Tony Hayward stands by sailing trip during BP oil spill

Former BP chief Tony Hayward defended his decision to go sailing during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, saying he had not seen his son during three months fighting the leak.

Hayward, in his first interview since stepping down from the oil firm, told the BBC he would do the same thing again, despite the fierce criticism it provoked from the US, including the White House.

"I have to confess, at the time I was pretty angry actually. I hadn't seen my son for three months. I was on the boat for six hours. I'm not certain I'd do anything different," he said of his boat race near the Isle of Wight in July.

Hayward had spent most of the previous three months in the US, following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20 that killed 11 workers. His series of gaffes, including telling journalists he "wanted his life back", fanned anger in the US towards BP.

Hayward went sailing after being called back to Britain by BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, who felt the company needed to put a new face on the spill response.

"You know it's very difficult to hate a company, it's much easier to hate an individual," Hayward said.

He also admitted BP was unprepared for the media "feeding frenzy" after the disaster and said oil spill contingency plans were "inadequate".

Hayward was replaced by Bob Dudley as chief executive after relinquishing the top job in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blast and subsequent spill.