Force of Nature

Series 1 | Episode 8 | Campbell's Final Run

Watch this episode now on 4oD cambell's speed boat

When, in 1964, Donald Campbell broke the land speed record, reaching 403mph, and reset the water speed record to 276mph, he became the only man to hold the double - an achievement that has never been matched.

But he wanted to push the new record further and travel the same speed on water his father had travelled on land - 300mph.

At 6am on 4 January 1967, Campbell made his first high speed run - but only made 297mph. Campbell brought Bluebird round and just four minutes after his first run he began to accelerate for a second run.

As Campbell gained speed he complained on the radio of poor visibility caused by the boat's instability on the water. At 328mph Bluebird's nose began to rise 45 degrees out of the water. The boat then cartwheeled down the lake, travelling hundreds of metres and disintegrating. It finally sunk, taking Campbell with it.

Campbell had taken a risk that had not paid off. Ironically, in doing so he achieved his ambition, exceeding the golden speed of 300mph.

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