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Bluebird K7

Donald Campbell's water speed record of 276.33 mph on Lake Dumbleyung on 31 December 1964, printed by the BBC and by the Campbell family site.

Also known as Bluebird
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Top speed

Published as 276.33 mphPublished as 276.33 mphPublished as 276.33 mph

Two-way water speed record, Bluebird K7, Donald Campbell, Lake Dumbleyung, 31 December 1964.

OfficialBBC News (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 4.3× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • 1.4 football fields a secondConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 12 h 32 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Bluebird K7 is fast on water by getting as much of the hull out of the water as the design allows. Water is dense, so drag arrives early, and the record is a timed pass.

  1. Lift the hull

    A planing hull, a hydroplane or a jet of air under the boat cuts the wetted area. What remains is spray, stability and whether the engine can still breathe at that speed.

  2. A measured pass

    Bluebird K7's page cites the record run, not a story about a faster unofficial day. The conditions say what was timed.

Nearby on this list: Spirit of Australia.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 445km/h276.33mph124m/s240knRanked figure

    Two-way water speed record, Bluebird K7, Donald Campbell, Lake Dumbleyung, 31 December 1964.

    Official
    BBC News (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Driver
Donald Campbell
Boat
Bluebird K7
Water
Lake Dumbleyung, Western Australia
Date
31 December 1964

Context

Background

The BBC's On This Day page prints 276.33 mph (444.71 km/h) for Donald Campbell in Bluebird on Lake Dumbleyung on 31 December 1964. Gina Campbell's account of the Australian runs prints the same day, the same 276.33 mph, and names Bluebird K7.

Guinness rounds that record to 276.3 mph (444.7 km/h). The stored unit is miles per hour, the unit both detailed accounts lead with. The kilometre conversion is not stored. A 1959 Coniston figure mentioned beside the 1964 mark was not given a second independent printing of the exact speed, so it is absent.

Head to head

Compare Bluebird K7

Open the speed race

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.