Why This Straightforward World Record Is So DEADLY | Last Moments

foreign the water speed records that is the fastest speed achieved by a waterborne vehicle is one of the most hazardous records to attempt in the world of sport few people attempted and even fewer survive as evidence of this point since 1930 only 13 people have attempted the record and seven of those were killed while trying before we get into what the record is who holds it and what machine they use to break it let's first discuss why it's so dangerous take for comparison the land speed record if you were attempting the land speed record whether out on the desert or on a Tarmac track you'd first make sure your intended course was on a smooth surface once you've confirmed there's no dips or bumps in the course you can be confident you're not going to encounter any when you take off while ER being a fluid provides no such guarantees the condition of your course is constantly changing with waves currents and wind while the surface of the water may look smooth and calm before you set out there's not much preventing you from encountering a disturbance in the water while you're traveling at extreme speeds and battering your craft into it another benefit the land speed record has is that the vehicle is combating air resistance rather than water resistance which is obviously much greater resulting in a watercraft requiring a lot more power to reach speeds comparable to a land vehicle these two factors power and unpredictability make the water speed record an incredibly dangerous Venture before the turn of the 20th century the record was held by steam-powered propeller-driven Vehicles like William B cogswald's phasing a steam yacht that broke the record in 1893 with a speed of 31.6 miles per hour another notable record holder of this time is Charles R Flint who founded the company that would later become IBM his steamyacht Arrow broke the record in 1903 with a speed of 45.06 miles per hour in 1911 the record was broken by the first gasoline-powered craft the Dixie IV piloted by Frederick Burnham the Dixie 4 reached speeds of 4 47 miles per hour later that year the Dixie 4 was in a race when it lost control after crossing the Wake left by another bolt and leapt into the crowd cutting off a boy's leg the Dixie never raced again but its gasoline engine signaled a new era of experimentation for the war speed record in 1919 the record would be broken by hydrodome number four or hd4 an early research hydrofoil developed by Alexander Graham Bell inventor of the telephone and engineer Casey Baldwin Baldwin achieved a speed of 70.86 miles per hour in hd4 in 1920 Garfield would set a new record of 71.43 miles per hour in a boat called Miss America in the following years he would build numerous new versions of Miss America and break the record multiple times in 1928 wood would set the record with Miss America 7. 93.12 miles per hour at this point in time the land speed record was being dominated by British drivers and some saw the american-led water speed record as a challenge to bring that honor to Britain too to this end Miss England was built to be piloted by Sir Henry sagrave who had held a land speed record the boat was not capable of beating Miss America and thus was built Miss England 2 powered by two Rolls-Royce aircraft engines in his first two runs in 1930 sagrave set a new world record of 98.8 miles per hour however on his third run in an attempt to improve the record even further the boat flipped killing boats a grave and his co-driver in 1931 Garfield would recaptured the record for the U.S at 102.16 miles per hour but miss England II was salvaged and repaired to beat wood this time with Irishman K Don at the helm Don took the record from wood just a month later with a speed of 110.2 miles per hour but in early 1932 would reclaimed it with 111.7 or 9 miles per hour the British then built Miss England's III and Don broke the record twice in two runs leaving it at 119.81 miles per hour Garfield wood was determined to have the last laugh in this rivalry though and so built the massive Miss America X or Miss America 10 powered by four supercharged Packard airplane engines in 1932 he set the record again at 124.86 miles per hour at this point K Don declined to attempt any more records and satisfied he had bested his rival Garfield would also stepped away from racing the two men had traded the record back and forth numerous times and their departure from the scene marked the end of an era these two great Rivals both lived into their 90s a turn of events that may not have occurred had they continued as the record was starting to get dangerously fast and it would only get faster with new bolt designs another Challenger British man Malcolm Campbell decided he'd take on the record Campbell had set the land speed record multiple times in his iconic Bluebird cars in 1937 he made his way onto the water with Bluebird K3 a hydroplane powerboat that set the water speed record to 126.33 miles per hour two years later Campbell had a new Bolt the bluebird K4 and with it a new record 141.74 miles per hour but the year was 1939 and soon the world had more important matters to attend to than the water speed record after World War II it seems there was a new way forward for the records the jet engine in 1945 Malcolm Campbell renovated the bluebird k-4 with such an engine but he was unable to break the records and retired he died in 1948 as the holder it wasn't until 1950 that the United States had a chance of reclaiming the record with Stanley Sayer's hydroplane slow motion 4 setting it at 160.323 miles per hour and then beating it again in 1952 with a speed of 178.49 miles per hour the American recapture of the record inspired Malcolm Campbell's son Donald Campbell to take it back in his father's memory he hopped on board his father's Bluebird K4 but by now the craft was 12 years old and incapable of beating slow motion it suffered a structural failure at high speed and was written off Donald Campbell would live to fight another day however Englishman John Cobb then stepped up to the plate with his jet-powered speedboat Crusader Cobb was another multiple time holder of the land speed record but while attempting to break the water speed record in Loch Ness in 1952 Crusader hit awake at high speed and disintegrated throwing carb from the craft when he was recovered from the water he had already died of shock an outlandish Theory claims the Wake that destroyed Crusader was from the Loch Ness monster as it tried to escape the boat then for the first time an Italian man attempted the records the Italian motorboat Federation had offered 5 million Lira for any Italian who could beat the record inspiring Mario verga to build the hydroplane Lara 3 named after his daughter in 1954 he attempted to break the record but the boat lost control and somersaulted through the air throwing virga like John Cobb he died of shock Donald Campbell then returned for another attempt at the record this time with an all-new Bolt the jet-powered bluebird k-7 with this beastly machine Campbell dominated the water speed record breaking it over and over for years by 1964 his record sat at 276.33 miles per hour he is the most prolific water speed breaker of all time having broken the record seven consecutive times over nine years also in 1964 he achieved the land speed record in the bluebird c97 it was the last time the record would be held by a wheel driven vehicle before it was taken over by jet and rocket propulsion in 1964 Californian boat racer Lee Taylor attempted the record in his jet-powered board Hustler during a test run Taylor was unable to turn off the Jet and Hustler crashed into the Lakeside at over 100 miles per hour the boat was wrecked although Taylor survived albeit severely injured in 1967 Campbell attempted to break the record for the eighth time on his first run it seemed the revamped Bluebird k-7 was about to break the record but when Campbell turned around for the return leg he neglected to wait for the lake to settle again and immediately sped back off into his own wake the Bluebird became airborne and cartwheeled across the water surface killing Donald Campbell instantly his body wasn't located until 2001. like his father before him Donald Campbell left behind a legacy as one of History's Greatest speedsters breaking both the land and water speed records later in 1967 Lee Taylor reappeared with a rebuilt Hustler he tried again for the record but the Wake left by Spectators both Disturbed the water and he was forced to abandon his run trying again later the same day he set the record at 285.22 miles per hour at this point every water speed record had been set by just four nationalities American Canadian Irish and British in 1977 a Whole Decade after the record was last set Australian Ken Warby took a shot at it with his bolt Spirit of Australia warby's childhood hero was Donald Campbell and he wanted to recap capture the record from Lee Taylor in Campbell's memory just as Campbell had recaptured the record in his father's memory Warby had built the spirit of Australia from wood and fiberglass in his backyard evidently he did a good job because he set the record at 288.6 miles per hour with this he was able to find sponsorship to pay for improvements on the boat and in 1978 set the record again at 317.596 miles per hour this is a record that still stands to this day and there have been only two official attempts since then in 1980 Lee Taylor was determined to take the record back inspired by the rocket cars now entering the land speed scene Taylor built the rocket-powered discovery 2. he tested it in Walker Lake in Nevada but this was an inconvenient location for his financial backers and so he moved his attempt to Lake Tahoe when the conditions of the proved unfavorable Taylor decided against trying for the record but he didn't want to disappoint his backers or assemble Spectators in media so he tried a test run instead just to demonstrate the Craft's capabilities a 270 miles per hour Discovery 2 came apart and plunged into the water the cockpit was intended to float but for some reason it failed to it was recovered three days later with Lee Taylor inside he had drowned to death in 1989 Craig alfons attempted the record his family name held some prestige in the racing world as his father had built the world's first jet car and his uncle was a multiple time holder of the land speed record arfon's craft Reign X Challenger somersaulted just a few seconds into his run sending the cockpit into the water upside down it was recovered three minutes later and our fonts was resuscitated until his pulse returned he remained responsive however and Craig alfons was pronounced dead over an hour later Ken warby's record still stands although many have their eyes set on breaking it some who've had a place in water speed record history before project Quicksilver is based on designs by Ken Norris who had worked with the Campbells on their Bluebird designs Ken Warby himself plan to return with Spirit of Australia 2 which he had apparently worked on with his son David who may assume his father's mantle after his passing in February 2023 but for now the water speed record Remains The Possession of 1978. for reference the land speed record was last set in 1997. the water speed record however is obviously incredibly hazardous to attempt if you try to beat Ken warby's record you'd be joining just two other hopefuls both of whom are dead that means attempting the current world record has a 100 fatality rate most are probably happy enough to leave this record in 1978 and that's probably for the best nine years later in 1989 Craig arfons took up the challenge in Florida he was a drag racer unfamiliar with the dangers of extreme speed reach the awesome speed of 370 miles per hour but then his boat went out of control another life lost to the water speed record

Channel: Qxir

Views: 1,365,838

Keywords: water speed record, footage, crash, ken warby, malcolm campbell, donald campbell, blue bird, deadliest, australia, explained, boat, hydroplane, hydrofoil, jet, rocket, irish

Id: HAvxrpTMU60

Length: 13min 48sec (828 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 14 2023