Powerboat racer's wife tells of how she filmed high-speed crash into houseboat that killed him

Published: 18:45 EDT, 26 October 2026 | Updated: 18:45 EDT, 26 October 2026 The wife of a powerboat racer told how she watched in horror as he veered off course and smashed into a houseboat at 'high-speed' while she filmed him at a race meeting.Tech boss Brett Duncan, 51, died from head injuries after his boat failed to turn around a buoy and crashed into the steel-framed vessel which was moored nearby.His wife Rhianon Phillips-Duncan said the trauma of being present at the accident at Oulton Broad near Lowestoft, Suffolk, on July 24 last year will be 'ever-lasting'.In a statement read to Suffolk Coroner's Court, she said it was a surprise to learn her husband had not been wearing a cord around his wrist attached to a kill switch on the powerboat, which he had borrowed from his friend Peter Rix.She told the inquest: 'I told him to be careful as I always did, and he gave me one last look as he headed to the boat.'When Brett went on the boat, I filmed it from the clubhouse knowing he would like to see it.'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.'Timothy Durrell, an environmental health officer for East Suffolk Council, said Mr Duncan had previously raced Mr Rix's 3.9 metre hydroplane a month earlier and that it had been fitted with a new steering damper before the fatal collision. Horror: Brett Duncan died from head injuries after crashing into houseboat The tech boss's boat failed to turn around a buoy and crashed into the steel-framed vessel which was moored nearby The 51-year-old crashed into a houseboat at 'high-speed' while his wife filmed him at a race meetingVideo taken of Mr Duncan – an elite 100mph-plus racer – on his practice laps on the day of the accident showed him with his helmet visor open as he had been 'struggling with it fogging up', said Mr Durrell.He had rounded the buoy on the outside of another vessel but failed to make the turn and hit the corner of the houseboat.Mr Durrell added that the houseboat had been 74 metres from the turning, in line with a rule that structures should be at least 50 metres away.He said there was no evidence of an engine malfunction and the steering damper had not been removed before the crash.The owner of the houseboat, retired nurse Jackie Beech, described seeing Mr Duncan's hydroplane 'heading at high speed towards her'. She said: '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.'The Ipswich inquest continues.