19 SEPTEMBER 1981, Page 17

Father knows best

Sir: I am taking this opportunity to answer Mr Peter Adams whose letter you published in the issue of 29 August. As I have over 50 years experience in shipping and yachting, I feel that for once my younger son, the Greek boy, has done something right.

It was I who advised him to buy in Taiwan, as I still like him very much and would hate to lose him in an Aegean meltemi due to a faulty boat. The caiques to which Mr Adams refers are good only for fishing, and do not have the kind of instruments which can detect a storm of 8 to 10 Beaufort, nor the kind of luxurious interiors the Greek boy is accustomed to.

Perhaps Mr Adams does not know that the Chinese of Taiwan are not Mongols, but rather anti-communists as well as being mostly Christian. I can think of no better reasons for having a boat built over there. John Theodoracopulos

Athens, Greece