A TRURO sea captain had the honour of being on board the £550 million Cunard super-liner Queen Mary 2, the world's largest liner, as she sailed into Falmouth bay over the weekend.

He was Capt Paul Wright, the man who will take over command from Commodore Ronald Warwick after the ship's maiden voyage. Capt Wright lives in Malpas.

The 1,132ft long mighty Cunarder looked impressive as she loomed out of the mist off Pendennis Point. She was in the area to carry out lifeboat drills on the second of her three two-day shake-down cruises before she is officially named this week by the Queen at Southampton.

Hundreds of people from all over the area lined Pendennis point and the seafront to take their first glimpse of the pride of the Cunard fleet.

Captain Wright gave the Packet an exclusive interview when David Barnicoat, Falmouth pilot and our shipping correspondent, boarded the ship later in the day, with colleague Phil Bush. On behalf of the Falmouth Harbour Com missioners, they presented Capt Wright with a commemorative plaque to mark the ship's historic visit.

Capt Wright said: "Our thanks to the Falmouth port authority for this plaque, which we will hang with pride on the bulkhead to remind us of Falmouth. And a big thank you to everyone concerned who accommodated us at short notice. The lifeboat and safety drills went according to plan." During the visit, Capt Wright managed to go ashore in one of the liner's high-tech tenders. "I did some shopping and had a pasty," he said.

Tenders from the liner also tested out the passenger landing pontoon at County Wharf, in case of future visits to Cornwall.

The 54-year-old captain, who spent 10 years living in Cornwall in his 20s, has lived at Malpas for four years where he has a waterside apartment on the banks of the river. He has spent the past four years in command of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2, before joining the QM 2 in the builder's yard in France in November 2003. "This is a superb ship and we are all immensely proud to sail on this futuristic liner." he said.

Capt Gordon Kent, of Stracey Road, Falmouth, had the honour of piloting the 150,000 tonne vessel into her anchorage, south-west of Pendennis Point. He told Commodore Ronald Warwick, QM 2's master, that it was "an immense honour for the Port of Falmouth to welcome the liner". The two men had met in 1998 when the Queen Elizabeth 2 anchored off the port on Tall Ships Race day.

"I came on duty at 0800 hours on Saturday and an hour later I was on the bridge of the world's most talked about ship," said Gordon.

Peter Fox, managing director of GC Fox (SW) Ltd, the liner's agents, based at Falmouth docks, also boarded the ship, along with agency manager Geoff Hoyle.

When the ship was due to leave, David Barnicoat and Phil Bush joined Paul Wright on the space-age bridge, packed with banks of computers. Being jokingly rebuked for not flying the flag of St Piran courtesy ensign from the ship's yardarm, Capt Wright replied: "Next time we anchor off it will be flying."

As the order came to leave, Capt Wright blew farewell to Falmouth on the ship's whistle, an exact replica of the whistle on the former Queen Mary. A compressed air system creates the two octaves below middle C note that is audible for a distance of ten miles.

On Pendennis point, and along the seafront, hundreds of people were still there watching. As darkness fell, the pride of Britain's Merchant Navy was a spectacular sight as she steamed south.