ABU DHABI,  United Arab Emirates – Sunday, November 8, 2009 – 7 times National F1 Powerboat Champion Craig Bailey has been taken to Bundaberg hospital with suspected spinal injuries after an accident in race 3 of the annual Bundy Thunder Powerboat Classic in Bundaberg, Australia.

The 47 yr old, just back from China competing for Team Qatar on the World F1 Circuit, was competing in the national F1 class when a gust of wind lifted the boat into the air, it then did a 360 degree flip coming down hard and severely damaging the boat.

Bailey was able to free himself from the cockpit, he is held in by a 5 point harness similar to a racing car, and swim to the surface where rescue divers took him to an ambulance on shore.  He was then transferred to Bundaberg hospital accompanied by his wife Janelle.

Initial tests show a fractured vertebrae and severe bruising around the shoulder. He will remain in hospital overnight.

Bailey, a marine mechanic from Caringbah in Sydney, is the most successful Australian Powerboat racer, winning the French F1 Grand Prix in 1990 and having over 20 national titles.