THE skipper of the boat that was damaged at the same time as another fishing vessel sank in Falmouth Bay says he still has no idea what really happened.

Richard Tomlinson, 62, from Threemilestone was badly injured as he was returning from a fishing trip to catch bass on The Manacles in the early hours of Wednesday morning in his boat Blithe Spirit.

Mr Tomlinson was thrown forward and hit his head on the GPS equipment knocking him to the floor when his boat collided with something in the water. It is now thought he collided with the fishing boat the Lady Hamilton owned by the Bean family who live in St Martin on the Lizard.

That boat sank in 22 metres of water two miles off Falmouth at around 6.30am in the morning. The nearby pilot boat Arrow rescued the three crew.

But Mr Tomlinson said after he collided with something in the water there was no other boat in sight.

"I had sat down for five or six minutes just for a break and just after I'd sat down there was this collision. There was this almighty crash and the next thing I knew I was on the floor and the boat was only creeping forward almost stopped. I put it in neutral and stood up and looked around. There was this unearthly silence anf there was no boat or people around. I thought then I must have hit a log."

Mr Tomlinson limped back into Falmouth where some men launching another boat spotted his injuries and took him to hospital.

It was only the next day that Mr Tomlinson says he was told he had hit another boat. But he doesn't know whether it was before or after the other vessel sank."

The incident is now the subject of an investigation Marine Accident Investigation Branch.