In 1978, an Australian named Ken Warby drove a boat called Spirit of Australia across Blowering Dam at 317 mph. That’s the fastest anyone has ever traveled on water and lived to brag about it. The record has stood for nearly half a century, which is unusual for any speed record.
What makes the story even better is that Warby built the boat himself in his backyard. He used hand tools, borrowed parts and a surplus jet engine. He shaped the hull from wood and fiberglass. At the time, most rivals were teams with huge budgets - and the guy in the home workshop beat them all.
The trick at extreme speeds is that water becomes almost like concrete. A wave hit at 300 mph can flip a boat into the air. Warby’s hull was designed to lift just enough that almost the entire bottom skipped above the surface. Only the propeller and the very back stayed in contact with the lake.
