Jetstar takes pride of place at the maritime museum

Visitors will not be able to miss Jetstar as she has taken pride of place in the Falmouth-based attraction's entrance foyer. The 13ft sports-boat was Campbell's run-around during the weeks preceding the crash that took his life.

On January 4 1967, Donald Campbell's attempt at the world water speed record of 300mph ended in fatal disaster when his legendary jet-powered Bluebird K7 was flipped into the air and crashed at Coniston Lake.

Tragically, Campbell had been planning to promote both boats at the London Boat Show on January 5 that year - the day after his death.

A beautifully blue hulled and mahogany boat, it is believed that Jetstar was Campbell's hope of future financial security and could well have been on his mind when he lost control of Bluebird at Coniston.

He had developed the innovative speedboat for families, with the main advantages of speeds up to 40mph, and safety modifications, such as no propeller, so it was ideal for towing waterskiiers.

After his death, the Norris brothers continued working on Campbell's design and a reasonably successful version of the boat did reach the market, under the name Bluebird Marine.

Jetstar, remained with the Norris Brothers until current owner Andy Stirland acquired her in 2003 and this year she finally made it to the London Boat Show, on the Classic Boat magazine stand.

Andy Wyke, Boat Manager at the Museum, said: "Many people know the story of Donald Campbell and Bluebird, but his involvement in this commercial venture is rarely mentioned. The irony of his death the day before publicly displaying Jetstar and Bluebird together makes this story even more poignant, and we are very lucky to have one of the final chapters in the Donald Campbell chronicle on display here at the Museum".

The Jetstar is now on show in the Maritime Museum's opening foyer until June this year.