A new yacht race around Gairsay, in memory of two sailors, takes place today. The race starts from Kirkwall Bay, with eight yachts expected to take part.

Orkney Sailing Club’s commodore Chris Irvine explained that the event is in memory of Stuart and Laverne Mowat, both of whom were keen sailors and enjoyed trips to Gairsay.

He added: “The family wanted to present a cup, which will be known as the Mowat Memorial Cup, in their memory.”

Gunns from around the globe are converging in Orkney this weekend for their 15th international gathering.

More than 80 members of the clan from the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Holland and the USA are taking part in a week-long series of  group outings and other activities.

The programme of events start in Kirkwall tomorrow, Saturday, with a reception in Kirkwall. It will be followed by a series of visits to sites such as  Skara Brae and the Corrigall Farm Museum.

Orkney Sailing Club have reached the bronze level in 'Sportsmark', a scheme run by the OIC’s Sports Development Service.

The club were presented with their certificate on Friday afternoon at the Hatston slip.

Orkney, in partnership with the Orkney Sports Forum, is the first island community to adopt the scheme.

Orkney Sportsmark has three levels - bronze, silver and gold - and each level can be reached by ticking off a number of goals like having annual general meetings, an up to date constitution, a club bank account, membership forms, a logo, insurance and affiliation to a national body.

Victoria Street in Stromness has been cordoned off on Friday morning after a fire in a shed near the Orca Hotel.

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) officials attended the scene because of asbestos sheeting on the building.

However, Kirkwall Sergeant Jim Pryde said: “The risk is thought to be low, but the area was cordoned off as a precautionary measure.”

The Hoy Coastguard team were called out in the early hours of Friday morning to search for a man reported missing.

Kirkwall Airport is getting back to normal on Friday after three days of disruptions caused by fog and low cloud.

However, the previous problems lay with delays at Sumburgh, Wick and Aberdeen, with Kirkwall’s new Instrument Landing System proving its worth in the weather conditions.

Airport manager David Blackman: “For the last three days we have been suffering seasonal summer fogs, which have adversely affected Sumburgh much more than Kirkwall, as they do not have an operational ILS, and to a lesser extent Wick and Aberdeen, which has caused delays for traffic at Kirkwall."

A call for a blanket ban on public drinking in Scotland could see the end of alcohol at major events in Orkney such as the shows and the Ba’.

Orkney is one of four councils in Scotland which has not passed a bylaw against public drinking. In Kirkwall, for example, the community council discussed the subject at the end of 2004, but felt it was too heavy handed.

However, the call has come from a working group looking at ways to control religious marches.

Orkney surgeon Ameir Al-Mukhtar has arrived safely back in the UK after two and a half years working to improve services in his homeland of Iraq.

NHS Orkney are in discussions with Mr Al-Mukhtar about his return to work – after several extensions to his original 12 month sabbatical from his job at the Balfour Hospital.

Full details in this week's The Orcadian

A report is to be submitted to the procurator fiscal after a car ended up on its roof in a field in St Ola.

At 3.30am on Thursday morning, a Ford Fiesta left the road just west of Quanterness.

A further two motorists escaped serious injury after separate road accident on Wednesday afternoon.

The first, at 1pm, saw a Volkswagen Polo leave the road at Glaitness Park, Kirkwall, collide with fencing and hit the side of a house.

Kirkwall Sergeant Jim Pryde said: “It is not thought the driver was seriously hurt.”

Then, at 2.30pm, there was a collision involving a minibus and a Citroen car in Deerness. Damage was caused to both vehicles but again there were no injuries.

The Kirkwall lifeboat was launched called out on Wednesday night to transfer a Westray man to Kirkwall’s Balfour Hospital.

Because fog and poor visibility had ruled out an air ambulance, the  lifeboat left Kirkwall at 7.25pm arriving at Rapness, Westray, 41 minutes later.

The biggest ship to use the Hatston terminal to date arrived in Kirkwall on Wednesday afternoon.

The Costa Classica, which is 220 metres long and carries 1,766 passengers, arrived at 1pm and was due to sail again at 6pm.

A new book on Scottish violin makers will feature Orcadians James Barnett and James Omand.

The book, Violin Making in Scotland, 1750-1950, will be launched at an accompanying exhibition at this year's Edinburgh Festival on August 7.

Orcadian fiddle maker, Colin Tulloch, and other local experts, helped the author, David Rattray, research the Orcadians featured in the book.

A man on a marathon multiple-trek of Britain is hoping to hitch a lift south on an Orkney boat.

Brian Lambton arrived in the county on Monday, having completed the fifth leg of a marathon journey to travel from John o’ Groats to Lands End seven times for the Arthritis Research Campaign.

The 40-year-old from Hemmel Hempstead, is hoping some kind boat owner heading south will let him hitch a lift so he can start his southbound journey back to Lands End.

The East's hockey teams emerged victorious on Tuesday night, winning both the junior and senior Shopping Week games.

The East junior team beat the West 1-0 on Tuesday night, the only goal of the match coming from Cassie Henning.

Then, the East seniors went on to win their game 2-0 -with one West own-goal and another by Karin Brown.

Pictured right is East senior hockey captain, Marion Rendall, receiving the cup from Kay Macnair, Vice-chairman of Stromness Shopping Week Committee.

Following more drink driving arrests at the weekend, Kirkwall police are launching a summer road safety campaign.

The initiative, part of a national scheme, will target drink drivers, speeders and anyone failing to wear seat belts.

Sergeant Jim Pryde said: "Officers in Orkney, as part of routine duties, will continue to target these issues in an effort to improve safety on our roads."

He added that, on average, 40 drink drivers are dealt with at Kirkwall Sheriff Court annually.

A project to expand the Westray Heritage Centre has taken a step forward with the confirmation of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £50,000 to the Westray Heritage Trust (WHT). Along with last week’s grant of £47,803 from the OIC means the Trust is well on the way to raising the sum needed to double the size of the present centre.

But there’s still cash to raise.

Struan Stevenson MEP is due to visit Orkney on Wednesday for a tour of the Orkney Herring Ltd factory and chat with farmers.

Police are concerned the message is not getting through after another three motorists provided positive breath tests at the weekend.

Two have subsequently been charged with drink driving, while police are awaiting the outcome of a blood test on the third.

Sergeant Gordon Deans said: “Drink driving remains a very high priority for us. It is apparent that the anti-drink drive message seems to be falling on deaf ears. We will continue to pressure drink drivers and put them to court as a priority.”

West beat East 3-1 in the annual Stromness Shopping Week Brown Cup clash on Monday night.

The game kicked off on the Market Green, Stromness, at 7.30pm, with the cup and medals presented afterwards by Shopping Week Queen, Shona Stanger.

Kirkwall Sheriff Court was busy on Monday, with six separate custody cases from the weekend.

Among them was David Philip Webb, 20, of Otterswick, Kirkwall, who admitted having a knife at The Meadows, Kirkwall, on July 15 while on probation. Sentence was deferred until July 26, 2006.

Police have named the 61-year-old tourist who died while diving on the wrecks in Scapa Flow.

He was Mathew Hooton, from the Scunthorpe area of England.

Just after 2pm on Sunday, Mr Hooton was found to be unconscious when he surfaced.

A police spokesman said that the diver was brought ashore where ambulance personnel were waiting, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Orkney is one of the cleanest places in Scotland, according to a new report by health watchdogs.

An index compiled by Health Protection Scotland used environmental health reports of public spots to survey local authorities. It then ranked each area in terms of cleanliness.

Orkney’s tourist accommodation providers are being warned of a scam in circulation.

Agencies from abroad contact hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs inquiring about room availability. The agency then offers to pay a fee, usually in the region of £4,000, asking the hotelier to keep £1,000 and forward the rest to a ‘transport agent’.

Although the £4,000 payment may appear in a bank account, it will not clear, leaving anyone who follows the instructions £3,000 out of pocket.

It was a slightly overcast start to Stromness Shopping Week today, with the opening ceremony this morning.

This year's event was officially opened by Mabel Argo, of Argos Bakery.

It was followed by the crowning of Shopping Week Queen, Shona Stanger, by last year's queen Erika Norquoy.

With the 58th Stromness Shopping Week around the corner, the organising committee are asking anyone planning a float for next Saturday’s parade to bear in mind the width of the town's streets. 

Very wide, or long, floats provide quite a challenge for their drivers attempting to negotiate the town’s winding streets and can also hold up the parade as it makes its way through the town. 

A Dounreay Trade Unionist told the prime minister this week that there is grassroots support for a new nuclear reactor at the Caithness nuclear power station.

John Deighan was part of a lobby that went to speak to Tony Blair at No10 for half an hour on Wednesday.

He handed over letters from Thurso and Wick Trades Union Council and Caithness and Sutherland Chamber of Commerce supporting the case for a new reactor.