- Read more about Mark and Hilary Motzouris from Statewide Boating who recently visited Dumbleyung and are building the Bluebird replica.
- Donald Campbell's daughter Gina will be made an honorary citizen of the Shire of Dumbleyung on New Years Eve.
- Gina Campbell recently visited Dumbleyung School to talk to the students about her father's world record.
DUMBLEYUNG is abuzz with excitement as preparations are made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of an event which put the town on the world map.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
In 1964, British man Donald Campbell made headlines when he broke the world water speed record in his craft - the Bluebird.
Campbell had broken the world land speed record in Lake Eyre, South Australia earlier in the year and with just hours to spare, clinched the world water speed record on Lake Dumbleyung in his jet propelled hydroplane boat to seal two world records in a calendar year.
While out on Lake Dumbleyung, Campbell reached a top speed of 444.71 kilometres an hour and remains the only person to set both the land and water speed records in the same year.
His land speed time of 690 kilometres an hour remained the highest speed achieved by a wheel-driver car until 2001.
WATCH: A British news report of Donald Campbell's world land speed record success at Lake Eyre.
After the record was broken, 60,000 people lined the banks of the Swan River in Perth on January 5, 1965 to see Campbell complete a lap of honour.
Campbell was killed on January 4, 1967 in England during another record attempt in Bluebird.
WATCH: A British news report about the world record attempt in 1967 which claimed Donald Campbell's life.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Campbell's record, the Dumbleyung Events Committee will present a number of events.
At 3.43pm on December 31, exactly 50 years since Campbell broke the record, there will be a special ceremony at the Bluebird Memorial at Pussycat Hill.
There will also be the unveiling of a full scale replica model of the Bluebird unveiled in the town centre.
The replica has been built by Mark, Hilary and Jonathon Motzouris from Statewide Boating.
In the evening the town will host a sold out gala dinner and a family friendly event at Stubbs Park sports ground to help bring in the New Year.
The following day there will be a Bush Poets recovery breakfast at Stubbs Park and a family bush picnic at the Yacht Club.