The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record of 511 km/h (317 mph) was achieved in 1978.
- From 1909 to 1927 the record was an unofficial listing from the organisers of powerboat races.
- In 1928 the record category was officially established.
- From 1930 the rules of the record stipulated that a craft must make two runs over a timed kilometre course in opposite directions, with the record being the average speed of the two runs.
- The record is currently ratified by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM).
With an approximate fatality rate of 85% since 1940, the record is one of the sporting world's most hazardous competitions.
Read more about Water Speed Record: Before 1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, Boat Design Changes, 1940s, 1950s. Slo-Mo-Shun and Bluebird: Propriders To Turbojets, 1967, 1970s To The Present, Current Projects, Record Holders
Famous quotes containing the words water, speed and/or record:
“Communism, my friend, is more than Marxism, just as Catholicism ... is more than the Roman Curia. There is a mystique as well as a politique.... Catholics and Communists have committed great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)
“Spig Wead: I’ve been thinking what a heel I’ve been about you and about my own kids. I don’t know, when I do something, I go all the way. Living. Gambling. Flying. I tap myself out. I guess that’s the way I want it to be. Maybe even the way I am.
Minne Wead: Star-spangled Spig. Damn the martinis, full speed ahead and don’t give up the ship.”
—Frank Fenton, William Wister Haines, co-scenarist, and John Ford. Spig Wead (John Wayne)
“We have what I would call educational genocide. I’m concerned about learning totally, but I’m immersed in the disastrous record of how many black kids are going into science. They are very few and far between. I’ve said that when I see more black students in the laboratories than I see on the football field, I’ll be happy.”
—Jewel Plummer Cobb (b. 1924)