Shetland Round Britain and Ireland racers head for home

It's not just football that's coming home. The lead boats in the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland race left the last compulsory stopover in Lowestoft yesterday and are on their way back to the finish line in Plymouth Sound.

Having enjoyed fantastic hospitality at Lerwick courtesy of the race sponsors Shetlands Island Council, the competitors experienced high winds and heavy seas but so far there have been no major mishaps to either boats or skippers.

Currently leading the race overall is the Class 40 SunGard Front Arena, skippered by Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs. Westcountry yachtsman Alex Bennett is not far behind in Fujifilm with co-skipper Malcolm Dickinson.

Marco's blog reveals the following as of midday today (23 June): "At 12 o'clock we were right by Dover harbour wall, according to the position report we're still holding first but Fujifilm has closed the gap from 15.8 miles last night to 10.4 making for a very stressful and tense sail, the pressure is really on."

This year's Shetland Island Council sponsored Round Britain and Ireland race has been one of the closest, most exciting and best supported ever.

The best estimate for the first boat home will be the evening of Thursday 24 or morning of Friday 25 June.

You can follow the last nail biting miles of the race on the live tracking page of shetlandmarinas.com, and at www.rbandi.com where you will also find news, photographs, video and competitors blogs.