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Shetland Marinas Offer Great Sailing Bases

For those who take their sailing seriously, Shetland is a superb place to live.

For those who take their sailing seriously, Shetland is a superb place to live. The islands’ coastline stretches for almost 1,700 miles (more than 2,700km) and offers an extraordinary range of sailing experiences, from pottering around the picturesque islands south of Scalloway to longer and more challenging passages to Fair Isle, Foula or Skerries. For the more adventurous, Shetland is an excellent place from which to strike out north-westwards to Faroe and Iceland, eastwards to Norway and Sweden, or southwards to Orkney, western Scotland or Ireland.

Understandably, the sailing and boating tradition is embedded in the islands and, over recent years, the facilities for local sailors have steadily improved. In particular, there is now an excellent network of marinas around the islands, open to both local and visiting yachts. An impressive website - shetlandmarinas.com - has been launched to provide all the information a mariner might need about sailing in Shetland waters and about the opportunities at each marina. One of the most appealing features of the website is the availability of a Cruising Panel, made up of a number of local yachtspeople who can advise on any aspect of sailing around Shetland. Between them, they can offer views on cruising not just around Shetland but in Faroese, Norwegian, Danish and Scottish waters. They are all highly experienced: one of them, Leslie Irvine, won first prize in class 2 in the 2006 Round Britain and Ireland Race.

The introduction of the website coincides with the announcement of details of the 2010 Round Britain and Ireland Race. The event, which starts from Plymouth on 6 June 2010, is expected to attract many experienced competitors and the usual range of outstanding racing yachts. Lerwick is one of four compulsory 48-hour stops during the race, the others being Kinsale, Barra and Lowestoft. The main sponsor of the 2010 race is Shetland Islands Council. Once again, the race will bring spectacle and colour to the harbour and, as always, there will be lashings of Shetland hospitality for visiting crews and those who come to watch the event.

Published: 01/10/2009