Double-handed sailors are gearing up for The Shetland Round Britain and Ireland race which sets off from Plymouth this Sunday 11 June 2006.

The 2000 mile race is considered one of the most challenging for the short-handed sailor due to changes of weather and large tidal ranges.

Top sailors such as Pete Goss and Paul Larsen are among the 42 entries to the race, also including Mini Transat sailor Nick Bubb and Pete Cumming on KENMORE (see latest news story here) and RAF Lieutenants Marcus Wilson and Richard Steel on J/109 Red Arrow (see latest news story here) .

Pete Goss and Paul Larsen will be racing the revolutionary SeaCart 30 trimaran Cornwall Playing for Success, which will be officially named today in a ceremony at Queen Anne’s Battery Marina in Plymouth by children representing the Cornwall Playing for Success centre. Sarah Ewington and Ben Cambridge from years 5 and 6 at Calstock School will pour champagne over the bow and wish her well on her forthcoming voyage.

The project has already raised in excess of £40,000, and Pete Goss said:
“It’s just fantastic that kids from the charity will be naming the boat and sending us on our way. As we sail round Britain and Ireland we will be dropping off ‘messages in a bottle’, which each contain a hope and a dream from the children involved in the project. By tracking where the bottles are found the children will learn so much about the environment, tides, weather and ocean currents, as well as helping to improve their numeracy and literacy skills.”

Established in 1966 by Blondie Haslar and the Royal Western, the event is held every four years starting and finishing in Plymouth. Sailing clockwise around all of Great Britain & Ireland there are four compulsory stops of forty-eight hours at Kinsale, Barra, Lerwick and Lowestoft that provide the opportunity for competitors to rest, make repairs and socialise in these welcoming ports – Kinsale, in Ireland being a new stopover for the race.