Australian Ken Warby, the world water speed record holder, recently died at his home in the United States.
Few people can say they’ve held a world record for 45 years. Far fewer still can say they’ve managed to do it in a vessel they built by hand.
But that was Ken Warby, who passed away peacefully on Feb. 20 from Alzheimer’s disease.
Warby held the world record for the fastest speed achieved on water, a result he first achieved in 1977 when he raced across Blowering Dam in southern New South Wales (NSW) in a hand-built boat.
On Nov. 20 1977, he clocked a speed of 464 km/h. A year later, he beat his own record when he registered a speed of 511 km/h.
Since then, two people have tried to beat his record but both died in their attempts.
Sporting organisations, local businesses and friends and family in both Australia and the United States have spent the week paying tribute.
The Australian National Maritime Museum, where Warby’s record-breaking boat is displayed, praised his extraordinary achievement “powered by ambition, common sense and a tiny budget”.
Fans hung an Australian flag by Blowering Dam in his memory.
“He was a one-off type of guy and very brave, and in the end very proud of what he'd done,” said Sue Ransom, his former jet car racing partner.
Ransom said Warby once offered to help her achieve the women’s water speed record.
“I answered, ‘I’d be after the world record',” Ransom said, although in the end she declined as she was wary of the pursuit’s high fatality rate.
Warby was born in Newcastle, NSW in 1939 and grew up racing speed boats on Lake Macquarie.
His childhood hero was Donald Campbell, who held the world water speed record from 1955 to 1967.
A mechanical engineer by trade, Warby built his record-breaking wooden speed boat in a shed by himself.
Warby raised the money by selling intricate landscapes he painted onto planks of wood, carved into the shape of the Australian continent.
Warby also crafted small toy boats and saved the profits to build his vessel, The Spirit of Australia.
Ransom said she believed it was Warby’s long-term experience racing boats that allowed him to sharpen his intuition for water racing and the conditions required.
While other racers would wait for glassy water, Warby raced with a swell, which he felt would release some of the air pressure from the high speed and keep him safe.
In the end, this intuition, combined with his engineering, determination and ability to stay affable even under pressure, allowed him to go faster than any other human being has ever gone on water.
Later, Warby moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, where he enjoyed racing speed boats for fun with his wife Barbara, who survives him.
Warby often returned to Australia, where he was building another boat to break the world record.
In recent years, his Alzheimer’s slowed down his travel, but J MacCracken, his former crew chief and close friend, said Warby never let go of his sense of humour.
On a recent cruise, it took a while for Warby to realise he was on a boat.
When Warby did, he turned to his friend and quipped: “It’s not going too fast. I’m going to speak to the captain to see if we can speed this one up.”
