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Image Not Available for Ticket to SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA night
Ticket to SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA night
Image Not Available for Ticket to SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA night

Ticket to SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA night

Date1978
Object number00037233
NameTicket
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 76 x 113 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Susan Bridie
DescriptionA ticket to a 'SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA' night with Ken Warby. TheText reads "Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto 'SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA' night with Ken Warby (World Water Speed Record Holder) on Saturday Night, 14 January, 1978 at 7.30P.M."

HistorySPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA is an Australian designed and built jet-powered, wooden, 3-point hydroplane that has held the world water-speed record since 1977. Breaking both the 300 mph and 500 km/h barriers, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA raised the world record to 511kph in 1978 at Blowering Dam near Tumut NSW.

Ken Warby, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's designer, builder and driver, achieved his world water-speed records on a shoestring budget. Warby built his hydroplane over two years in the backyard of his suburban Sydney home, using stringers, brackets, stock bits of timber, plywood, screws, epoxy and a military-surplus jet engine that cost $65. He eventually launched the boat in 1974.
SignificanceOn the date of this event Ken Warby held the water speed record at 464.46 kilometers per hour (288.60 miles per hour) which he had set on 20 November 1977. It was not until 8 October 1978 that he would set the record of 511.10 kilometers per hour (288 miles per hour) that still stands today.