On Wednesday 10 February I visited Doha in Qatar on behalf of Guinness World Records to judge the attempt to set a new world record for the fastest 300 km by speed boat. The attempt, organised by Qatar Marine Sports Federation, was to be undertaken by Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and Abdullah al-Sulaiti in a twin gas turbine engine Nor-Tech speed boat named Qatar Challenger. The 300 km course had been pre-approved by Guinness World Records and ran across the Gulf from Abu Dhabi to Doha, Qatar. I arrived early at the bay where they planned to finish and I was immediately struck by how picturesque the setting was.



Being a new category, Guinness World Records had set the maximum time allowed to cross the Gulf at 3 hours. At around 9 am I got the signal that they had set off, started the timer and began monitoring their progress using GPS tracking. I was warned that a previous attempt had failed due to engine failure, so I was prepared for the worst.



I watched the screen along with a host of hopeful supporters, many from the Qatari royal family, as the duo reached speeds of around 160 km per hour. Reporters clamoured around us trying to get an idea of how well the attempt was going and if we could relax yet. I reminded them that as water was an uneven surface, we would not know the outcome until they actually arrived and that anything could happen in between.



As the duo neared the finish line I watched in amazement as they increased their speed to around 220km per hour! Minutes later they arrived, having completed the 300km course in 1 hour 55 minutes and 14 seconds. I stepped aboard the boat and presented them with the official Guinness World Records certificate, bringing the successful attempt to a close.





By Jack B Brockbank

Thursday 11 February 2010