Visitors to Blowering Dam this weekend will be treated to a spectacle seen only once before in living memory, when the son of Ken Warby begins his campaign to beat his father’s long-standing water speed record.
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In a first, David Warby will bring his Spirit of Australia II boat to the place where his father Ken set the world water speed record twice: first on the 20 November 1977 at a speed of 288.60 mph (464.46 km/h).
Ken beat the record set in 1967 by American Lee Taylor by a little over 3 mph; Lee Taylor died three years later on Lake Tahoe trying to reclaim it.
Ken did it again on 8 October 1978; becoming the only human to travel over 300 miles per hour and live to tell the tale.
Nearly 40 years later his record still stands at 317.58 miles per hour (511.10 kilometres per hour).
With the anniversary approaching, son David is hoping to his life’s quest to finally beat his father’s incredible record, can be achieved in the anniversary year.
NSW Maritime Boat Safety Officer Jim Canning says spectators and dam users will see something different this weekend.
“We will be partially closing parts of Blowering Dam over the weekend in short periods as David Warby conducts a series of trial runs,” Mr Canning said.
The partial closure will see a temporary halt to all fishing and boating to maximise the safety aspect of Mr Warby’s attempts.
”We can’t have any ripples or wash from boats which could have affect a boat travelling several hundred kilometres an hour,” Mr Canning said.
Joining his son at Blowering Dam, will be record holder Ken Warby himself, as an official plaque will be unveiled at popular camping and boat-launching site, The Pines.
Rotary Tumut spokesman Rowan Bieske says the event will allow spectators a rare chance to witness David Warby prepare for a world record attempt in his boat, aptly named the Spirit of Australia II.
“Events begin on Friday at 8.30am when the Spirit of Australia II will be positioned at The Pines, then after safety checks, we will have the official opening of the Ken Warby Memorial at midday,” Mr Bieske said.
Partial closures will occur on Saturday and Sunday to allow for test runs to occur from 10am and 2pm.