Posted by Claire on December 21, 2003 at 01:39:20 from 216.145.183.18 user Claire_Morgan.
In Reply to: Re: BLUEBIRD AT HOLLY HOWE posted by John Nichols on December 18, 2003 at 18:18:31:
Thank you John for moving the pictures to your site.
Bluebird K7 was the boat's name and designation. It was on the verge of setting a new World Water Speed Record, which are always determined by an average of two runs. Coniston is a little short for speeds over 300 miles per hour. Bluebird was on it's return run when it struck the wake from the first one. Just to tie this into Tarboard, this occured near Peel Island. There is much speculation as to what happened next. The inquest last summer after Donald Campbell's body was finally recovered indicated that the boat hitting the waves exceeded the margin of safety that the bow could lift before getting airborne. The bow lifted, and in hydroplane racing terms, there was a blowover. Hitting the wake may have been cause enough for the accident, but there is also the possibility that the front engine mount broke, causing Bluebird's hull to oscilate around the gyroscopic effect of the engine.
For those interested in more details, there is an excellent discussion group at
Speedrecordgroup@yahoogroups.com
http://www.bluebirdproject.com/
is the web site of Bill Smith who raised Bluebird, and there is general information at
http://website.lineone.net/%7edonaldcampbell/home.html
Claire