DAVID Warby knows exactly what he and the Spirit of Australia II team need for success at Blowering Dam this weekend.
“We’re looking for good weather,” he said.
“It was dismal last time, with the wind and rain, so we’re looking for much better weather this time.”
Warby and his jet-powered boat last came down to Blowering in May, and the weekend was basically a write-off due to the wind and rain.
“Any crosswind will blow the boat off course,” he said.
“It’s too risky to take on a crosswind; you’ve got to have it as safe as possible. To have good runs you’ve got to have good weather
The good thing is that he and his team have had plenty of time to check out the boat in which he is hoping to set a new world water speed record.
“We’ve had time to go over it, check it out and make sure nothing was damaged,” he said.
“We’ve done a couple of ground engine runs, and everything is really good; perfect.”
He is comfortable that the boat is well capable of running at speeds of well over 400km/h.
“I’m reasonably comfortable with the set-up of the boat, we just need good weather for good handling. We’ve had a few good runs with this set up and we know where it’s at.”
Warby is aiming to beat the record of 511.11km/h set by his father Ken in Spirit of Australia on Blowering in 1978.
His last successful run at Blowering was in November last year, although it was interrupted when the boat struck three birds, one of which unfortunately went into the engine.
He won’t attempt the record this weekend, but he has hinted that a shot at it is not far away.
Meanwhile, his is travelling to Tumut today (Friday), and will launch from The Pines on Saturday and Sunday.
He is looking forward to seeing his many friends and supporters.
“I’m looking forward to a bacon and egg roll from the Tumut Rotary folk, and catching up with them and Darryl Hursey, and the people from National Cranes, Talbingo Tourist Park, True North helicopters, the RFS; they’re lovely people and good friends,” he said.
Transport for NSW has issued a Navigation Restriction notice to allow Warby to conduct the trials between 8am and 4pm each day. They will declare an exclusion zone for Blowering Dam which will prevent the movement of other vessels while the exclusion zone operates.
