Donald Campbell was a dashing bucaneer who cheated death many times. But, as Nigel Burton reports, the smallest mistake might have proved his undoing...

A SPLIT-SECOND mistake almost certainly cost Bluebird ace Donald Campbell his life on Coniston water 35 years ago, an inquest heard yesterday.

As his craft skimmed across the water at more than 300mph, Campbell - who had not waited for Bluebird to be refuelled for a final run - hit the wake left by a world- record attempt minutes earlier.

As he entered the critical measured kilometre needed to clinch the record, witnesses could see Bluebird racing on the edge of instability.

The speedboat was "tramping" - rising and falling back into the water - even as it transformed into a blur as the speed rose through the 300mph mark.

At that speed, in those conditions, the merest hint of instability could be disastrous. Unknowingly, Campbell was speeding to his doom at a rate of five miles per minute.

Engineering consultant Dr Julian Happian-Smith told the inquest, held at the nearby John Ruskin School in Coniston, Cumbria, that Campbell most probably backed off the throttle as Bluebird hit ripples.

Realising that all was lost Campbell applied the brake - but too late to retrieve the boat which flipped, then hit the water still travelling at more than 180mph.

Dr Happian-Smith said another possible cause could have been the failure of an engine mounting that was later found fractured. But the engineer felt this had most likely been caused during impact.

Dr Happian-Smith said that the effect on Campbell of the sudden deceleration at the time of impact would have been a massive 300g - equivalent to 300 times the acceleration caused by the Earth's gravitational pull.

Campbell's safety harness had failed - but this would not have affected the outcome. His helmet had also been torn off by the sudden deceleration and it was clear his head had been severed by sharp Perspex knocked out of the cockpit windshield by a flying aluminium spar.

Bluebird had already completed the first run at 297mph and entered the measured kilometre for the second run at 328mph - which would probably have seen him break his own world water speed record.

Campbell was 45 years old when he attempted to beat his world record of 267mph on Coniston on January 4, 1967.

Television footage shows his Bluebird K7 jetboat rise 30ft into the air and somersault across the water for almost 100 yards, killing him instantly.

Yesterday's inquest - which could only be held after Campbell's body was recovered from the lake last year - also heard other theories as to why the record attempt ended in tragedy including a theory he may have wanted to die.

Coroner Ian Smith said Campbell was a publicist's dream, who was good looking, charming, and would have been able to cash in on his amazing success. And there was no reason for him to kill himself.

"I have no doubt whatsoever, this was not suicide," said Mr Smith, who added that he hoped that would quash the theory.

The coroner said one of the reasons Bluebird left the water was the safety margin in which the boat operated.

He said its front could only lift 6 degrees above the level of the water if it was travelling in ideal conditions at 300 mph.

"If the front moves more than six degrees off that level, then it is likely to become airborne," the coroner said.

Campbell was probably travelling in excess of 320mph, which narrows the margin of safety to below six degrees, he added.

"The lake was not an absolutely smooth, mirrored surface. But any slight ripple, however it was caused, by the wind or any other way, will have some effect on the stability of the boat," said Mr Smith.

The coroner said the final factor was that Campbell pulled back off the throttle too quickly.

It was possible Campbell instinctively took his foot off the throttle and used the brake when he realised the boat was in trouble, he said.

Campbell's daughter Gina, 52, said she was happy at the verdict and that an "excellent job" had been done in the examination of the evidence.

Ms Campbell said she accepted there were probably a combination of factors leading to the accident and it was possible her father had accidentally throttled back because of the craft's violent motion.

She said: "If the boat was tramping in an unusually violent fashion, which it was because he mentioned it, it would be very easy for his right foot to detach itself from the throttle."

Ms Campbell said the coroner's ruling had enhanced her father's memory.

"His memory is etched in our minds just as much as it was 35 years ago," she said.

Bill Smith, who led the team who recovered Bluebird and Campbell's remains, said he felt a "thorough job" had been done.

He is seeking National Lottery funding to help restore Bluebird to make a final run on Coniston before installing it as a permanent landmark for Coniston village.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.