The wife of a powerboat racer has described the horror of witnessing her husband's fatal high-speed crash into a houseboat while she filmed him.
Tech boss Brett Duncan, 51, died from head injuries on July 24 of last year after his boat failed to navigate a turn around a buoy and collided with a moored steel-framed vessel at Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. His wife, Rhianon Phillips-Duncan, stated that the trauma of the event will be "ever-lasting."
During an inquest at Suffolk Coroner's Court, Phillips-Duncan expressed surprise upon learning that her husband had not been using a kill switch cord attached to his wrist. She recalled telling him to be careful before he set off in the boat, which he had borrowed from a friend, Peter Rix. "When Brett went on the boat, I filmed it from the clubhouse knowing he would like to see it," she said. "I saw the boat veer off course and stop abruptly at the houseboat. Not knowing exactly what caused the accident has been difficult. He was always methodical about safety precautions."
An environmental health officer for East Suffolk Council, Timothy Durrell, informed the inquest that the powerboat, a 3.9-meter hydroplane, had undergone fitting of a new steering damper a month prior to the collision. Video footage from the day showed Duncan, an elite racer capable of speeds over 100 mph, with his helmet visor open, apparently struggling with fogging. He had rounded the buoy on the outside of another boat but failed to make the turn, impacting the corner of the houseboat.
Durrell confirmed that the houseboat was moored 74 meters from the turning buoy, meeting the safety regulation requiring structures to be at least 50 meters away. There was no evidence of engine malfunction, and the steering damper had not been removed before the incident. Jackie Beech, the owner of the houseboat, described seeing Duncan's hydroplane speeding towards her. "He was clearly looking left at the other boat. Just before the impact, he turned and looked at the houseboat. I saw a look of horror on his face," she recounted.
The inquest into Mr. Duncan's death is ongoing.