Simon Dredge starts Cowes Torquay Powerboat Race

A young man who was critically injured when the powerboat he was training in crashed in the Solent has returned to the water for the first time having made a full recovery.

Simon Dredge, 18, was travelling in the prototype boat with his father and champion speedboat racer, Peter Dredge, when it crashed off Hamble on 13 May.

He started the Cowes Torquay Powerboat Race on Sunday.

His father, the defending champion, won the race with the Vector Martini team.

Simon Dredge, who was flag bearer on the start rig for Sunday's race, said: "It was a great moment just knowing I had put the green flag up for the start of that race."

He said he had little memory of May's crash and spent a month in hospital in an induced coma.

Peter Dredge, who won Sunday's race with Simon Powell and crew members Malcolm Crease and model David Gandy, said he remembered the accident despite being "knocked out".

Along with powerboat racer Simon Wood-Power and engineer Lee Hurst he received non life-threatening injuries following the crash.

"We had basically seen what we believed were dive markers, so I was concerned there might be divers down, took evasive action and in doing that, the boat rolled and then struck a navigation marker," he said.

He said the markers were incorrectly marked lobster pots.

A joint investigation is being carried out by Hampshire Police's marine unit and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

This year's Cowes Torquay race course was changed to allow members of the public to experience the racing from Christchurch Bay, Boscombe and Bournemouth Piers, in Dorset.