Ken Warby, the Fastest Man on Water, returns after 25 years to the place where he set the World Water Speed Record in 1978 - Blowering Dam in New South Wales, Australia. With a newly designed and more powerful speedboat he will try to break his own record.

The success story of Ken Warby started on 8 October 1978 when he set the world record. The “Spirit of Australia”, powered by a 6000 horse power Westinghouse jet engine, doubled the existing record of 162 mph by reaching an official speed of 317.60 mph. The record runs were made without the use of an after burner, and indeed, using less than full power.

Within the past 25 years Ken used his experience and knowledge to build a new boat in his garage in Cincinnati, USA. It has been pronounced complete on 23 December 1999. To guarantee that he will have the power to go faster than with the Spirit of Australia, Ken has installed a 9000 horsepower Westinghouse jet engine. The 50% increase in power is due to the use of an after burner in the new boat. The rest is similar to the "Spirit of Australia". Though 20 years down the track, carbon fibre has also gone into the new boat. But it is a foot and a half longer now, measuring 28.5 feet.

It is most likely that the speed record attempt will again be run at Blowering Dam. The only factor that may jeopardise the use of the site is the water level. In fact, Ken announced that “the record attempt was planned for this year, but due to the low water level it is postponed until September 2004”.

David Warby, Ken’s brother, will also run the new boat, and it is planed that once Ken has broken the long standing record, David will take the record further and keep the Warby name with the WWSR.The people of Taree, New South Wales, have offered their support for Dave and Ken. This assistance will make it possible to bring the New Boat to Taree for demonstration runs.

Schenker Australia supports Ken in his project, taking care of the Customs and Quarantine Clearance including Australia Customs Service, the Wharf Examination and obtaining a Permission to Import from the Department of Transport.

Schenker Australia was established in 1962 in Sydney and provides a complete range of international air and sea freight forwarding, and integrated logistics services from its own premises in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and a subsidiary office in Auckland, New Zealand.

With annual sales of 6.9 billion euros, 38,000 employees and about 1,100 offices around the world, the Stinnes subsidiary Schenker is one of the world's leading providers of integrated logistics services, offering land transport, air and sea freight as well as comprehensive logistics solutions and global supply chain management from a single source. Stinnes is a Deutsche Bahn AG company.

Sydney, 10/28/2003

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