A SPEEDBOAT owner yesterday admitted he had not been aware of the

navigational code of conduct for Loch Lomond until after an accident

involving his vessel in which a mother of two was killed.

Mrs Ann McAuley, 30, of Pinkerton Avenue, Rutherglen, Glasgow, died

after two speedboats collided in the dark near Inchmurrin island last

June. Six other people, four men and two women, also were injured.

She was travelling to the island with her best friend and fellow

hairdresser Elizabeth Murphy, 27, when the accident occurred.

The two women had asked Mr Ronald Cunliffe, 30, of Silverknowes Drive,

Edinburgh, and his friend if they could take them on their boat from

Duck Bay marina to the island where they had arranged to meet friends.

But less than five minutes after leaving the marina the boat was

struck by another speedboat, the Ski II, owned by the Loch Lomond Water

Ski Club.

Mr Cunliffe admitted to a fatal accident inquiry at Dumbarton Sheriff

Court that he had not been aware of the ''rules of road'' for boats on

the loch.

A director of an engineering merchants', Mr Cunliffe said he was a

part-owner of the 150hp power boat, which he had bought with a friend

three months earlier. He said he had about five years' experience of

driving speedboats although he had driven only once at night before the

crash.

He still had not learned the code of conduct because he said he would

never go on a boat again, and added that he relied on the principles of

safe-car driving. He also admitted difficulty identifying the purpose of

certain light switches on the boat.

Asked by procurator-fiscal Malcolm McLeod if he had felt he had

complied with the regulations as he was driving the boat after dark, Mr

Cunliffe replied: ''I suppose there was a bit of a risk.''

The fiscal said the code of conduct for the loch included

recommendations for boats that speed was reduced, they were not used

after dark, people in charge did not drink and drive, and an observer be

used at all times.

Mr Cunliffe admitted he had made the boat ''zig-zag'' slightly after

leaving Duck Bay to show off. He said he had drunk ''one or maybe

one-and-a-half glasses of wine and a strong bottle of cider'' during the

course of day although he had little or nothing to eat.

He also admitted driving the boat at speeds of between 38 and 42mph

during the journey of about five minutes between Duck Bay and

Inchmurrin. He considered this was not excessive because it was a clear

night. He could see the clear outline of the island when he set out.

He said the boat was travelling about 10 to 15mph just before the

accident as it approached Inchmurrin. ''I wasn't sure about rocks in the

area. When it is an #8000 boat you are fairly careful about that sort of

thing.''

He steered a straight course for the island and saw a green light as

he approached which was going away from his boat at right angles.

But as he dropped his boat's speed to about 15mph on approach to the

jetty he realised the other boat was coming towards him.

He told the inquiry: ''I said under my breath what is this . . . .

playing at? Then there was a deadly silence. In a matter of seconds

there was an almighty crash.

''I didn't see what had hit us before it hit. Whether I closed my eyes

or lost sight of it. It was silence and then a bang.''

Ms Murphy, of Millburn Road, Renfrew, earlier described how she had

smiled at her friend seconds before she died.

The women had been apprehensive about going with the men but thought

they were ''nice and pleasant''. The men, she said, had been drinking

but were not drunk.

Minutes after leaving Duck Bay the boat slowed down and there was a

sudden thud.

Ms Murphy, who has suffered post-traumatic stress and still takes

anti-depressants and sleeping tablets, said she was thrown into the

middle of the boat. When she looked up she saw Mrs McAuley hanging over

the boat as if she was being sick.

Ms Murphy said she called Mrs McAuley's name and told her she would be

okay but there was no response. The two men put her on the back seat.

''Her face was really dirty,'' she said. ''I knew she was dead.'' Mr

Cunliffe's attempts to resuscitate Mrs McAuley were unsuccessful.

She admitted she had told police in a statement that she felt Mr

Cunliffe had been at fault. ''All I know is that my friend and I got

into his boat. I got out and she didn't.''

The inquiry continues before Sheriff Principal Robert Hay.