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THE daughter of Donald Campbell is threatening to sell the wreck of Bluebird K7 on internet auction site eBay after falling out with Lottery funding bosses. Gina Campbell is also considering putting the jet-powered Bluebird back into the Cumbrian lake where it crashed.
Donald Campbell died in Coniston Water in the Lake District in 1967 while trying to break his own world water speed record.
Gina Campbell and the Bluebird K7
The wreck of the craft was discovered by Bill Smith, a local diver and raised from Coniston Water in 2001. It has languished in the Smith's workshop for the last four years.
Ms Campbell wants the boat to be restored to her former glory but the Lottery Heritage Fund wants it to remain partially damaged.
The HLF believes the crash is the most important aspect of the boat's history and it should be displayed partially damaged. It is only willing to contribute towards a partial reconstruction of the shell and earlier this year turned down a request for almost £1 million to pay for a full restoration of the boat.
Ms Campbell told a BBC documentary: "I can have her encased in concrete and put it back in the lake or we put it on eBay and sell it to the highest bidder. "It will not go on public display as it is, I will not allow it," said Ms Campbell. "I want her to look shiny, bright, engineering perfect. I want the young people from all over the world to be able to come and view her in the museum, in Coniston where she can be displayed as she should be so she can show what she achieved, what my father achieved and what British engineering achieved.
"That's my dream and I won't settle for anything less." But Tony Jones, of the HLF, said a full rebuild would destroy the boat's originality and sense of history.
"We don't think people want to see a replica-like Bluebird, they want to see the original that Donald Campbell had his triumphs and tragedy in," he said. Mr Smith's response was: "A rotted pile of scrap will not adequately tell the story of the most glorious water-speed-record contender in history either."
Email: bluebird@bluebird-electric.net
CAMPBELL'S URGE RETHINK
Thirty nine years after the crash which killed water speed hero Donald Campbell, there are fresh hopes his boat Bluebird K7 could be restored and on display by 2008.
Mr Campbell died on 4 January 1967, aged 46, while trying to break his own world water speed record on Coniston Water in Cumbria.
The wreckage of the jet-powered boat was recovered from the water in 2001 but a failure to secure lottery funding for its restoration left the future uncertain. But after submitting a revised application for lottery money, the man leading the restoration project and staff at the museum where it is hoped it will one day be displayed are confident of success.
Bluebird was raised from Coniston Water in March 2001 Bill Smith, restoration project leader
"Most people would have given it a wash and brush up and stuck it in a museum but that was not an option for us"
Bill
Smith, an underwater surveyor and amateur diver, discovered the
wreck and has fronted the project to restore Bluebird since it
was pulled from the lake in March 2001.
He
has the wreck of the boat in a workshop in the North East where
his team have worked on preserving it.
A
bid for £940,000 of Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) money was
rejected in March 2005 on the basis a restored boat would be a
replica rather than a piece of history.
Mr
Campbell's daughter Gina told the BBC in October that she did
not want Bluebird displayed in its wrecked state and threatened
to dump it back on the lake or sell it on the internet auction
site eBay.
Bill
Smith has worked on the wreck in a workshop in the North East
The
HLF argued that the most important and famous aspect of the
boat's history was its crash and it should remain partially
damaged. But Ms Campbell and Mr Smith claim Bluebird
should be recognised as a feat of engineering and that it should
be displayed in its restored state.
Part
of the lottery fund money would be used to build an extension at
the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, large enough to house Bluebird.
The museum's education officer Mike Humphreys said: "The
family didn't want it shown as a wreck.
"To
the outside perception it has taken a long time but there have
been lots of issues to address. At the moment we all seem to be
working together. "The claim was it would be like a
brand new Bluebird and the outside world wouldn't be able to see
it as the real Bluebird underneath.
"But
our idea is there will be a link between the old and the new so
we could not be accused of housing a replica." Mr
Smith has stripped the wreck down partly to clean off the mud
which settled on it during its 34 years at the bottom of
Coniston Water. Mr
Smith admits there is "very little" difference between
the new lottery bid and the unsuccessful previous bid but said:
"The big difference is that there are elements that maybe
we didn't explain before.
Donald
Campbell was aiming for his eighth world water speed record "The
aims and objectives are the same - we can't give in.
"Most
people would have given it a wash and brush up and stuck it in a
museum but that was not an option for us.
"Nothing
is going to happen overnight. It was a successful craft for
years before the accident and it's maybe taking a while because
the project is being run along the same lines and standards that
Donald had."
Ms
Campbell had told the BBC: "It will not go on public
display as it is, I will not allow it. I want her to look shiny,
bright, engineering perfect."
Mr
Humphreys said he could understand people who thought Bluebird
should be displayed as it was after its most famous moment - the
crash - but said the feelings of the Campbell family should be
considered too.
He
said: "There was a big furore at the time when the boat
came out because some people thought it was his grave but there
was sympathy with the family because Gina wanted him buried.
Bluebird
was propelled 50ft (15m) into the air when it crashed
"I
think when Gina saw the wreck she just saw it as the place where
her father was killed, but other people have said it's an
historical object and should have stayed where it was.
"It
can be seen as a bit gruesome and you could compare displaying
it as it is with displaying the wrecks of the cars in which
Princess Diana or Ayrton Senna died.
"We
want to celebrate the achievements of Campbell by showing what a
great piece of engineering K7 was.
"We
can tell the whole story, running from the earlier attempts
which were successful, the actual crash, the film of getting the
boat out and the restoration - it will be the whole story."
At
the time the original lottery bid was rejected an HLF spokesman
said: "We don't think people want to see a replica-like
Bluebird they want to see the original that Donald Campbell had
his triumphs and tragedy in."
Those
wanting to see a restored Bluebird on display will be hoping for
a change of heart by June.
Wednesday, 4 January 2006, 14:51 GMT
Historic
Bluebird in eBay threat Campbells
urge Bluebird rethink Setback
for Bluebird restoration Campbell's
daughter to restore Bluebird Final
tribute to water speed king Divers
salvage the Bluebird
Donald Campbell was the only person to hold both land and water speed records at the same time. He held seven world water speed records. Bluebird was travelling at more than 300mph (483km/h) when it crashed. The boat was catapulted 50ft (15m) into the air. Donald's record remained unbroken as the attempt was not completed and stood until 1978. The current record holder is the Australian Ken Warby.
NEW HOPE FOR BLUEBIRD RESTORATION - Saturday, 13 August 2005
The family of the man who died trying to break his own water speed record on Coniston Water have made a fresh call for his speedboat to be restored.
Donald Campbell died when the Bluebird crashed in 1967 as he raced the across the Cumbrian lake. His body and the craft were recovered 30 years later. His family want the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to rethink their refusal to fund the project which would see the Bluebird restored and put on display.
The underwater surveyor and amateur diver who discovered the wreck, Bill Smith, wants to exhibit the restored craft in the Ruskin and Coniston Museum.
'Homecoming'
Mr Smith said: "The plans for the craft have always been made by its owners, the Campbell Family Heritage Trust. What they don't want to see is a macabre wreck displayed. "The boat has had more successes than failures and that's how we want it remembered. "The plan, as hatched in 2001, was to rebuild Bluebird to its original condition and run the boat on the lake again in a sort of triumphant homecoming event."
But HLF has said there are too many question marks for them to hand out £600,000 needed for the work. HLF manager for the North West Tony Jones said: "We only very rarely support the restoration to working order of high-speed vehicles because of the very high risks posed to them when back in action. "We fully recognise the importance and drama of the Bluebird story and are encouraging the applicant to focus on a museum-led conservation project which would allow that story to be told."
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Email: bluebird@bluebird-electric.net
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