William Hamilton is famed throughout the world for being the man who first developed a jet engine for boats, but it was far from his only first.

He was a pioneering motor racing driver in New Zealand and in 1925 won the New Zealand Motor Cup at Muriwai, setting an Australasian speed record for five miles at 100.3 miles an hour, becoming the first New Zealander to top 100mph.

He also raced successfully in England and in 1930 became the first non-professional to win three races in one day. But it was Hamilton’s development of the jet engine for boats, after trials on his South Canterbury farm and on the Waimakariri, that won him world renown.

Three Hamilton jetboats completed the first run up the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in 1960.