Speedboat Emoji

A speedboat or powerboat cutting through water at full throttle. Most platforms show a white motorboat with a visible wake, emphasizing motion and speed. Approved in Unicode 6.0 (2010) and part of Emoji 1.0.

🚤 is the adrenaline emoji of the water world. While ⛵ is wind and patience, 🚤 is horsepower and spray. People use it for water sports, jet skiing, lake days, summer vacations, and anything fast on water. It also carries a luxury signal: speedboats, cigarette boats, and go-fast hulls are associated with wealth, Miami, and a lifestyle most people only see on Instagram.

There's also a darker edge. The water speed record has an approximately 85% mortality rate among competitors since 1940. Seven of the last 13 people to attempt it died. Speed on water is beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

The current world water speed record, 317.58 mph (511.09 km/h), was set in 1978 by Ken Warby in a boat he built in his Sydney backyard for roughly $65. It has stood for over 47 years.

🚤 peaks in summer. It shows up in lake day posts, jet ski videos, wakeboarding clips, and vacation content from anywhere with water. #BoatLife, #SpeedBoat, and #WakeBoarding communities on Instagram and TikTok use it constantly.

The emoji also carries a flex energy. Speedboat and yacht content on social media signals wealth and leisure. When someone posts a speedboat photo with 🚤💨, the subtext is "living the dream." Luxury boat rental content and "day on the water" reels are a whole genre.

In the US, the recreational boating market was valued at $37.7 billion in 2024. Personal watercraft (jet skis) are the fastest-growing segment, driven by younger demographics who want the thrill without a full-size boat.

There's also the Miami Vice connection that still echoes. The show's Wellcraft Scarab 38 KV became the most iconic speedboat in pop culture. Wellcraft's sales jumped 20% across their entire lineup because of that one TV boat.

The first gasoline-powered boat was built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1886, the same year he patented the automobile engine. Powerboat racing followed almost immediately: the first recognized race was held in 1904 across the English Channel from England to Calais.

The sport's golden era was the mid-20th century water speed record chase. Sir Henry Seagrave died in 1930 attempting 100+ mph. Donald Campbell's Bluebird flipped at an estimated 320 mph in 1967, killing him instantly. The record became one of the deadliest in sports.

Then came Ken Warby. Working in his Sydney backyard between 1972 and 1974 on a budget of roughly $65 in materials, he built Spirit of Australia from timber, plywood, screws, and epoxy. On October 8, 1978, he hit 317.58 mph on Blowering Dam Lake). That record still stands 47 years later. His son is currently attempting to break it with Spirit of Australia II.

In pop culture, the speedboat was immortalized by Miami Vice (1984-1990). Don Johnson's character Sonny Crockett chased drug kingpins across Miami's waterways in a Wellcraft Scarab 38 KV, a 37-foot boat with twin 440-hp Mercury inboards reaching 60 mph. It became the most recognized powerboat in television history, and Wellcraft's sales surged 20% across their entire product line.

Speedboat culture varies dramatically by geography. In Miami and the Florida Keys, go-fast boats have a complicated reputation: they're status symbols, but also historically linked to drug smuggling. The "cigarette boat" (a long, narrow, powerful hull type) got its name from a rum-running vessel, and the design became synonymous with the drug trade in the 1970s-80s.

In the Middle East and Southeast Asia, speedboats are a growing luxury market. Dubai's boat show features some of the most extravagant vessels on Earth.

In Scandinavia and the Great Lakes region, recreational power boating is democratic: family runabouts, fishing boats, and modest speedboats are more common than luxury vessels. In the US, 95% of recreational boats are under 26 feet.

The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship, founded in 1981, races across global cities, but it remains a niche sport compared to car racing, popular primarily in Italy, the UAE, and parts of Asia.

• •The world water speed record has roughly an 85% mortality rate since 1940. Seven of the last 13 competitors died during attempts. It's one of the deadliest records in any sport.
• •Ken Warby built Spirit of Australia in his Sydney backyard between 1972-1974 for about $65 in materials. His 317.58 mph record from 1978 still stands. His son is now building Spirit of Australia II to try to break it.
• •The Miami Vice Wellcraft Scarab 38 KV was powered by twin 440-hp Mercury inboards, topping out at about 60 mph. It singlehandedly boosted Wellcraft's sales by 20% and spawned a special Miami Vice Edition model.
• •In 2024, the US Coast Guard recorded 556 boating fatalities and $88 million in property damage from recreational boating accidents. 87% of drowning victims weren't wearing life jackets.
• •The first recognized powerboat race was held in 1904 from England to Calais. The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship has been running since 1981.
• •Donald Campbell died on January 4, 1967 when his jet-powered Bluebird K7 flipped at an estimated 320 mph on Coniston Water in England. His body and the wreckage weren't recovered until 2001.
• •"Cigarette boats" (long, narrow go-fast hulls) got their name from a rum-running vessel called Cigarette in the Prohibition era. The design became infamous in the 1970s-80s for drug smuggling across the Florida Straits.

• •Miami Vice (1984-1990) made the Wellcraft Scarab 38 KV the most famous speedboat in television. Don Johnson chased criminals across Miami's waterways, and Wellcraft's sales jumped 20%.
• •The Spirit of Australia, built in a Sydney backyard for $65, has held the world water speed record at 317.58 mph since 1978. It's displayed at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
• •The Failboat meme (featuring the capsized MV Cougar Ace from 2006) became an early internet classic, spawning "shipment of fail" image macros.