News / Lerwick prepares for yachting season
LERWICK will be a port of call in a new and challenging 1,000 nautical miles yachting race between the Norwegian city of Bergen and Reykjavik, in Iceland.
Six competitors have so far signed up for the inaugural Viking Offshore Race, leaving Norway together with those participating in the annual Bergen to Shetland race at the end of June.
More than 30 yachts are expected at Lerwick harbour at the last weekend in June with the fastest expected to arrive as early as the Thursday evening.
Those heading back to Bergen are set to leave Lerwick on Saturday, 30 June, while competitors heading into the Atlantic will start the second leg of their race to the Faroese capital Torshavn the following day.
Lerwick Port Authority chief executive Sandra Laurenson said the town had long been a popular port of call.
“It will be great to see a new contest adding to the buzz these popular, long-established races create,” she said.
Meanwhile, spectators have only to wait until this weekend to see the first racing yachts arrive at Lerwick, as the 16 yachts competing in the four-yearly Round Britain & Ireland Race are scheduled for a 48-hour stopover.
The yachts have just left Castlebay, in Barra. Leading the race at the moment is the trimaran The Edge. After rounding Muckle Flugga all the yachts are expected to arrive in Lerwick some time on Sunday.
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