Lawnmower Speed Record

My lawnmower broke down the other week. The motor was turning but the rotary blade wasn’t. I tried to take it apart to fix it but got beaten by a crosshead screw which was stuck fast and worn too much to be able to turn. I had to borrow my neighbour’s mower in the end.

You don’t need to know all this of course but it explains why my attention was caught by a piece of news over the weekend – a new lawnmower land speed record has been set.

You know that all must be right with the world when you hear that someone British has driven a lawnmower faster than anyone else ever, along a beach in Wales – Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire to be precise.

The man in question is Don Wales, who is the nephew of the late world land and water speed record holder Donald Campbell, and also grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, who set a world land speed record at the same venue in 1924 driving his legendary Bluebird car. Wales took his petrol-powered, sit-on lawnmower to a staggering 87.833mph on Sunday 23 May.

Dubbed Project RunningBlade, the purpose of the exercise was to build a conventional lawn mower, still capable of cutting grass, but adapt it to drive at speed and break the existing lawnmower record of 80.7929mph, set by Bob Cleveland at Bonneville Salt Flats, USA, in 2006. The team not only wanted to break the record but aimed at achieving a 100mph run.
It order to comply with the rules, the machine had to demonstrate its grass-cutting abilities prior to the speed attempt, which involved driving a measured mile in one direction and then returning the other way within an hour. The final speed is then taken as the average of the two runs.

Wales initially achieved 86.069mph on Saturday but managed to go even faster the following day, leaving the record at 87.833mph. The team was disappointed not to have hit its target of 100mph but was still delighted to have achieved the new world record. I’m sure that Donald Campbell would have taken great delight in such an achievement, but whether the dour Sir Malcolm would have looked favourably on such an apparently frivolous project I don’t know.

However, in addition to breaking the record, the team also raised money for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Wessex Heartbeat.

Two thoughts struck me after reading about the record-breaking run. First, I bet they didn’t have problems with worn cross-head screws and second, I wonder if they’ll lend me the mower now that they’ve finished with it?