Australian Ken Warby, who holds the unlimited world water speed record at 317.6 mph, died Feb. 20. He was 83.
Warby is the only person to design, build and drive a boat to an unlimited world water speed record. A mechanical engineer from Newcastle, New South Wales, he spent four years building Spirit of Australia in his backyard.
The Spirit of Australia II team said in a statement that Warby captured many Australian speed records before setting the world mark in 1977. In 1978 he took his second and current unlimited record of 317.6 mph.
Warby was named a member of the Most Excellent Order by Queen Elizabeth II for services to powerboating. He also earned two Union Internationale Motonautique gold medals. Warby was one of the first 200 inductees into the National Sporting Hall of Fame and the only powerboat racer inducted.
