As company officials insisted Mr Hayward was still in charge of the operation to control spill amid confusion over his role, he was relaxing on the Isle of Wight at the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

A yacht named Bob that is co-owned by Mr Hayward was taking part in the event.

A company spokeswoman said: "We wouldn't dream of commenting on what the chief executive does in his rare moments of private time."

She said he was spending some time with his son.

It is understood Mr Hayward has spent much of the last eight weeks in the United States since the accident occurred.

The crisis that has followed the blast on the Deepwater Horizon well, which killed 11 workers, has seen millions of gallons of oil continuing to threaten the Gulf Coast. It is America's worst environmental disaster and has led to tensions between the US administration and BP.

Hugh Walding, coordinator of the Isle of Wight Friends of the Earth, responded to news of Mr Hayward's decision to go sailing by saying he deserved all the criticism he was getting over his failure to control the spill.

Mr Walding said: "I'm sure that this will be seen as yet another public relations disaster for him from people who have got exceedingly upset about this whole thing. Personally I don't think that the bloke is particularly competent from the results that he has delivered. He obviously doesn't have the technical know-how but he should at least be managing the image of the company better."

Charlie Kronick, of Greenpeace, said Mr Hayward's actions were "rubbing salt into the wounds" of people whose communities are affected by the catastrophe.