Condor Liberation is not out of its depth

Any surfer can tell her that what you need for waves that are fun to surf but produce a motion on the Liberation that plays havoc with most passengers' inner ears is a reduction of the depth of the sea in the direction in which the wave is travelling. Just such conditions as we have at our end of the Channel but that they do not have between the Canary Islands.

And if she consults historic weather information she will see that the prevailing winds in the Canaries are from the north-east whereas ours are westerly and hence the Atlantic swells that so incommode the Liberation.

Condor's fellow service provider on the cross-Channel routes, Brittany Ferries, does operate a wavepiercer between Portsmouth and Cherbourg (in fact Condor's Vitesse and Express have seen service on this route) but only April to September and they operate a conventional ferry on the route during the winter.

And if she cares to get her charts out again she will see that it is the same distance between Poole and Jersey as it is between Plymouth and Roscoff, on which route Brittany Ferries don't even bother to offer a wavepiercer in high summer.

They operate a conventional ferry throughout the year.

In the PR blitz before the Liberation arrived we were told it would be able to operate in rougher seas than the Rapide. Now they tell us that the 'Liberation is approved, and capable of, sailing in the same conditions as our old 86m ships . . .' I think an apology is in order.

However, perhaps there will be no gales this winter and all will come good for Condor and their splendid investment in the future of sea travel. I can assure you that we in the Foresters' Arms will be watching the Liberation's progress (or lack thereof) up and down the Russel with interest.

TIM BARNES,

2, Salter Street,

St Peter Port,

GY1 2BW.

Editor's footnote: Condor Ferries' corporate communications manager replies:

I greatly appreciate your correspondent's interest in Condor Liberation and am pleased to be able to point them in the direction of the independent report, recently published by the States of Guernsey and written by world-renowned naval engineers and architects, Houlder Limited, into Condor Liberation's suitability for operating ferry services in the English Channel.

The report is unequivocal in its findings that Condor Liberation is safe and stable, extremely well-suited to operating services to the Channel Islands and is performing well. It also finds that Condor Liberation performs exceptionally well in adverse sea conditions, far better than her predecessors.

The Houlder report did make some recommendations that will help reduce the likelihood of the occasional large rolling motion that can be experienced in strong seas, as well as recommendations to help improve berthing in Channel Island ports. Condor Ferries has committed to implementing all of the report's recommendations.