Bluebird K7 Festival – Safety Cover by Kevin C

Bluebird K7 Festival – Safety Cover by Kevin C

The Bluebird festival ran between 11th and 17th May. Swim Safety were contracted to provide the safety kayakers for this event. I was one of just 10 kayakers to be selected to work it, a great honour and a privilege, I think.  

On day one, we arrived for a briefing, where the objectives for the week were set out.  

Objective one was to get K7 back on the water. K3, Malcolm Campbell’s boat, was also part of the festival. 

Objective 2 was to get K7 back on the ‘plane’. This means the boat lifts itself above the water and effectively flies over the surface. 

Our role was to keep the public safe and to help keep the course clear. We would not need to be on the water when the boats were off it, so there was a fair bit of waiting around.  

Our kayak team got on the water whenever either K3 or K7 were being launched. This was quite a complicated procedure; K7 weighed about 2.5 tons, and K3 in excess of 4 tons. We had about 2Km of course to cover, broken into 3 areas: the bay, the sailing club and a campsite at the far end. Each day, our teams set off to cover our allotted areas, and we soon learned that the majority of spectators were in eager anticipation of seeing the boats in action. However, as expected, a few randoms encroached onto the course and needed to be asked to move away and stay in the allotted safe areas. 

Over the course of the week, we had a number of sessions, where the boats were launched, but failed to perform as expected. To be fair, K3 is 90 years old, and K7 sank in 1967 and was at the bottom of the lake until 2021 before being restored. It isn’t unreasonable to find that these ladies have a few aches and pains that need to be fettled. We, as kayakers, were made to feel that we were valued members of the overall team; there was no snobbery or egos present at all. I was particularly impressed by the kind and generously engaging nature of the Australian, Dave Warby, the K7pilot. His father is the current world water speed record holder, and Dave has built Spirit of Australia, which aims to beat his father’s current record.  

Over the days, we were all welcomed into the team during daily briefings and were addressed by Campbell family members. Their support and sheer emotion wafted through the briefings. We were left in no doubt about what this event meant to them, and that wave through the whole team, we, the kayakers, were equally hooked.  

Day after day, the boats were brought out, sometimes huffed and puffed and needed further fettling. We were also held up dramatically by the ever-unreliable Mother Nature. Neither boat could perform safely above a force 3 wind. There were also a number of requirements by the insurance provider. K7 had been insured for 3 million pounds. The insurers insisted that before a full run, the pilot had to get the feel of the vessel after any fettling had been done. That meant turning a couple of ‘doughnuts’ and getting the boat up and down off the plane, to get the feel of it. After days of trials and tribulations, K7 finally made it up onto the plane. This was a very brief burst, with the pilot shutting her down again. I was there to witness this brief burst, and the crowd gave out a huge roar of approval. Later, back on land, I saw Dave the pilot, trying to dry himself off under a hand dryer in the loo. I asked him, what happened? He was quite open and said two things. Firstly, the canopy misting over, not being able to see where you are going at over 100 miles per hour, is simply a no-no. Also at that point of planning along the course, the wind had picked up, making the run too dangerous. 

Over the next two days, Mother Nature showed us all that she was still the boss and made conditions unsafe to run the boat up on the plane. Finally, the time was called on Sunday, and K7 was pulled back off the water. Then the teams could celebrate and share the drama and equal disappointment of the event.  

Everybody who was part of the team had their photo taken with K7; we, as kayakers, had our team photo taken with K7, and later we did a debrief. This was mostly a warm appreciation of the work everybody did to make the event take place. We reflected on a very unique event. For us, a hugely different event with Swim Safety. I personally was very happy to be part of this team. I was proud and privileged to be selected as one of just 10 kayakers to be part of the team. After the final address for Malcolm Campbell’s nephew, and each of the team being gifted a print of K7, I left, satisfied, proud and yes, a little emotional. 

Kevin