The Shetland Round Britain & Ireland race 2006

The Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race was established in 1966 and this will be the eleventh edition – it takes place every four years.

It starts from Plymouth at midday on Sunday, 11 June 2006 and is acknowledged as one of the toughest races in the world attracting both professional and amateur yachtsmen and women. It is a two-handed race. Previous entrants include Ellen McArthur and Sir Robin Knox-Johnson.

The route comprises five stages, totalling 1,900 miles, around the British Isles and Ireland, travelled in a clockwise direction. It is really five races in one, and is based on accumulated time.

There are five relatively short stages of two to four days with compulsory 48 hour stop-overs this means that the two-man crew race flat out in short sprints, where time at the helm and minimum sleep are balanced with the need for solo watch keeping and precise navigation.

Leg One - To Kinsale, Ireland via Eddystone, Wolf Rock and Bishop Rock, 230 miles.

Leg Two - To Castlebay Barra in the Western Hebrides, via the Fastnet Rock, 440 miles

Leg Three – To Lerwick in the Shetlands via St Kilda, the Flannan Isles towards and the most northern point of the British Isles at Muckle Flugga (further north than the southern tip of Greenland) 420 miles

Leg Four – To Lowestoft, the longest leg at 470 miles, racing down through the oil rigs in the North Sea.

Leg Five – To Plymouth and home after racing around the Thames Estuary from, down the English Channel a distance of 305 miles

, when stamina will be tested to its limits.

View the race map