A long, long time ago...

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:08 am

Most of you guys won't remember this. I do. I've never been a power boat person but I've always admired this effort for what it was. I've seen Warby's craft in the Australian Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour and can't believe how little it looks like a boat.

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Some have tried since but nobody has succeeded. And a few have even died trying.

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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Watching the first run in his second attempt just scares the crap out of me. I remember the boat rocking from side to side but not that violently. I can't imagine how he maintained control of the thing. It would have been a terrifying ride. The final run, which was easily the fastest he ever did was a cakewalk by comparison.

The engine was an obsolete Westinghouse J34 from a Lockheed Neptune. It developed only about 3,000lbs of thrust, which would be a rough equivalent at that speed of about 5,000hp. As far as I know it actually ran on petrol rather than kero.

wobblysauce · Post by **wobblysauce** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:16 am

Good to watch when they go right, but even just a little wind can make it go terribly wrong.

Real edge of your pants stuff, when I was a little kid I had a remote control Warby boat.. great little boat.

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:43 am

wobblysauce wrote:Real edge of your pants stuff

Awesome!

I've heard of edge of your seat or flying by the seat of your pants, but not a combination.

Power boats scare me. Mostly because if they stack you've, first, got to survive the crash, then you need to try to not drown.

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:21 am

Pretty wobbly, even on those calm waters.
scary shit, you need big balls and a bit of experience...

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:46 am

Righteous wrote:
wobblysauce wrote:Real edge of your pants stuff
Awesome!

I've heard of edge of your seat or flying by the seat of your pants, but not a combination.

Power boats scare me. Mostly because if they stack you've, first, got to survive the crash, then you need to try to not drown.

That's because it scores a doubly wobbly on the danger scale.

mrleisure · Post by **mrleisure** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:53 am

Yep awesome for sure

. I've seen the boat at the museum also . I couldn't believe how fragile it looked , made out of thin timber from what I could see .

wobblysauce · Post by **wobblysauce** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:28 am

Couldn't decide on what quote to use so I merged them.. :P

Light weight materials for sure.

Oggie · Post by **Oggie** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:46 am

In some respects, I think Donald Campbell's achievements are more impressive. He held both the land and water speed records (set in Western Australia, no less!

) in 1964. Considering the level of technology they had back then, the speeds he achieved are quite remarkable.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:04 am

Campbell's achievements were many and over a longer period. It ran in the family and in some ways the father was exceeded by the son (more records, certainly). I have no intention of degrading what he did but Warby did this on a shoestring with backdoor support from the RAAF. The engine wasn't even functional when he took delivery of it. This was done on a baling wire and string budget. Warby's boyhood hero was Donald Campbell so you could almost say Campbell had a part in this one too.

I believe the boat is now with Ken Warby in the US. It was built mostly from plywood as far as I can tell. That rear wing would have had to be very precisely set. God knows how long it took them to set that up.

I have always regarded Blowering Dam as a bit of holy ground (water). I've never been there but the pictures I've seen of it show it to be quite small, at least in reservoir terms.

Lee Taylor, whose record Warby broke, was killed in his next attempt in 1980. Craig Arfons, nephew of Art Arfons, was also killed in another attempt in 1989.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:12 pm

I've always felt part of the achievement is not only the speed reached, but surviving. Land speed record books are littered with deaths of people who couldn't stop pushing the boundaries.

Post by **norbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:19 pm

J.D. wrote:Campbell's achievements were many and over a longer period. It ran in the family and in some ways the father was exceeded by the son (more records, certainly). I have no intention of degrading what he did but Warby did this on a shoestring with backdoor support from the RAAF. The engine wasn't even functional when he took delivery of it. This was done on a bailing wire and string budget. Warby's boyhood hero was Donald Campbell so you could almost say Campbell had a part in this one too.

I believe the boat is now with Ken Warby in the US. It was built mostly from plywood as far as I can tell. That rear wing would have had to be very precisely set. God knows how long it took them to set that up.

I have always regarded Blowering Dam as a bit of holy ground (water). I've never been there but the pictures I've seen of it show it to be quite small, at least in reservoir terms.

Lee Taylor, whose record Warby broke, was killed in his next attempt in 1980. Craig Arfons, nephew of Art Arfons, was also killed in another attempt in 1989.

Fucking dangerous place. I was getting towed behind a speedy speedboat on an inner tube and flew off and into the water with so much speed I tore the skin on my eye lid and split my lip open. Lucky I was full of rum at the time.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:42 pm

Righteous wrote:
wobblysauce wrote:Real edge of your pants stuff
Awesome!

I've heard of edge of your seat or flying by the seat of your pants, but not a combination.

i dribbled coke on myself a bit trying not to spit it all over the screen.

Post by **norbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:12 pm

wobblysauce wrote:Good to watch when they go right, but even just a little wind can make it go terribly wrong.

Real edge of your pants stuff, when I was a little kid I had a remote control Warby boat.. great little boat.

Yeah...

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:37 pm

i was so edge of my pants watching it i nearly fell into my pocket.

bengatta · Post by **bengatta** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:47 pm

w00dsy wrote:i was so edge of my pants watching it i nearly fell into my pocket.

Really, I was over the sun in the dead of day...

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:21 pm

I was so on the edge of my pants my builder's bum was holding its breath...

norbs wrote:Fucking dangerous place. I was getting towed behind a speedy speedboat on an inner tube and flew off and into the water with so much speed I tore the skin on my eye lid and split my lip open. Lucky I was full of rum at the time.

You need Wobbledock's handlebars.

w00dsy wrote:I've always felt part of the achievement is not only the speed reached, but surviving. Land speed record books are littered with deaths of people who couldn't stop pushing the boundaries.

Yeah, people will tell you that Craig Arfons was doing 380mph when he crashed but the highest I've seen reliably is about 310. That's no mean feat but to be the World Record holder you have to complete the course. Otherwise Warby's record would have been 345mph (555kph), wouldn't it?

What you say is spot on Woodsy. In Warby's first record he backed off before reaching the timing zone on his second run because of chop. Discretion, as they say, is the better part of valour. Maybe that's why he's still kickin'.

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:04 pm

norbs wrote:
wobblysauce wrote:Good to watch when they go right, but even just a little wind can make it go terribly wrong.

Real edge of your pants stuff, when I was a little kid I had a remote control Warby boat.. great little boat.

Yeah...

A.R.S.E.