Yachts on their way back to Bergen

SHETLAND’s somewhat changeable midsummer weather failed to dampen the spirits among yachtsmen and women participating in the annual Shetland Race, according to local organisers.

Chairman of the Shetland Race committee, Stephen Johnston, said that the 200 plus Norwegian sailors were delighted to be able to spend another night in Lerwick after the second leg of the race was postponed until Sunday morning due to near gale force south westerly winds.

When the 39 yachts lined up outside Lerwick Boating Club on Sunday it was still quite breezy, making for ideal sailing condition.

Johnston said everybody was hoping for a fast and safe race back to Bergen.

He said the postponement of the start of the second leg had improved the social programme “considerably”.

“They were due to leave at 4pm on Saturday which normally means Friday is a quieter night, so they were delighted to hear at the prize giving that the race would be held over until 11am on Sunday,” he said.

There progress of the yachts can be tracked at http://yb.tl/bergen2017#

Apologies for the sound quality on the video clip; it was still very windy in Lerwick harbour on Sunday morning.