Flying return for historic Bluebird at Bewl Water
Crowds gathered as a legendary hydroplane powerboat, which once sped across a lake at more than 130mph, returned to the water.
Sir Malcolm Campbell’s recordsetting Bluebird K3 reached speeds of up 52mph when it was exhibited at Bewl Water in Lamberhurst on Tuesday.
In the 1930s, the 23ft-long craft set three world water-speed records: two at Lake Maggiore on the Swiss-Italian border in September 1937, and the third at Lake Hallwyl in Switzerland in August 1938, where it reached 130.91mph.
Bluebird K3, now lovingly restored, is part of the FoulkesHalbard Collection, housed at Filching Manor Motor Museum, near Eastbourne, but has been appearing at the Lamberhurst reservoir since 1992.
Karl Foulkes-Halbard, the current owner, said: “We have had a very successful test. We’ve done eight runs and reached a speed of 52mph. It’s very nice to be back at Bewl Water, the team has been fantastic over the years.” The boat was acquired by the family in 1988, and had previously been on show at Thorpe Park, but was in poor condition. Andy Taylor, an engineer who has been working on Bluebird for 29 years, said: “This is a craft we wanted to get working, but we’ve kept it as authentic and original as we can. A lot of the mechanics were removed after it had finished its world water speed attempts. “Most of the engine and gearbox were put into the K4 version, so when we found the hull it was an empty wooden one and a lot of the engineering work had to be replaced.
“After all these years we’ve finally managed to get it in the water, and it’s doing what we wanted it to do.
“I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved.”
Sir Malcolm, who was born in Chislehurst, died of a stroke in 1948 aged 63.
His son, Donald Campbell, continued in his father’s footsteps, setting many more land and water speed records, but was killed in January 1967 while piloting Bluebird K7, a successor to the K3, in an attempt to break 300mph at Coniston Water. The craft somersaulted and sank.