A powerboat racer has told of his shock after a 110mph accident which saw him knocked out and flipped upside down in his boat.
Alex Warren, 53, was out racing on the evening of Thursday, August 5, on Oulton Broad, when he was forced to push his boat to full power in order to avoid hitting a boat while overtaking him.
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As he sped up, the boat suffered a steering failure, flipping him under the water and knocking him unconscious, destroying his £20,000 craft in the process.
He said the boat was a complete write-off, but hopes to get £10,000 from salvaging its engine.
Mr Warren, from Henstead near Lowestoft, said: "It was quite a spectacle, I took off at 110mph and the boat went up in the air, twizzled and ended up out of sight.
"The last two people who did it died, so I was lucky really, I was coming down the straight and I was up to 90 odd before I realised what was wrong and I saw someone to my left I was overtaking, so I had to go hard right and overpower the boat.
"I'd only been doing it for weeks and I was giving it the big one I suppose, but you don't expect to have a failure.
"I had to do it otherwise I would have killed him."
He said he wanted to publicise his story in order to promote the sport of speedboat racing and to warn others to keep safe.
"I was unconscious under the water but I managed to wake up and because we do all the training I knew how to get out, but I woke up upside down in the water.
"I've got stitches in my face and I've temporarily lost sight in one eye, but they're hoping to sort that out.
"Perhaps I should get my submariners licence because I went straight under.
"I think that's the end of my racing career to be honest, but I'll still have a few occasional trips out, because it's so much fun."
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