The Physics of Thrust Water Speed Hydrofoil (WSH)
Speaker: Andrew Bradley, Chief Engineer ThrustWSH
The Thrust team is renowned for its world‑record achievements on land - having set four outright land speed records, including Thrust2 at 633.468 mph and the supersonic ThrustSSC at 763.032 mph (Mach 1.02), as well as the JCB Dieselmax diesel record at 350.092 mph.
But in 2020, the project turned its attention to a new frontier: the World Water Speed Record (WSR).
Although the team had decades of experience with high‑speed land vehicles, water presented an entirely different challenge. Inspired by Speed King John Cobb and designer Reid Railton, the initial goal was to explore Railton’s unbuilt follow‑on concept to the Crusader jet boat. A large‑scale remote‑control model demonstrated that the design could plane, remain stable, and achieve high speed - offering a tantalising glimpse of what might be possible.
The history of WSR attempts underscores the extreme danger involved. Only 14 teams have ever mounted a challenge, with a fatality rate close to 50%. Since the current record of 317.596 mph, set by Ken Warby in 1978, two further challengers - Lee Taylor and Craig Arfons -have lost their lives.
Because of this, the ThrustWSH project is committed to unprecedented levels of research, data gathering, modelling, and risk mitigation before any full‑scale craft is built. With access to advanced technologies and engineering resources unavailable to earlier record attempts, the goal is to create a radically innovative hydrofoil‑based craft capable of safely and sustainably challenging this long‑standing record.
This lecture will explore the physics, engineering principles, and R&D journey behind the ThrustWSH project - offering a rare insight into how world‑class engineers approach one of the most dangerous and technically demanding speed records on Earth.
Learn more about the project here.
About the Speaker
Andrew Bradley served as a Chief Design Engineer at Rolls‑Royce from 1996 to 2019, working on major aero‑engine programmes and advanced research initiatives. Over his career, he held roles including Design Manager and Noise Research Engineer, having joined Rolls‑Royce in 1976. His technical leadership was recognised with appointment as a Rolls‑Royce Engineering Associate Fellow.
Andrew holds an MEng from Durham University, is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and is a Chartered Engineer.
He is now Chief Engineer of the ThrustWSH (Thrust Water Speed Hydrofoil) world water speed record project, continuing the pioneering legacy of Thrust’s record‑breaking history.
Please register
Places are limited so please register for this talk as it helps with the rooming and refreshment arrangements and allows us to contact you should there be any changes to the talk details.
Venue
Doors open at the venue at 18:30 with the talk beginning at 19:00. Please enter the Museum of Making via the Lombe Door.
There will be a bar available for the purchase of refreshments.
There is no parking at the venue but there is parking within 2-3 minutes walking distance. The bus station is 10 minutes walk away and the train station 15 minutes walk away.