Poole: Record-breaking hydroplane reunited with trophy

The daughter of speed record breaker Donald Campbell said her late father “would be delighted” to see his boat reunited with the trophy he once held.

At a Royal Motor Yacht Club event in Poole on Friday, Gina Campbell, said it was “another important milestone in the history of Bluebird K7”.

Mr Campbell piloted the craft to seven water-speed world records before he died when it crashed on Coniston Water in 1967.

The boat was recovered from the lake in 2001 and restored.

The trophy was made in 1870 for the then Prince of Wales, as a cup for schooner racing in the UK, replacing the Americas Cup which had been lost to the USA previously.

In 1937, it was given to the Royal Motor Yacht Club and has been presented as the World’s Water Speed Trophy ever since, awarded to the fastest boat on water.

The trophy had been in Australia with the family of the current holder, Ken Warby, who broke the record in 1978 by travelling at 317mph (510km/h).

After his death last year, the family allowed the Dorset yacht club to collect the trophy from Australia and return it to its home in the UK.

Commodore of the club, Graham Turner, said: “To have both Bluebird K7 and the trophy together for the first time in more than 50 years is a great honour for the club and its members.”

Following celebrations at the yacht club, Bluebird K7 will travel to Beaulieu Motor Museum on Sunday to be briefly on show to the public.

It will then return to its permanent home at the Ruskin Museum in Cumbria.

Donald Campbell set his seven water-speed world records between 1955 and 1964.

He achieved a further world best on land in 1964 – becoming the only man to set fastest times on water and land in the same year.

He was killed when Bluebird somersaulted on 4 January 1967, during a bid to break his own record of 276mph (444km/h).

The wreckage was raised by a dive team on 8 March 2001.

Campbell’s body was recovered on 28 May that year and he was buried in the village on 12 September.