Originally Posted by Blowtorch

Right now Ken Warby is waiting for all the "GUNNAS" of the world to open their throttles as wide as their mouths.
Nigel McKnight (England) has spent 15 years talking about doing it and has ,according to his website,raised almost 2 million pounds (3.5 million dollars) in cash and kind and still no boat. Nice income to live on though.
Russ Wicks,"the media whore" (USA) has only been talking for 6 years,got a lot of press (hence the tittle) and all he has is a modell and pretty pictures in his computor hard drive.
There are a couple of others with modells and drawings that look like their designers have a death wish and not much knowlege of what it takes to really get the job done.
And I built a boat to defend against these wannabees........Scheeesh!!!!!!
Still I would like to break the record one more time just for fun and if ever Blowering Dam fills up fully again and I can sit in the boat and look down that nine mile straightway again,with my hands on the wheel and my foot on the throttle,then watch out world ,cause I will be in the zone.
In the mean time I am run ragged keeping the whip out on 'HAGGINS hERO'S",a nuttier bunch I have never met,but I am having a great time and I love them all,even Haggin.
I also have a fleet of Australian vintage boats that I exhibit at a few vintage events and on my off weekends I sleep.
So to answer the question of when????????
You will all be the first to know here on OSO when I figure it out.
So all you oSO nuts be nice to each other .Boating is fun.
K.W.
I just wish there wre some REAL challengers out there that do more than just TALK.

Originally Posted by BigDadys93x

Has anybody heard weather or not he will ever try to beat his own record yet or not? I noticed his web site hasnt had any updated info in a long time. Hasnt he been testing his boat for like 3 years or so? Every time i read an article about the him or the world record all he does is put everyone elses designs down and brags about how his boat is the only WSC boat built and running currently. I will give the man all the credit in the world he is the fastest man on water and has been for almost 30 years. I know I wouldnt have big enough stones to go that fast on the water. Lets see him do it again! I think he can but the fact is he isnt getting any younger and the boat is just getting older to!

Originally Posted by 3600cat

Don't have to run it yet he's king. Once is enough Ken.

Originally Posted by Ron P

When I arrived Wednesday afternoon, everyone was sitting around and swapping racing stories over a beer. The guy next to me had a heavy Australian accent that sounded somewhat familiar. Under the dark glasses and black hat was none other than the most Extreme Boater of all time, Ken Warby the Water Speed Record Holder. God I love having a tape recorder on me when I need it.

Setting the World Water Speed Record has been Ken’s life passion. His mind was made up from the time he was eight years old and glued a CO2 cartridge to a model boat and blew it across a neighbor’s pool. Thirty years later he claimed ownership of the record and lived to tell the story.

EBM – Ken, I guess I should introduce you as the most extreme boater of all time. What is your record, 317?
KW – 317.6 to be exact. And we set that record 27 years ago.
EBM – I’m sure that type of effort cost a small fortune. Where were you living and what were you doing to make money back then?
KW - I was living in Australia and doing oil paintings in shopping centers.
EBM – You made enough money painting murals to take on a World Speed Record project?
KW – How much do you think the first boat cost to build and run?
EBM – I can only guess, three or four hundred thousand dollars?
KW – Not even close.
EBM – More than that?
KW – Far less, we built that boat under a tree in the backyard of a rented house. We had a tarp to throw over it at night, that was about it. It was made of plywood and then wrapped in fiberglass. We bought three jet engines at a government auction. I got two J34 engines for $200 and a third for $65. We put together the entire boat for less than $10,000.
EBM – So you set the record of 317.6 using a $100 jet engine?
KW – Not exactly. We set the Australian Speed Record of 288 using one of those engines but it was flat out. A year later, after the Air Force mechanic’s academy rebuilt the $65 engine for me, we set the World Record at 317.6 and she had more to go.
EBM – I understand you have a new boat built and your looking to better your existing record.
KW – Yes it’s over in Australia, the problem is the water level is too low at the dam that we use for the record attempts and there’s just no room to run.
EBM – I bet the new boat cost more than $10,000 to build.
KW – Hell, I paid that much for the rudder on the new boat.
EBM – Have you tested the new boat?
KW – Yes we have a river that we run on but speeds are held to around 200mph because it’s a narrow river and there’s no room for error.
EBM – Are you ready to go faster?
KW – Yes we just made some changes to the shape of the sponsons and we are ready to go faster.
EBM – What are you using for power this time.
KW – Same motor as last time, a Westinghouse J34 that makes about 3500lbs of thrust.
EBM – Any safety equipment this time?
KW – Last time I didn’t even have a seat belt. The new boat has a F16 canopy, safety cell, 5-point harness, onboard air, fire extinguishers, and a radio so I can talk to my team, we really went all out on the new boat.
EBM – Now for the $64,000 question: You’ve held the record for 27 years, two guys have died trying to better your speed, there’s some talk of a challenger but no boat has been built as of yet. So why would you risk your life again to better your own record?
KW – I get a real kick out of the designing and building of the craft, you could put a trained monkey in to drive it. We have until October of this year to set the record or we have to get the boat out of Australia. If we don’t have time I’ll bring it back to my home in Cincinnati. Maybe I’ll put it on a pole in front of my house as a monument to stupidity. I’m going to be 66 years old next month and I have a deal worked out with Howard Arneson, I’m not going to retire until he does, and he’s in his mid 80s. In fact he and I have spent a lot of time talking about building a boat using his surface drive to set the propeller driven speed record.