was once quoted as saying he thinks its possible to go supersonic on water. I agree with him and have since I ws a kid who grew up around (very) fast boats and cars. Before I'd even heard of Ken Warby.
the great Ken Warby! An Englishman named John Riding put a project together in the '90's using a Rolls Royce Adour engine and the boat was designed by the man who was behind Virgin Atlantic 2, the blue ribband holder, but sadly someone at R-R got cold feet about the loan of the engine due to risk!! At the time you couldn't buy a second hand one, sadly but with up to 8000ilb thrust it would have been capable of taking the WWSR.
I met Ken Warby in 1999 in New Martinsville, WV at a boat race. At the time he was talking about a new boat with his son driving. They sent it out for paint this February...this is going to happen.
Irony has nothing to do with coincidence, it deals with opposites. It he would be called SeaBirth that would be ironic. Not trying to sound smart just saying that irony is a complete opposite of a coincidence.
Nope, don't know what you mean, even with your crap spelling. Segrave didn't drown, he died due to his lung being pierced by a broken rib sustained during a devasting crash. He has no grave, after his body was cremated his ashes were scattered over the playing fields of Eton school. Finally, he died on WIndermere, a freshwater lake, not a sea. Not ironic, but you are MORONIC.
john connor is that when the T2 comes back in time to kill you? Can i buy a ticket to watch? (Unless its a pay per view like mayweather macgregor prices)
I am sure it will , unless Ken’s son decides that spirit 2 , himself & the time is right to have a crack , if he is successful , I am sure he will look to the heavens & thank his father for all the insight he provided over decades .
I hope its beaten by the UK with Quicksilver . I think Ken wanted his record broken so his son could get it back hopefully. I think he was waiting for this to happen ,unfortunately it didnt happened. RIP Mr Warby.
@@stevenwade7466 I know nothing about records. But I know that what started as a 45 lbs crossbow pistol in the early 90s or late 80s became a 103 lbs draw weight monster by about 2004. I've stuck ice bolts into half inch pine boards
There are teams from the UK & USA seeking to break this record. Ol' Ken is also said to be in the mix for a new crack at it. This record will fall within the next decade. No hollywood producers involved.....that I know of.
Ken just built a hull with the sweet spot to get to that speed. Lift will flip it, and ground effect can plough it into the water. The added problem fluid surface is flexible.
The boat has to be aerodynamically stable on or off the water, otherwise it wants to fly backwards. Look at "Spirit of Australia", bouncing around madly at over 300 mph, but keeping a straight line!
Yea haha, these boats want to be planes when they're going this fast. The only thing holding them down is gravity and weight since there's no downforce. Just put a stabilizer on it and some small wings to direct it back down!
They created a huge amount of downforce. The Spirit of Australia had a wing on the rear but most came from the body which produced downforce much like an prototype sports car like the 917 or an F1 car of the late 70s.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan Very unlikely. Huge amounts of downforce would have mushed the hull down into the water and that could have been every bit as catastrophic as flying. It would certainly make it very much slower. Spirit of Australia had three very small metal plates on which the boat road at maximum speed. That massively reduced the surface area, to the point that the biggest thing in the water was the rudder. The problem is that the boat’s aerodynamic condition is constantly changing, due to variations in pitch and roll angles and that would make a system like that unreliable. The fact is that this is just very difficult to do.
"nobody is sure what went wrong"... ohhhh... maybe strapping a rocket on a boat and going 350mph was part of the going wrong equation? "Everyone is in shock, we didn't expect this to happen".... really? Every other past speed attempt ended in death, it's a pretty likely outcome.
MotoAtheist the trouble with all these attempts on water is that the drivers don,t seem to take into consideration that WATER can only move so fast to get by the hulls of the boats. The tiniest ripple can lift a hull air gets under it and bang it's all over
clearly you dont know jack shit about dynamics of speed on the water. Even current raceboats like unlimited hydroplanes are completely different from typical V bottom designed hulls, they don't rely on bouyancy for their propulsion and thus the effect you describe literally does not even relate in any way..... Even all this aside, its still apparent how different the dynamics are given they are not driven by a submersed propeller, but thrust. Trying to say these craft can only go as fast as the water can be moved underneath is ignorance at its finest, trying to sit there and act as if you have more intelligence and means to predict the outcome of these efforts is ridiculous, get a clue.
Bluebird k7 still seems to be the most stable looking boat that was made just needed a few upgrades. The record holders boats seems to be well unstable.
The sad thing about Bluebird K7 was that it was estimated he was at 320mph when he crashed. It would have been a fantastic record if only.... Some say that the reason for the crash was that he did not re-fuel after the first run, just went back and made the second run too soon and hit some of his own wake from the first run. By the way, Bluebird has been recovered and rebuilt and has done some gentle speed runs.
@@poruatokin Campbell clocked 297 mph on his 1st run. He was going around 320 mph on his second run when the accident happened The average would have been 308.5 mph
Peak speeds Warby achieved were closer to 540km/ hr as the record is the average over a 2 way crossing.. correct me if this is wrong. A tough enuf friend who spoke with Warby at a race expo, holds the AU record for an open fuel engine transom hull at peak of 340km/ hr.. hey there, Gary, hows that Chrysler hemi block.. we watched Warby Fossys jet record, so many times it was conclusive the tail had much to do with stability at that speed, it’s over arching length over the fuselage, kept stability by the rocking motion.. On water, a combo of aerodynamics and placement of the water contact points play the major role of stability..
Peak speeds and record speeds are not the same. I’d suggest that the large T tail probably had the effect of increasing inertia and stabilising the craft at higher speeds. I doubt it produced much downforce, since it seems to have been a symmetrical section set at a neutral angle. It may even have been trimmed very slightly upward which would tend to stop the bow from getting away. The pitch stability of these things is horrendous and the stability margin non existent.
I think to beat the record its going to take a really long boat like 45-55' long that won't easily flip but it will need to be carbon fiber and a turbine motor or two.
No, because these kind of boats need glass-like conditions to set records by skimming over the surface with minimal contact. Real world conditions, especially in open water, are obviously nothing like that. Ground effect is far more suited to going over water at high speeds.
This is exactly what Richard Noble did with Ron Ayers for Thrust SSC - they designed the car and tested a miniature model of it on a sort of missile launch track facility - launched it down at supersonic speeds to compare computer simulations with actual live data readings and see if there was a correlation (which there was), in order to make sure the car wouldn't become a plane at high speeds. They said that if Noble went 7mph faster in Thrust II when he broken the record in 1983, the car would have taken off and he would have been killed - so this was clearly very close to home for him and a major priority for the project before putting a man in the cockpit.
I think around the level Ken achieved is close to the limit with that technology, if you go faster, it lifts and loses control and you die. So the only way to beat it, is for a new method to be created.
watch the footage of John Cobb's death and you'll understand why - there's a fine line between becoming a plane and ploughing nose first into eternity when going for water speed records. Frightfully dangerous and hardly any margin for error.
In my opinion, they're engineering it with the wrong starting point... They ought to make a cockpit that can keep a man crashing into water at 600km/h alive first... Then make the boat that can push that cockpit up to the speed. Every other claim to safety precautions being important is an insult to water.
Cockpit technology and the non-compressibility of water makes your suggestion impossible. Arfons' boat had a capsule and it didn't help one bit. When an Indycar hits the wall at 200mph, that's 200 Gs against a smooth, hard surface. Over 300mph that's closer to 300 Gs. The human body can't withstand that. Also, water tears things up and the best designers and builders in the world can't keep boat racers alive who wreck at 250mph. I've lost two associates(John Hipwell and George Stratton) in boat wrecks at speeds around and over 200mph. Water tears things up...and it happens in the blink of an eye.
Mike Melina dont want to argue with someone who obviously eclipses my knowledge of the sport but it seems you are overlooking the fact that the thunderboat regatta hydroplanes adopted crew capsules long ago and have reduced fatalities greatly. ATM I am sitting at ski beach in san diego at 10pm enjoying the night view of the water on mission bays Bill Muncie memorial course. Watched him die in the 80s. FWIW. They could easily deploy an automatic anti flip device but that would hurt performance wouldnt it. Cant have that!
For sure, Bernie Little was the pioneer of reinforced capsule technology BTW. George Stratton was killed racing a U-boat on Mission Bay. The Back of the capsule collapsed in during a blowover. George's death led to further redesign, but it doesn't change the Gs. G-force in the end is the killer in these WR attempts. At the speeds we race in the limited ranks, collisions are more dangerous than blowovers...either way, over 200/250mph, all bets are off. As for anti-flip devices, there aren't any practical designs that I know of and I don't know of any builders with a design, waiting for an owner to finance a build.
It doesn't matter how strong you make a capsule, if it hits the water at high speed it will decelerate rapidly. When the human skull stops moving, the brain inside doesn't - it bounces around inside the skull and is bruised into a mush. Jules Bianchi (F1 driver) was a classic case, he died without a mark on his body.
what about an automatic ejection if a computer in the boat detects imminent catastrophic failure? That would allow the driver to decelerate in the air vs fatal abrupt stop in the boat. Humans are pretty smart. It seems like something could be designed to prevent automatic death when the boat inevitably crashes. With that fatality rate, i think all of the people attempting water speed records are foolhardy rather gutsy
If you direct the boat back down, at whatever the speed, the density of the water will shovel the bow, and glub glub glub...... it's then a submarine, with disastrous consequences. Only chance you MIGHT have is airbrakes, from the rear, that MIGHT work. A parachute would just vanish, and not really achieve much of anything. The density of the water just pulverises the boat.
At last, someone with a sense of what's involved. Water rips things apart at speed. At 300+mph water becomes absolutely evil. At half that it's a bitch.
+Mike Melina You made it plain as day in your prior comments. _NON-COMPRESSIBILITY_ should be a pretty easy concept for folks to comprehend. Then, as you said, 250mph+ to 0 mph in an instant... yeah, all done. Anyone who doesn't understand non-compressibility just needs to watch the video of John Cobb's fatal crash. His body never broke the surface of the Loch until the last "bump", and _still_ was carrying enough inertial displacement to make a big splash even then. "Non-compressibiliity" in action, awful to behold. Seems like taking on the WSR challenge is kind of like going to the moon and back successfully. _You either succeed or die._
I seen another boat being built in Australia today, not saying who, or where as I have no idea if they want the info known, but I think the record will be broken soon.
+MotorcycleTherapy . That is interesting! Kevin Hickling in Sydney built a boat in the early 80's but the first practice day frightened the shit out of him & that was the end of that.
I'm not surprised, you have probably seen the voilent waving the boat shows, imagine being inside a machine being tossed back and forth like that. I ride motorcycles and consider myself a bit of a thill seeker, but the history of deaths and that kind of boat ride is just a bit too full on for me.
ManicMindTrick A man doesn't have to do insane things to be a man. There are many ways to be wholesomely courageous. Risking death (and putting one's family on the line) for the glorification of one's own ego isn't one of them. Fighting to protect the rights of the downtrodden and the powerless is.
And yet, nobody has broken or set a new record since the boganesque Warby set this one over 40 years ago, Incredible. Surely we have the technology to build a watercraft well and truly capable of breaking this record (and somebody with the hide for it) in this day and age to break it. Perhaps us dumbass humans have forgotten how to build such a craft.
An excellent and accurate history of the World Water Speed Record. As of April 2014, Ken Warby's record is almost 36 years old with no serious challengers. Probably the most underrated achievement in racing history.
Hardly Anyone seems to realise that the odd looking dart shared white boat just inside the foyer of the Sydney maritime museum is STILL the fastest ever water craft in the world.
I don't think there will be serious challengers.
Too expensive for zero return and I doubt today's billionaires want to die soggy.
Tech since then would help though.
They're much more aircraft than vehicles.
All those boats were mechanical or simple analogue circuitry.
Since then all fighter aircraft have low stability fly by wire, without the computer correcting the pilots inputs it'll fall out the sky.
I'm up for it, I'll sit in the soggy (Martin-Baker mk18 zero-zero ejection) seat.
I can probably write the avionics too.
Can't be avionics.
Aquavonics?
Who's with me!?
🤔🤓
Their have been challengers they just all died
Warbys record run was also in far from ideal conditions. The boat had his enormous balls for ballast though...
Warbys record is even more amazing when it's remembered he built the boat himself in his own backyard compared to his competitors who had access to much more technology and resources. Currently Warby is assisting his son to prepare for an attempt on his own record. The man deserves far more recognition than he has received.
I took a day off work to go to Blowering to see Ken WRby do this ,absolutely amazing.
Daamnnn.. Ken Warby has balls of steel. When they talk about the man of steel many people think of superman, when I hear it I will always think of Ken Warby..
Since 1940 85% of adventurers trying to break the speed record on the water were killed while trying to break the record...
And the only one that succeeded and survived was on a boat with and obvious and gigantic airplane-like stabilizer tail on top....wonder why all the others, even after him, didn't learn the lesson and kept building long flat things without one which inevitably caught air under them and were lifted up and crashed...
To me it's pretty clear that you need a stabilizer, possibly with a balanced downforce, to prevent the hull from gliding loosely on the bumpy water surface and catching air under it...probably the best would be to have a fromt stabilizer wing too just like Formula cars.
@@ClaudeMagicbox The difference is that the Formula cars don't drive on the bumpy water surface
@@nikosgrigorakos Doesn’t negate the fact that a stabilizer would help..
@@Not2BadFIFA When you pushing the limits a stabilizer can only delay the inevitable.
@@nikosgrigorakos correct. But that inevitable comes at a higher speed and a new record.
back around 2000 he was learning to fly at the airport I worked at. I got the chance to meet him and talked to him on several occasions. One day he showed up with his new boat with which he hoped to break his record in the following year. I jokingly asked him if he would pull skiers with it, He laughed and said if I got the balls to ski behind it he would do it. That boat was awesome it was powered by an engine used in the F 16 with full afterburner. I remember him laughing about the military was wanting to know how and where he got it. I never did hear if he broke it or not guess I could look that up.
Bro wtf you realize an engine from an F-16 is bigger than any boat that you ever rode that day
I'm surprised there's no comments saying that Arfons boat needed to have a wing. We've all had the experience where the wind nearly lifts you off your feet - you need to have some wind stability. Wind is like a brick wall at 70 or 80, I can't imagine it at 300
Rest in peace Ken
There are comments about the instability of the boat and one informed one about chine walking (although obviously wrong since there are no chines :-)), it this case it is walking the front hydroplanes as they hit disturbances in the water shifting the contact area from side to side. On the fastest runs, it appears that both front planes are intermittently off the water. I was told (many years ago) that in the quest to increase the speed Warby progressively reduced the rudder area as this was considered the highest water drag. At the time of the record, the rudder area was considered dangerously small so even lateral stability could have easily led to disaster, it would not have taken much yaw. It is going to be difficult for anyone to break the record, it requires so much good luck (or lack of bad luck).
There is also some comment about momentary maximum speeds, there are reasons why the speed records have the distance and direction rules, instantaneous speeds are much easier and safer than sustained multiple runs (bloody obvious!). Much the same as getting massive power out of engines for seconds compared to minutes or hours.
I like the comment at 5.23 about Ken scoring a duck, probably went over the heads of the non-cricketing population.
Overall a nice change for RUclips, a concise, accurate video actually showing only video that is germane to what is being said.
Initially, Warby was struggling to hit WR speeds. He initially tried fitting an afterburner to the J-34 but could never get it to work. Warby instead reduced the length of the rudder by 2.5 inches. This reduced both drag and stability, as the rudder also produced a bending moment about the nose to keep it from lifting up at speed
@@ccx806 Yes, although my memory (very fallible these days so very possibly wrong) was that he changed the depth, this would have a greater effect on drag than length, perhaps both were changed. Change in depth should have had a smaller effect on stability compared to drag, but and a big but, would also have exposed the boat to a much greater risk should there have been any significant change in pitch of the boat (porpoising, etc.). I remember reading that he changed the rudder despite serious warnings not to do so from the (one would think marine, hydrodynamic?) engineer who was advising him - I have not been able to verify this. He knew the fate of his predecessors when they pushed the boundaries, so, as has already been stated by others, made of steel!
I have not heard anything about Warby's son's effort for some time, as he knows the fate of those who tried before his father as well as those who have followed, perhaps rational thought has prevailed.
Thanks Ken for representing this great nation is such a way that makes us proud
They knew that driving those boats had an extremely high chance of killing them but did it anyway?! Wow, mad props, these are the type of people responsible for paving the way of innovation and discovery of what humans are capable of!
Wtf is that conclusion
@@Ja-zx4mbThey were willing to risk their life for innovation
It’s nothing to be impressed by. It’s a completely unnecessary risk and record.
Ken warby , Aussie legend 🇦🇺👍
Pretty amazing what he did and on a shoestring budget. The engine for this boat wasn't very big. As I remember it was an old Westinghouse J-34 which maxed out at about 6,000 lb thrust. The lesson possibly being that the others have concentrated a bit too much on outright power at the expense of balance...?
He built it in his shed. . .
@@bretloyd8097How does that have anything to do with what he said? And the condescending little "...."
What the hell diff does avg of 2 runs make? If boat hit a top speed of 328 mph then that's the fastest speed ever on water, period!
Yes
@Frank De Ruiter OHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Why not do it on a day with no wind?
Frank de Ruiter is absolutely correct. It's to cancel out the effects of wind or any other advantage. It applies to the land speed record as well where a slight slope could be advantageous in one direction. Both runs must be within one hour of each other. The rule works as you will notice that with the exact same power settings the two runs will differ from each other and the rule is fair because it applies to all attempts by all competitors which makes for a level playing field.
In athletics, there is a max wind speed to set a record. In boats, the run must be averaged in both directions to eliminate any wind assistance.
Because those are the rules of the competition. The drivers know this and they work within those rules. The last time someone tried to achieve a peak speed was a joke - the Budweiser Rocket at about the same time as Warby’s record and with none of the credibility.
...just read an old news article (from last year 2016) that Kens son David Warby has built a boat and wants to break his fathers record....testing runs are scheduled....when and where there will be an attempt i have no idea...indeed Ken Warby's Water Speed Record has stood for nearly 40 years ... absolutely unbelievable when you think about it, that his record has stood for so long.
R.I.P. Ken Warby
Am I the only one who noticed the Miami Vice playing in the background?
R.I.P Ken Warby, I am glad you followed your dreams to get the speed record and I hope you and Donald Campbells who inspired you, legacy live on in these records
Warby was once quoted as saying he thinks its possible to go supersonic on water. I agree with him and have since I ws a kid who grew up around (very) fast boats and cars. Before I'd even heard of Ken Warby.
Very cool footage. Didn't realized the speeds achieved at such an early era. Willingness to die for glory is unbelievable.
Is it so hard to see that the only guy that made the water speed record and survived...was on a boat with a huge stabilizer wing on top??
I was gonna say. That DEFINITELY helped! Why did nobody else have one?
@@Nick_J_Originally no fin was allowed on a record attempt, be it on water or land .
This is absolutely insane why so many dudes were like “yeah I have about a 25% chance of surviving this” and they go off and die one after another
Ken Warby is the king. Maybe the most dangerous competition in the world
the great Ken Warby! An Englishman named John Riding put a project together in the '90's using a Rolls Royce Adour engine and the boat was designed by the man who was behind Virgin Atlantic 2, the blue ribband holder, but sadly someone at R-R got cold feet about the loan of the engine due to risk!! At the time you couldn't buy a second hand one, sadly but with up to 8000ilb thrust it would have been capable of taking the WWSR.
Donaldo campbell body was found in 2001, after about 34 years from the crash
317 mph still stands
It sure does, Derek Wall. It sure does.
That Miami vice music though
I met Ken Warby in 1999 in New Martinsville, WV at a boat race. At the time he was talking about a new boat with his son driving. They sent it out for paint this February...this is going to happen.
Unfortunately he passed away this February.
pretty ironic someone called SeaGrave drowned... if you know what I mean
Paul Paranormalz it's coincidental, not ironic
Janez bekš ironic coincidence?
Irony has nothing to do with coincidence, it deals with opposites. It he would be called SeaBirth that would be ironic. Not trying to sound smart just saying that irony is a complete opposite of a coincidence.
Nope, don't know what you mean, even with your crap spelling. Segrave didn't drown, he died due to his lung being pierced by a broken rib sustained during a devasting crash. He has no grave, after his body was cremated his ashes were scattered over the playing fields of Eton school. Finally, he died on WIndermere, a freshwater lake, not a sea. Not ironic, but you are MORONIC.
RockinRedRover well said
R. I. P Mate.
It's crazy to see these speeds years ago on water and today the maglev trains go less than that on land
7/8 people who have attempted these speeds have died maybe there’s a reason to not go this fast yet?
317.6 mph,
And I hope it stands another 30 years.
john connor is that when the T2 comes back in time to kill you? Can i buy a ticket to watch? (Unless its a pay per view like mayweather macgregor prices)
I am sure it will , unless Ken’s son decides that spirit 2 , himself & the time is right to have a crack , if he is successful , I am sure he will look to the heavens & thank his father for all the insight he provided over decades .
I hope its beaten by the UK with Quicksilver . I think Ken wanted his record broken so his son could get it back hopefully. I think he was waiting for this to happen ,unfortunately it didnt happened. RIP Mr Warby.
@@stevenwade7466 I know nothing about records. But I know that what started as a 45 lbs crossbow pistol in the early 90s or late 80s became a 103 lbs draw weight monster by about 2004.
I've stuck ice bolts into half inch pine boards
@@johnconnor6725 What has that to do with the price of fish ?
Wonderful achievement by Ken Warby; men died before and since and all heroes in my book.
Dude has no chill saying some people died
Definately the hardest record to break so many inconcistencies possible on water .
I wonder why the documentary skipped over Lee Taylor’s 1967 record run and his fatal run in 1980.
it didn't he was mentioned multiple times in segments dedicated to him.
Even though Campbell's record wasn't official I still find it impressed to see that she had done over 320mph.
Yeah
That is only an estimate and estimates are notoriously unreliable.
There are at least two massive campaigns to beat this record being built at the moment. Fingers crossed they do it.
its too late now its been almost 40 years since the record was broken
Zak K Too late for what? Teams are working on designs at the moment. The record will fall soon.
+Ink Black What teams? Hollywood producers? Even this record was a fluke and doubt can be broken anytime soon.
There are teams from the UK & USA seeking to break this record. Ol' Ken is also said to be in the mix for a new crack at it. This record will fall within the next decade. No hollywood producers involved.....that I know of.
+Ink Black there is also another boat being built in Australia, I know this for a fact because I took a picture of it today.
Ken just built a hull with the sweet spot to get to that speed. Lift will flip it, and ground effect can plough it into the water. The added problem fluid surface is flexible.
All I know is, Warby’s boat had a big ass stabilizing wing on the back… and the rest of the boats did not.
The boat has to be aerodynamically stable on or off the water, otherwise it wants to fly backwards. Look at "Spirit of Australia", bouncing around madly at over 300 mph, but keeping a straight line!
Yea haha, these boats want to be planes when they're going this fast. The only thing holding them down is gravity and weight since there's no downforce. Just put a stabilizer on it and some small wings to direct it back down!
They created a huge amount of downforce. The Spirit of Australia had a wing on the rear but most came from the body which produced downforce much like an prototype sports car like the 917 or an F1 car of the late 70s.
The wobbling might be 'chine walk' that happens to boats. I could be wrong on that.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan Very unlikely. Huge amounts of downforce would have mushed the hull down into the water and that could have been every bit as catastrophic as flying. It would certainly make it very much slower. Spirit of Australia had three very small metal plates on which the boat road at maximum speed. That massively reduced the surface area, to the point that the biggest thing in the water was the rudder. The problem is that the boat’s aerodynamic condition is constantly changing, due to variations in pitch and roll angles and that would make a system like that unreliable. The fact is that this is just very difficult to do.
The music junked another video 👎🏻💩
Warby: I think I’ll be the lucky 50%
Reality; he was the lucky 25%… and the only 300mph survivor in history.
"nobody is sure what went wrong"... ohhhh... maybe strapping a rocket on a boat and going 350mph was part of the going wrong equation? "Everyone is in shock, we didn't expect this to happen".... really? Every other past speed attempt ended in death, it's a pretty likely outcome.
MotoAtheist the trouble with all these attempts on water is that the drivers don,t seem to take into consideration that WATER can only move so fast to get by the hulls of the boats. The tiniest ripple can lift a hull air gets under it and bang it's all over
clearly you dont know jack shit about dynamics of speed on the water. Even current raceboats like unlimited hydroplanes are completely different from typical V bottom designed hulls, they don't rely on bouyancy for their propulsion and thus the effect you describe literally does not even relate in any way..... Even all this aside, its still apparent how different the dynamics are given they are not driven by a submersed propeller, but thrust. Trying to say these craft can only go as fast as the water can be moved underneath is ignorance at its finest, trying to sit there and act as if you have more intelligence and means to predict the outcome of these efforts is ridiculous, get a clue.
MotoAtheist I would say 10 to 12 thousand years old👍
I fucking love comments like this, combined with the fact that you're an atheist.
atiseru what would you do? Pray to Jesus Christ your savior that you wont flip over and impact the water at 300mph?
Warby is driving the shit outta that thing! That boat is dancing all over the surface of the water.
ken warby is my buddies grand father I can't believe I knew his family this story is wild 4:20
Spirit of Australia 🇦🇺💪👍
This is why if you're going to set out to accomplish something... LUCK REALLY IS A FACTOR.
My dad saw this in person. Apparently if there was any kind of small wave it would be like hitting a brick- the water had to be smooth as silk.
6:55 LMAO Australians are the kings of hooning, no country comes close. "Mate your not going to break 300mph with that old jet borrow one of ours".
Bluebird k7 still seems to be the most stable looking boat that was made just needed a few upgrades. The record holders boats seems to be well unstable.
The sad thing about Bluebird K7 was that it was estimated he was at 320mph when he crashed. It would have been a fantastic record if only.... Some say that the reason for the crash was that he did not re-fuel after the first run, just went back and made the second run too soon and hit some of his own wake from the first run. By the way, Bluebird has been recovered and rebuilt and has done some gentle speed runs.
@@poruatokin Campbell clocked 297 mph on his 1st run. He was going around 320 mph on his second run when the accident happened
The average would have been 308.5 mph
@@ccx806 ....set in 1967 in a boat originally built in 1954.
As I said...."if only...". 😟
@@poruatokin Indeed. Between 1955-1964, Campbell raised the record from 178 mph to 276 mph
@@ccx806 We don’t know how fast he was going when he crashed. The recording system wasn’t set up to measure that.
Fast Ken. Hi from North Shields.
sir henry seagrave? Seagrave? Never a more apt name.
Ken warby is a champ!!!!!!!!!
i need that boat, to visit my son in less than 2 hours
Peak speeds Warby achieved were closer to 540km/ hr as the record is the average over a 2 way crossing.. correct me if this is wrong. A tough enuf friend who spoke with Warby at a race expo, holds the AU record for an open fuel engine transom hull at peak of 340km/ hr.. hey there, Gary, hows that Chrysler hemi block.. we watched Warby Fossys jet record, so many times it was conclusive the tail had much to do with stability at that speed, it’s over arching length over the fuselage, kept stability by the rocking motion.. On water, a combo of aerodynamics and placement of the water contact points play the major role of stability..
Peak speeds and record speeds are not the same. I’d suggest that the large T tail probably had the effect of increasing inertia and stabilising the craft at higher speeds. I doubt it produced much downforce, since it seems to have been a symmetrical section set at a neutral angle. It may even have been trimmed very slightly upward which would tend to stop the bow from getting away. The pitch stability of these things is horrendous and the stability margin non existent.
I think to beat the record its going to take a really long boat like 45-55' long that won't easily flip but it will need to be carbon fiber and a turbine motor or two.
Balls of steel but brains of mud
Rip Ken warby, you will be missed speed demon😭
I'm surprised that militaries have so little interest in this - one would think that a fantastically fast boat might have some naval applications.
The Soviet Union investigated the use of Ground Effect vehicles in the 70s (Ekranoplans), but could never get them to work properly
No, because these kind of boats need glass-like conditions to set records by skimming over the surface with minimal contact. Real world conditions, especially in open water, are obviously nothing like that. Ground effect is far more suited to going over water at high speeds.
I just heard recently that Ken is looking at returning to blowering dam for perhaps another attempt to lift the record.
Where is the boat located now?
At the National Maritime Museum in Sydney.
A good museum .
7:16 speed record
seriously have to be crazy to do this.
Thats why these guys have become Legends.
A speed record that has lasted 40 years.
There was another video like this and the title had like "(all 7)" at the end of it where is that video did it get deleted?
No mention of Ken' s beard,it was the diffrence😉
Why don’t these chaps test with remote control first to see whether there designs are plausible.
This is exactly what Richard Noble did with Ron Ayers for Thrust SSC - they designed the car and tested a miniature model of it on a sort of missile launch track facility - launched it down at supersonic speeds to compare computer simulations with actual live data readings and see if there was a correlation (which there was), in order to make sure the car wouldn't become a plane at high speeds.
They said that if Noble went 7mph faster in Thrust II when he broken the record in 1983, the car would have taken off and he would have been killed - so this was clearly very close to home for him and a major priority for the project before putting a man in the cockpit.
Now we have a car that has gone 500kph!! Cars are catching up.
It's easy for cars. Difficult for boats.
I think around the level Ken achieved is close to the limit with that technology, if you go faster, it lifts and loses control and you die. So the only way to beat it, is for a new method to be created.
RealLifeLore, anyone?
ironicly kenny is in the ready mix concrete business today
Godspeed ken
Rest in piece legend
How come none of these boats have a front spoiler to keep the nose down?
Because the whole propose of a WSR boat design is to get as much of the boat as possible out of the water. That is why they are call Hydroplanes.
too much nose down will drive you into the water and at that speed itll be like hitting a concrete wall
watch the footage of John Cobb's death and you'll understand why - there's a fine line between becoming a plane and ploughing nose first into eternity when going for water speed records. Frightfully dangerous and hardly any margin for error.
In my opinion, they're engineering it with the wrong starting point... They ought to make a cockpit that can keep a man crashing into water at 600km/h alive first... Then make the boat that can push that cockpit up to the speed. Every other claim to safety precautions being important is an insult to water.
Cockpit technology and the non-compressibility of water makes your suggestion impossible. Arfons' boat had a capsule and it didn't help one bit. When an Indycar hits the wall at 200mph, that's 200 Gs against a smooth, hard surface. Over 300mph that's closer to 300 Gs. The human body can't withstand that. Also, water tears things up and the best designers and builders in the world can't keep boat racers alive who wreck at 250mph. I've lost two associates(John Hipwell and George Stratton) in boat wrecks at speeds around and over 200mph. Water tears things up...and it happens in the blink of an eye.
Mike Melina dont want to argue with someone who obviously eclipses my knowledge of the sport but it seems you are overlooking the fact that the thunderboat regatta hydroplanes adopted crew capsules long ago and have reduced fatalities greatly. ATM I am sitting at ski beach in san diego at 10pm enjoying the night view of the water on mission bays Bill Muncie memorial course. Watched him die in the 80s. FWIW.
They could easily deploy an automatic anti flip device but that would hurt performance wouldnt it. Cant have that!
For sure, Bernie Little was the pioneer of reinforced capsule technology BTW. George Stratton was killed racing a U-boat on Mission Bay. The Back of the capsule collapsed in during a blowover. George's death led to further redesign, but it doesn't change the Gs. G-force in the end is the killer in these WR attempts. At the speeds we race in the limited ranks, collisions are more dangerous than blowovers...either way, over 200/250mph, all bets are off. As for anti-flip devices, there aren't any practical designs that I know of and I don't know of any builders with a design, waiting for an owner to finance a build.
It doesn't matter how strong you make a capsule, if it hits the water at high speed it will decelerate rapidly. When the human skull stops moving, the brain inside doesn't - it bounces around inside the skull and is bruised into a mush. Jules Bianchi (F1 driver) was a classic case, he died without a mark on his body.
what about an automatic ejection if a computer in the boat detects imminent catastrophic failure? That would allow the driver to decelerate in the air vs fatal abrupt stop in the boat. Humans are pretty smart. It seems like something could be designed to prevent automatic death when the boat inevitably crashes. With that fatality rate, i think all of the people attempting water speed records are foolhardy rather gutsy
Miami vice theme's nice
I buy hand tools from his old Company, Warby tools. Just down the road from here. 😁
The boat still went 350 mph.
If you direct the boat back down, at whatever the speed, the density of the water will shovel the bow, and glub glub glub...... it's then a submarine, with disastrous consequences. Only chance you MIGHT have is airbrakes, from the rear, that MIGHT work. A parachute would just vanish, and not really achieve much of anything. The density of the water just pulverises the boat.
At last, someone with a sense of what's involved. Water rips things apart at speed. At 300+mph water becomes absolutely evil. At half that it's a bitch.
+Mike Melina You made it plain as day in your prior comments. _NON-COMPRESSIBILITY_ should be a pretty easy concept for folks to comprehend. Then, as you said, 250mph+ to 0 mph in an instant... yeah, all done. Anyone who doesn't understand non-compressibility just needs to watch the video of John Cobb's fatal crash. His body never broke the surface of the Loch until the last "bump", and _still_ was carrying enough inertial displacement to make a big splash even then. "Non-compressibiliity" in action, awful to behold. Seems like taking on the WSR challenge is kind of like going to the moon and back successfully. _You either succeed or die._
To be fair, I have only seen a few people who are able to comprehend on the internet.
better yet i like to see a record that has never been beatten in history a record holder beat jis iwn record
You realize of course that these boat don't have brakes.
I seen another boat being built in Australia today, not saying who, or where as I have no idea if they want the info known, but I think the record will be broken soon.
+MotorcycleTherapy . That is interesting! Kevin Hickling in Sydney built a boat in the early 80's but the first practice day frightened the shit out of him & that was the end of that.
I'm not surprised, you have probably seen the voilent waving the boat shows, imagine being inside a machine being tossed back and forth like that. I ride motorcycles and consider myself a bit of a thill seeker, but the history of deaths and that kind of boat ride is just a bit too full on for me.
That's interesting since it's still his record & everybody else has died trying to break it. Is he doing a Craig Breedlove?
His son David is running it.
I recently found out they are actually here in the US, if I wasn't so busy with my wheel driven bullet I'd look them up.
This is my
Pop
That background music is annoying!
And totally unnecessary.
These people dies like flies! That would be a hint to give it a rest!
ManicMindTrick Live like a man.
stmounts
You have a pretty messed up idea what it's like living like a man.
ManicMindTrick A man doesn't have to do insane things to be a man. There are many ways to be wholesomely courageous. Risking death (and putting one's family on the line) for the glorification of one's own ego isn't one of them. Fighting to protect the rights of the downtrodden and the powerless is.
stmounts LIVIN LIKE LARRY
Do you believe in the old testament THAT THE EARTH is only 6,000 years old???
A yes or no will be taken as a no unless you respond!
record hold till now (Y)
With an 85% fatality rate it makes you wonder what the purpose of the helmet it. If you crash at 300+ mph you might make it?
Miami Vice
6:23 passes fishing boat at 300mph
Well I guess that'll scare the fish off...
Seagrave.... thats an appropriate name....
Nicely put together video apart from ............ annoying background music
In an open cockpit no less.
Ken is the man
it is necessary that in such cars and boats was definitely the catapult. without it, records do not count.
And yet, nobody has broken or set a new record since the boganesque Warby set this one over 40 years ago, Incredible. Surely we have the technology to build a watercraft well and truly capable of breaking this record (and somebody with the hide for it) in this day and age to break it. Perhaps us dumbass humans have forgotten how to build such a craft.
My hope is that nobody tries to beat this record. It is sure death. The water at 300+ becomes undependable and unforgiving.
He’s my aunts ex-husband. Pretty cool if you ask me lol!
I think I just watched like 10 people die. lets let this record go away.
Jeses, who didnt die doing this???
Boats are scary.