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Greetings all…. I went onto the ‘Quicksilver’ website to see if they are still making any progress. The answer is yes, but slowly. Here is a graphic of what the finished craft will look like, along with some further information. Click the link…..
Kind regards to all,
Barrie Yates
http://www.quicksilver-wsr.com/the-craft/
Meanwhile, the son of the current World Record Holder is up and running. So there are FOUR contenders for the title.
Spirit of Australia II
As the existing holder of the world water-speed record, straight-talking 82-year-old Australian Ken Warby has nothing to prove. His record of 317.6mph has stood since 1978, but of the four teams currently challenging for the title of world’s fastest boat, his is the only one to have a working boat.
Spirit of Australia II is an updated version of the hydroplane design Ken used to set the original record in 1978, with better aerodynamics and a 9,000hp Westinghouse J-34 jet engine.
It hit the water in December 2004 and in 2007 Ken handed over the reins to his son David, who hit 314kmh (218mph) on a testing run on Blowering Lake in 2018. However, floating debris caused damage to one of the fins. In the subsequent years, the tailplane has also been replaced as well as the engines, which are now Bristol Siddeley Orpheus units.
The Spirit of Australia II team are due to take to the water for further testing later this month with the aim of cracking the 300mph barrier.
“The old boat was never flat out even when I broke the record last time, so the new one will go a whole lot faster,” Warby Sr. claims. “The driving is the easy bit. You just sit in it and put your foot down. The trouble is that you’ve only got a 50/50 chance of still being alive at the other end.”
Find out more on the official Warby Motorsport website….
Longbow
Another British challenger, Jet Hydroplane UK is headed up by David Aldred, who supplied the Orpheus engines for K777, an experimental Bluebird K7 replica that was launched in 2011 and was retired in 2014.
His new project, Longbow is powered by twin Rolls Royce Viper turbojet engines and will be piloted by David-John Gibbs, a Formula 4 powerboat racer and flight examiner at RAF Cranwell. Far from being threatened by this challenge, David Warby has offered his technical support to the Longbow project.
In the latest update on the Jet Hydroplane UK website, Aldred revealed that the epoxy hull has been faired and Norwegian paint manufacturer Jotun has lent its backing to the project.
Find out more on the official Jet Hydroplane UK website….
Dartagnan SP600
As if this wasn’t enough, there is a fourth project vying to become the world’s fastest boat. Dartagnan SP600 was built by Belgian offshore racer Daniel Dehaemers, who passed away in June 2018. The project is reportedly due to be revived by his former teammates, so watch this space…
Find out more on Dartagnan SP600’s official Facebook page, or on the official Jet Hydroplane UK website…
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