Spirit of Australia facts for kids
Spirit of Australia is a special wooden speedboat. A man named Ken Warby built it in his backyard in Sydney, Australia. On October 8, 1978, this amazing boat broke the world water speed record.
Breaking the Speed Record
On October 8, 1978, Ken Warby drove the Spirit of Australia on the Tumut River. This river is near the Blowering Dam in Australia. He made two runs in opposite directions. For one run, he went 492.813 km/h (306.220 mph; 266.098 kn). For the other, he reached 529.412 km/h (328.961 mph; 285.860 kn). The official record speed was 511.11 km/h (317.59 mph; 275.98 kn). At one point, the boat even hit a top speed of 555 km/h (345 mph; 300 kn)!
The Spirit of Australia was powered by a Westinghouse J34 jet engine. This type of engine was first made in the late 1940s. It was used in jet fighters and other aircraft. Today, the Spirit of Australia is on display. You can see it at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales.
What Happened Next?
In the early 1990s, Ken Warby started building another jet boat. He called it Aussie Spirit. It also used a Westinghouse J34 engine. However, he never tried to break a record with this boat.
Later, Ken and his son, Dave Warby, worked on a new boat. They named it Spirit of Australia II. This boat uses a different jet engine. It has a Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engine. This engine came from an Italian Fiat G.91 fighter jet. They finished building it in December 2004.
In 2007, Ken Warby let his son Dave take over. Dave achieved 314 km/h (195 mph; 170 kn) during a test run. This happened on Blowering Lake in 2018. As of May 22, 2021, the team is still working on the design. They hope to go even faster!
See also
- World Sailing Speed Record Council
- List of vehicle speed records
