Bluebird K7 – the record-breaking jet hydroplane piloted by Donald Campbell – has officially been granted permission to return to Coniston Water in May 2026 by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA).
Scheduled to take place from 11-17 May 2026, Bluebird’s historic return to the lake marks 70 years since Campbell’s first Coniston Water Speed Record (19 September 1956). It will also be the hydroplane’s first run there since Campbell’s fatal crash on 4 January, 1967.
For decades following Campbell’s tragic accident, K7 remained on the bed of Coniston Water before its recovery in March 2001. It was then restored over a six-year period by Bill Smith’s Bluebird Project and completed shakedown runs on Loch Fad, Scotland, in August 2018.
During this period, K7 was the subject of a protracted ownership dispute between the Ruskin Museum and Bluebird Project. An out-of-court settlement was agreed in 2024 and the hydroplane was returned to the Ruskin Museum and housed in a purpose-built hangar.
May 2026 will be the first time K7 has run since 2018 and was confirmed after the LDNPA granted a rare speed exemption; ordinarily, no craft is allowed to exceed 10mph on the lake.
Although September would coincide with the 70th anniversary of Campbell’s Water Speed Record, May offers more predictable conditions and avoids the peak summer and bank-holiday periods during which the LDNPA will not permit the demonstration due to the lake’s public right of navigation.
‘My father would be delighted and pleased that the exemption has been approved, and I know that the Ruskin Museum and the people of Coniston will get behind it,’ said Gina Campbell, the daughter of Donald Campbell.
Dave Warby, the son of Water Speed Record holder Ken Warby, will have the honour of piloting K7 in May. Echoing Donald and Malcolm Campbell, Dave is currently gunning for his father’s 317.59mph record in Spirit of Australia II.
‘The 10mph speed restriction being lifted is a positive outcome for both the Ruskin Museum and Coniston,’ Warby said. ‘I am really looking forward to working with the museum in the coming months to prepare K7 for her return to Coniston Water next year.’
Find out more about Bluebird’s legacy and the Ruskin Museum here.
