not many folks get to hold a record that long and die still holding it...but Ken did:

The 'world's fastest man on water' Ken Warby dies four decades after breaking record speed of 511km/h by strapping a FIGHTER JET engine onto the back of his speedboat

Quote:Australian powerboating legend Ken Warby has died at the age of 83 after a short battle with illness.

Warby is best remembered for being 'the fastest man on water' after achieving a world record speed in his boat Spirit of Australia - which he designed and built in his backyard - which set a world record speed of 463km/h in 1977.

He returned to Blowering Dam in southern New South Wales the following year and recorded a speed of 511km/h. The boat had a fighter jet engine attached to it.

That effort remains the Unlimited World Water Speed Record, and Warby remains the only person to ever design, build and drive a boat to an unlimited speed record.

In 1978, he was made an MBE for his service to powerboating and became one of the first 200 inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Australian speedboat legend Ken Warby, the fastest man on water, dies aged 83