'Let's hope my dad is looking down on Bluebird's return'

Donald Campbell's restored Bluebird has been fired up on Coniston Water for the first time since the record-breaker's death there almost 60 years ago. For his daughter, the occasion is bittersweet.

"It's an incredible achievement," says Gina Campbell of the hydroplane's week-long return the lake where her father smashed four world records before tragedy struck on 4 January 1967.

"I'm pleased it's drawing so much public interest and it reflects on his memory and accomplishments.

"I'm just wishing it was my dad [piloting the craft]."

Following on from his own father Sir Malcolm's record-setting, Donald notched a total of eight world bests on land and water before paying with his life as he attempted to push the latter beyond 300mph (480km/h).

In 2001, 34 years on from that tragedy, his body and Bluebird's wreckage were recovered from the lake with the daredevil buried in a local cemetery that September.

Gina Campbell says that began an often-bruising new chapter of her life covering a quarter of a century, with the craft finally returning to action on the Cumbrian lake on Monday with Australian Dave Warby in the cockpit.

"I've fought and fought and fought," she said from her Southport home. "It's been going on for a very long time and, to be honest, it's worn me out.

"But we've finally got the boat back and full marks to the Ruskin. I have complete faith in them."

The craft was diligently rebuilt by Tyneside engineer Bill Smith and a team of volunteers called the Bluebird Project, remarkably taking to the water again on the Isle of Bute in summer 2018.

However, a tussle that rumbled on until 2024 saw Smith claim part-ownership as a result of his work and required the involvement of lawyers.

When Smith dropped his demand, the hydroplane was transported from his North Shields workshop to its permanent home at Coniston's Ruskin Museum as cheering crowds lined the village streets.

On Monday, in the latest landmark of this saga, thousands watched as Bluebird was lowered back into Coniston Water shortly after 14:00 BST for the first day of a week-long celebration.

Dave Warby - the son of the current water speed record holder Ken Warby - sat at the controls with Donald Campbell's teddy bear mascot Mr Whoppit alongside him.

Thousands more visitors are expected to watch from the shoreline as the week goes by with - weather-permitting - runs of up to 150mph planned.

Gina Campbell was 17 when her father was killed.

The news came by phone as she worked in the Swiss ski resort of Arosa having been keen to "flee the nest".

"I was doing the ironing, of all things," she recalls.

"You did that from dawn until early afternoon and then they gave you a ski pass.

"My mother [Daphne Harvey, the first of Donald's three wives] rang. When I was summoned to the office, I had a sense of foreboding.

"I knew my dad was attempting to break a record and that it hadn't all been going to plan.

"Why else would someone be ringing at that time?

"I can't really begin to describe it. It was on the news and the divers were looking for my dad.

"I suppose after about four or five days [we] realised there wasn't going to be a funeral because they couldn't find my father's remains."

Campbell's record attempts meant his only child did not always see much of him as she went off to boarding schools, save for trips to Australia and the United States.

"I didn't realise what my father did was extraordinary," Gina says.

"Because I'd grown up with it, I thought it was just his job as somebody else's father might have been a doctor or a dentist."

His achievements and public profile meant she felt "semi-expected" to follow in his footsteps as she took up power boating and set records as the fastest woman on water in 1984 and 1990.

At times finding the spotlight "a bit overwhelming", and now 77, she explains she has "slightly withdrawn" from its glare.

She hopes, though, this week's festival will put the focus on her dad's courage and the dedication shown by his support team all those years ago.

"It makes my father and his band of merry men look pretty damn brilliant if you think about it.

"There were only a handful of them and they didn't have access to the technology we do today, so it makes those achievements even greater.

"Let's look on the positive side and think that maybe my dad will be looking down, everybody has a good time and the Ruskin get the accolades they deserve for having the courage to put this event on in the first place."

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