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'Speed King Ken Warby lays his life on the line'
'Speed King Ken Warby lays his life on the line'

'Speed King Ken Warby lays his life on the line'

DateFebruary 1979
Object numberANMS1163[366]
NameMagazine
MediumPaper
Copyright© Graeme Andrews
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Graeme Andrews
Collections
DescriptionAn edition of the Australian edition of 'Parade' magazine, February 1979. On the cover is the title 'Speed King KEN WARBY lays his life on the line' and shows colour photographs of Ken Warby and SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA on Blowering Dam. The article inside the magazine is written by Ralph Sharman and titled 'Australia's Speed King' and discuses how Ken Warby, on Sunday October 8 1978, shattered the world water speed record and topped the 300 mph mark.HistoryWarby first claimed the world record in 1977, taking his home-made hydroplane to a speed of 464.44 km/h and breaking American Lee Taylor's ten-year-old record of 458.98 km/h. But where Lee Taylor's record had cost close to $1 million in 1967, Warby built his boat in a suburban backyard with a military-surplus jet engine that cost $65. In 1978 he returned to Blowering Dam in the southern highlands of New South Wales and pushed his record to 511.11 km/h (317.68 m/h), where it still stands. Warby was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in recognition of his achievement. More information about SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's construction, configuration and condition can be found on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels www.anmm.gov.au/arhv.SignificanceKen Warby, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's designer, builder and driver, achieved his world water-speed records on a shoestring budget. The boat was built over two years in the backyard of his suburban Sydney home, using stringers, brackets, stock bits of timber, plywood, screws and epoxy, and launched in 1974.