The world’s water speed record has been held by only 9 people since 1928. It has an 85% death rate in attempts and the current record has stood since 1978 with each successive attempt to unseat it resulting in the death of the driver.
This long form look back at the history of the water speed record is a blow by blow account of an activity that has captivated and killed many people over the years. The people and machines who have shot across bodies of water from Argentina to Italy to Australia are each unique in their own way but their vision was the same. To defy the laws of physics and end up on the right side of the game.
To our knowledge this is the most in-depth look back at the history of the record using research materials, newspapers, period audio, and personal interviews with the subjects at hand.
An amazing tale that once dominated the headlines of the 20th century and has now all but dropped off into obscurity.
Hit the image below to listen to the Dork-O-Motive podcast called Rip Tide
Glad to see Dork-o-Motive back in my podcasts. Hard to believe that a speed record has stood since 1978 for anything.
Brian I really enjoyed listening to this. And as an Australian its great to see Ken Warby being recognised as the legend he is.
One story I heard was that on the first set of record attempts, the “good” engine sucked up a random screwdriver while they were warming it up. They swapped to the “spare” engine and that was the one that set their first record.