If you are considering going on a jetboat ride and what to know a little bit more about the activity you are getting into, here are some interesting facts about jetboats that you probably don’t know:
- Sir William Hamilton was a New Zealand engineer who developed the modern jetboat. He is also the founder of CWF Hamilton Ltd, the world’s leading water jet manufacturing company. Bill Hamilton, as he is commonly known by, developed the water jet in 1954 to easily maneuver through the fast flowing shallow rivers of New Zealand.
- The first workshop for the jetboat was named Irishman Creek Station in 1924. It was in this station that Bill Hamilton led the hydro electric era by having their own turbine to produce electricity for the house and workshops.
- The Jetboat Association of Australia was formed in 1971. This is a premier and the official jetboating club of Australia for over 40 years now. Jetboaters from all over the world can be members and the club has shared a strong affiliation with ‘JetBoating New Zealand’ for many years now.
- Jetboats have no rotating external parts. They do not use propellers to function. A jetboat is propelled by a jet of water emitted from the back of the boat; it draws water from beneath the boat into a pump-jet inside the boat, which is then forced out through a nozzle at the stern. As opposed to conventional water vehicles that uses a propeller, the jetboat’s engineering proved to be more convenient in traversing through shallow waterways.
- 1977 Sir Edmund Hillary led the first jetboat expedition titled, “Ocean to the Sky”, from the mouth of Ganges River to its source.
- The biggest jet-driven crafts can be located in the military, or in the high speed passenger/car ferry industry. The biggest jet propelled vessel is the Valour class frigates (120m long), this is a German made vessel.
- Queenstown, New Zealand, was where the jetboat was first conceptualized. It claims to be the jetboat capital of the world. It is in this country that the first endurance race that consisted of several days of river racing was held in 1970. New Zealand has managed to pioneer most jetboat activities.
- The world’s “fastest man on water” is Australian Ken Warby with his jetboat “Spirit of Australia” in Blowering Dam NSW on October 8, 1978. His record breaking speed of 317.60/511.11km/h has been undefeated for 25 years now, and Ken is intent on breaking his own speed achievement. He is finalizing construction of his new boat that will also be run at Blowering Dam.
- There are two types of jet engines- the inboard and the outboard. The jet system consumes 30% of engine horsepower when taking in water and projecting it out the back.
- The Quicksilver Water Speed Challenge in Australia is the most dangerous water race in the world.