Oban Bay will be a hive of activity as two major events are taking place this weekend.
The Oban Bay Sea Kayak Race takes place today and the Craggy Island Triathlon is running throughout today and tomorrow.
From 1pm, around 85 sea kayaks will race from the bay and circumnavigate the 14 miles around the isle of Kerrera.
More around 600 competitors will take part in the triathlon. It begins with competitors swimming a third of a mile from the Gallanach slipway at Oban to Kerrera, before cycling six miles round the island, running to its highest peak and finishing at Gylen Castle.
Sea kayak race organiser Gus Brydon said: “The touring category race starts at 1pm and the performance boats start at 1.20pm. It makes for a good finish.
“Ivan Lawler from London, last year’s winner, is coming back. He is five times world marathon kayak champion and an Olympian. It is great to have him, it really adds credibility to our event, which is the biggest sea kayak race in the UK.
“Oban Lifeboat will start the race. All proceeds go to the lifeboat. We raised £2,800 last year and this year we hope to top that.”
Oban Mountain Rescue Team will benefit from funds raised at the Craggy Island Triathlon and is providing first aid over at the event.
Paul McGreal, triathlon organiser, said: “We have got about 600 people coming across the two days. We have two races on Saturday, the Scottish Off Road Triathlon Championships and the normal race, starting from 3pm. On Sunday it is the normal race, starting at 11am to catch the right tide.
“This year’s race sold out in 36 hours – we knew it was popular, but we didn’t know it was that popular.
“We have definitely hit on something here. I think it has got something to do with the fact that people love islands and Kerrera is an amazing place. The idea of swimming from the mainland to an island is very popular.”