LIKE Robert McCaw (Letters, June 30), I am astonished and disappointed at the decision to exclude the paddle steamer Waverley from the flotilla on the Clyde as part of the Commonwealth Games opening, on the grounds that the ship could not stop or change direction quickly if another ship crossed her path ("Historic paddle steamer is banned from Games pageant over safety fears", The Herald, June 28).
Twenty years ago, a French friend, the captain of a petrol tanker, who was waiting to board the Waverley at Largs, watched the ship approach the pier at full speed. He opined that the ship could not possibly stop in time and was duly amazed when, of course, it did. Unlike other ships, paddlers can reverse their paddle wheels and stop very quickly. In the case of small ships straying into her path, a police launch could be used.
The three Cunard Queens, a combined 264,000 tons, meet up in Southampton from time to time. Small boats abound, yet there has never been an accident. Also, as far as I know, the Queen's barge used for the Jubilee celebrations did not mow down any of the myriad small ships in the flotilla.
The rationale for this decision is transparently absurd. Perhaps it would be kinder to assume another agenda, rather than to attribute it to stupidity.
The PS Waverley is the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow. I hope this decision will be reversed quickly and that common sense will prevail.
Mrs Y Sim,
3 MacNicol Court, East Kilbride.
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