Chris Barrie's Massive Speed — Season 1, Episode 5: Powerboats
Documentary • 250 min • 1 season, 10 episodes
Episode synopsis
Chris explores the history of speedboats, starting with the Jazz, a powerboat that used a unique "stepped hull" to decrease water resistance. He also investigates the first three-point hydroplane, the Bluebird K4, and racing catamarans, discovering these vessels are capable of great velocity even over choppy waters.
About Chris Barrie's Massive Speed
Chris Barrie's Massive Speed follows on from the series Massive Engines and Massive Machines , both of which were also presented by petrolhead Chris (of Red Dwarf fame). In Massive Speed Chris turns his attention to the evolution of machines designed purely to achieve maximum speed. He travels the world searching for the most thrilling, speed-packed machines he can find and introduces audiences to huge engined bikes, planes, trucks and boats that battle it out in power races. Whether it's crossing an otherwise impenetrable snow drift, desert or swamp at the speed of an Olympic sprinter or cutting through the atmosphere at six times the speed of sound, Chris tells the stories of the greatest achievements of speed design and engineering. In each episode Chris follows the evolution of a specific genre of machine by testing them and reveals both the classsic stories and secret histories that surround each of them.