PETER LUCAS, of Church Hill, Kingswear, writes:

When the Red Arrows first performed at the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta more than 30 years ago, they put on an amazing display of low-level flying and aerobatics. Over the years this has declined into not much more than a few fly-pasts and is now rather a disappointment.

It may well be a draw for visitors to the regatta, but a high percentage of the audience is on the hills around Dartmouth and Kingswear and the influx of cars causes untold problems. As they are nowhere near the town, they cannot contribute to the cost of the event, which most probably runs at a loss.

The suggestion in the Chronicle earlier this month that large areas of Kingswear should be cleared is both ridiculous and impractical.

Moving owners of boats on the river and the marina ashore is only compounding the perceived problem by gathering them in concentrated areas.

Is it all worth it for a few minutes of what now is a rather passé display?

The Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘regatta’ describes it as a ‘sailing and rowing event’ with ‘waterborne sports’. Could we not reinstate the Kon-Tiki race that fits in more with the ethos of regatta?

I am sure there must be many other river-themed events that could replace the Red Arrows. Aeroplanes surely belong at air shows and regattas are about the sea and boating.

To my mind, it makes economic and practical sense not to employ the now rather jaded Red Arrows and get back to regattas as they were in the past.