Council chiefs have denied ignoring advice that would have prevented a showpiece Perth event descending into farce.
Hundreds of spectators were left disappointed after difficult conditions on the River Tay forced the abandonment of a Chinese dragon boat race on Sunday.
In the aftermath, there have been accusations that the local authority ignored warnings from experienced river users over the unsuitability of the 3pm start time.
The Courier was told by one member of the city’s jet ski users group that the debacle that followed had been “entirely predictable”.
The claims have been rejected by Perth and Kinross Council, which said it was unaware of any warnings from the public.
A spokeswoman added that the decision to race at 3pm had been taken by Dragon Boat Events following extensive consultation and study.
Although it began promisingly with huge crowds, music, dragon dancers and plenty of excitement, Sunday’s event soon went wrong.
Just a handful of the 12 teams were actually able to race and spectators drifted away as the speed of the churning river slowed proceedings to a crawl.
Racing was eventually cancelled after much discussion among organisers.
Although many of the participants enjoyed the overall experience, the recriminations have now started.
One river user told The Courier: “We contacted the council to warn that the waters would be too high and fast at 3pm.
“We regularly use the River Tay at Perth for jet skiing at weekends, but it is not until after 5pm that we can take to the water.”
“Having made their decision, the council simply didn’t want to listen and unfortunately it was a disaster.
“Perhaps it was simply too late to change the plans, but had they sought advice then I have no doubt that this could have been avoided.
“We know the river and its flows intimately but unfortunately our advice fell on deaf ears.
“As a result I’ve no doubt that thousands of pounds of public money has effectively been thrown away.”
The first teams in the water demonstrated the difficulties posed by the fast-flowing Tay, which had been swollen by recent heavy rainfall.
It was a struggle against the current to bring the dragon boats to the start line beneath the city’s Queen’s Bridge, despite the promptings of Dragon Boat Events’ experienced crew members, who were responsible for steering the vessels.
Having then flown to the finish line, it proved hard to stop the boats beneath the rail bridge and a collision with one of the supporting columns capsizing the council’s own team.
The speed of the water then made recovery of the damaged boat a tricky prospect as the crew was recovered from the churning water by a support launch.
It was a couple of hours until conditions became more favourable to river pursuits but by then, with a slew of teams disappointed, the event had been called off.
With the disappointed Dragon Boats Events’ team travelling south to their home base in Hampshire, on the south coast of England, events director Bill Handley was unavailable for comment.
There was no answer at the company’s headquarters.
Perth and Kinross Council defended the preparation that went into the race, saying: “The decision for the races to begin at 3pm was made following advice received from Dragon Boat Events, the company who ran the event on the day.
“This advice was based on a site assessment conducted by them, a consultation with the harbour master, which examined up-to-date tide tables for this time of year and also with canoeing groups who use the river.
“The council also conducted a full risk assessment which was shared with the emergency services.
“The conditions of the water on the day were much faster than expected and in the interest of safety both Dragon Boat Events and the emergency services advised that the race should be stopped.
“In the weeks leading up to the event, the council was not contacted by regular users of the river to advise that 3pm on Sunday would not be a suitable time for the race due to the speed of the water.”
Comments are closed.