Fifty yachts have entered this year’s Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race, sponsored by Shetland Islands Council, one of the largest fleets for many years.

Lerwick businessman Leslie Irvine, who is taking part in next year’s Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Yacht Race, is to be sponsored by the Streamline Shipping Group.

Two hotly-contested yacht races in Brae on Saturday saw Scott Johnson in Mistral eventually manage to hold off the stiff challenge of Joe Irvine’s Cynara to get the win he needed to claim the Trinity Series Cup.

Six junior Mirror sailors recently travelled down to Pwllheli in Wales to compete in the UK Mirror Nationals over three days and the Mirror Worlds over five days.

Lerwick Boating Club’s 107th annual regatta got under way last Friday in very light winds, resulting in the postponement of all but one of the Mirror races.

“A beautiful morning for anything but sailing” was the general comment on the flat calm conditions at the Uyeasound Regatta on Saturday morning as boats gathered from Lerwick, Whalsay and Yell to boost the local fleet.

The annual Scalloway Regatta took place at the weekend, combined with the Trondra leg of the Shetland Yoal Rowing Association (SYRA) league on Sunday to make a weekend of all-round boating events.

The Whalsay Regatta was held at the weekend with plenty of wind making for very exciting sailing.

Sailing continued at Largs last Tuesday with races eight and nine of the International Albacore Champ­ion­ships.

Reawick and District Boating Club’s 77th regatta was a res­ounding success due to the amount of boats and crews attending, the exceptionally good weather con­ditions and the tremendous community effort.

Firms in Shetland are facing huge rate rises – some by as much as two-thirds – under the Scottish government’s revaluation of business property which will come into force at the beginning of next month.

Already Shetland’s Young Fiddler of the Year, Anderson High School pupil Chapman Cheng added the Young Musician of the Year title to an impressive list of achievements on the penultimate night of the 2010 Schools Music Festival on Wednesday.

It’s been four years in the planning and expects to attract more than 500 people. This summer’s Shetland Hamefarin is set to become the event of the decade for the hundreds of visitors who are eagerly awaiting a chance to visit the land they or their forebears left.