Market Rasen & District Probus Club

Nigel is currently leading a major project to design and build a boat to make a challenge for the World Water Speed Record, which has not been held by anyone in the UK since Donald Campbell back in the 1960s.

Nigel spoke about his early life and how he was influenced as a teenager by Campbell to pursue a career in engineering and to make his own attempts to build a boat like the Ill-fated Bluebird and pursue speed records.

Ultimately unsuccessful, Nigel discovered a talent for writing, pursuing a career as a freelance writer on a wide range of subjects, from technical articles for aviation magazines to interviews with entertainment personalities for the Eagle comic.

All the time Nigel kept in contact with the original designers of Bluebird and the Campbell family, which resulted in an opportunity to create and lead a project to build and drive a new boat, ‘Quicksilver’ to attempt to bring the World Water Speed Record back to the UK.

The project was only made possible with the participation and expertise of the many volunteers and UK companies like Siemens and universities such as Southampton, who have made facilities available and donated millions of pounds of materials and their expertise to make this project a real team effort and the success it is.

The Probus Club is part of a national network established in 1983 as a fellowship organisation for retired professional and business men from a wide range of backgrounds.

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month, from noon to 3pm at Market Rasen Golf Club and includes lunch and a speaker.

For more information call 01673 844672 or email [email protected] .