Race on to finish hydroplane

The race is on for Ledge Point "speed freak" Mark Motzouris as he tries to get his K7 Bluebird replica across the line for New Year's Eve - and fittingly, it is going down to the wire.

The 53-year-old fabricator has been commissioned by the Dumbleyung community to build the replica for the 50th anniversary of British superstar Donald Campbell's world water-speed record.

Campbell captured the world's imagination on New Year's Eve in 1964 when he became the fastest man on water in his jet-powered hydroplane on Lake Dumbleyung. After setting a new world land-speed record in July, Campbell was determined to break the water-speed record before the year ended, and he made it with mere hours to spare.

He died in a horror crash in the K7 Bluebird in 1967, but he remains the only person to set both records in the same year.

Mr Motzouris, whose father set his own water speed record in the 1970s, said he was honoured to play a part in preserving Campbell's memory.

"As a young lad growing up in a boat-building factory in South Africa, I followed the story of Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald," he said. "I'm passionate about it and I think that's why this project fell into place for me. I think my dad and Donald Campbell will clink their glasses up in heaven when I finish this boat."

Using photographs for reference, Mr Motzouris has designed and built the replica from the ground up at his Statewide Boating workshop.

There is still bodywork to be done before he can give it a coat of paint but, like Campbell, he is determined to beat the clock.

For details of the 50th anniversary celebrations , visit dumbleyungbluebird.com.au.