Against The Flow - the Hamilton Jet tale
EngineBlockTV
156,496 views
This is the story of the evolution of the the jet boat thanks to the passion and drive of New Zealander Bill Hamilton who, after building a successful engineering business set, about finding a way to boat upstream in shallow waters, so typically found in his country's river systems.
But there is more to this man, who was knighted and inducted into the business and sporting Halls of Fame, a not so well known fact is that Bill Hamilton was the first man in Australasia to break the 100mph barrier on land, way back in 1925. He also won the Brookland Easter Races in 1930, beating the then world land speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell in a self prepared Bently. It's just the tip of an iceberg that optimises the Kiwi "No 8 fencing wire mentality" - the ability to build something from nothing.
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20 Comments
Smacked Mt Everest over
Smashed a jet boat up the Ganges
Drove a fucking Massey Ferguson to the South Pole.
Has to be up there near the top of blokes dedicating their lives to doing cool shit.
Against The Flow - the Hamilton Jet tale
EngineBlockTV
156,496 views
This is the story of the evolution of the the jet boat thanks to the passion and drive of New Zealander Bill Hamilton who, after building a successful engineering business set, about finding a way to boat upstream in shallow waters, so typically found in his country's river systems.
But there is more to this man, who was knighted and inducted into the business and sporting Halls of Fame, a not so well known fact is that Bill Hamilton was the first man in Australasia to break the 100mph barrier on land, way back in 1925. He also won the Brookland Easter Races in 1930, beating the then world land speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell in a self prepared Bently. It's just the tip of an iceberg that optimises the Kiwi "No 8 fencing wire mentality" - the ability to build something from nothing.
EngineBlockTV is a Black Magic Media Production
http://www.blackmagicmedia.com.au/
Find us on Facebook:
Facebook: BlackMagicMedia
Follow the Facebook pages featuring our content:
Facebook: TargaNZ
Facebook: NZJBRRA
Facebook: otagorally
Facebook: SilverFernRally
And don't forget to subscribe:
His beloved boat he had was sold that week to a guy at work and he found what may have well been one of the boats Hamilton produced that had a 6 Cyl Holden and a single stage jet. He had that a couple of years then a new hull and trailer was bought home.
He had a 308 Holden he had rebuilt for it and that went in the new one with a 3 stage Jet. He put a lot of innovations into that boat and one was a Huge fuel tank so he could go anywhere for the weekend and never run out or have to worry about Jerry cans. I remember several times the guys at service stations filling it up and then asking how much did this thing hold? I don't know but it was a LOT.
I remember him and his mate working on that putting it together for many weekends and me having got into the fibre glass dust and nearly scratching my skin off. I went on the first test run with it with his mate and they were both amazed at what they had built. Was very fast and pulled hard and scared the hell out of me as an 11 YO boy. I remember the only dissapontment dad had with it was that due to the hull design he picked, he couldn't get it to run in less than 6" of water and he was hoping for 4. :0)
Very minor problem in the end.
He was in the Sydney jet boat Club and we went on so many rallies and weekend camps in that thing.
He had to sell that boat after my mother died and he struggled to take care of us kids on his own but got back on his feet after a while and wanted to buy his boat back. He went to the guy that bought it off him and saw it sitting out the back of the block of flats where he lived. We walked up to it and saw the cover on it had perished and broken down and the boat was full to the top with filthy water.
I remember Dad being down and depressed for weeks and couldn't stop talking about how his beautiful boat was now garbage. I think he went back for another look to see if it could be saved but decided there was nothing worth while left.
He never bought another one and whenever the subject of boats comes up he still reminisces about his Red Rocket.