Thursday, June 24, 2010

Final Day of Kiel

The final day of Kiel again brought light and fickle winds and after a few hours of postponement we were able to get off two races. When racing was all said and done we scored a 31 and a 24. It was definitely one of the more frustrating days racing as our boat handling coupled with a few critical tactical mistakes cost us big.

In the first race, with the pin clearly favored, we chose to start just to windward of the clutter and had a great start with good speed. Unfortunately, we misjudged a cross as we attempted to port tack the half of the fleet nearest to the boat and had to tack back to starboard where we still had an ok lane and were able to round the windward in the top 12- if only we had made the cross! With more time in the boat, we will be better at judging crosses and have quicker tacks, but nonetheless frustrating.Well, here comes the most trying part of the day. As we rounded the windward, the fleet was very, very condensed with many boats locking rails etc. To avoid all the commotion with other boats we decided for a quick gybe over onto port. What a mistake that was. The breeze shifted left in a PERSISTENT SHIFT and we got owned. To exacerbate the mistake, we chose to round the less crowded gate, but having it be so unflavored left us in poor shape. Verdict- though we had a great start, and good positioning on the fleet, a few critical mistakes can cost you ALOT.

Having tried to clear our heads after the first race, we decided on a very similar tactic of starting to the first race, though slightly closer to the pin. We again had a good positioning, but our acceleration wasn’t quite solid enough, and were unable to hold our lane. As we approached the windward in a largely left favored course, again the fleet was ridiculously condensed and we were unable to have a good tack onto the starboard layline. This set into motion an awfully painful rounding, and though we had a good final downwind, we were unable to feel satisfied on the day.

Knew it wasn’t going to be easy coming right to an event following our time off this spring, and Kiel didn’t disappoint! So, onto Poland for a couple weeks of training before the Europeans. Hopefully we can continue to shake off the rust of the last few months and start to feel more comfortable sailing the boat and with other boats around us.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Light Air on Day 2

We all slept well last night after our 4 race battle in yesterday's cold, blustery breeze and awoke to hope that we would have more moderate conditions for today. However, the Baltic Sea would have none of it, as it fizzled out today and could only offer up the opposite end of the breeze spectrum - a dying northerly for us to race in off the Kiel Lighthouse. Both yellow and blue fleets were able to get 1 race off each before it became too light to race. Other fleets got no racing in. We were the second group, so we got the lighter, more painful conditions thanks to fading gradient as the low passed to our distant north east. It may have been the lightest conditions we have ever raced in for a complete race.

We started down at the pin hoping for some pressure to come down around the point, which is off to the left of the course. It looked like 2-4kts pretty uniform across the course, so we thought the key to the race would be a lane off the lane going fast. After a slow acceleration at the start, we were forced to crack off and reach down below the boats that won the pin to find some clear air. Soon after though, we found some speed and were looking good on the fleet. WE SHOULD HAVE TACKED, but we kept going and over-leveraged ourselves to the left side (thinking that the breeze would remain steady). It was a tough call at the time, but a no-brainer in hindsight (CROSS WHEN YOU CAN!). Instead we kept going into an unforeseen hole and lost the majority of the fleet. We rounded the windward mark in last!

Knowing the type of racing in the boat, we kept fighting and hit some hit some shifts on the run and got right back into the middle of the fleet. We had a great upwind, where we stayed in a vein of breeze and sailed around numerous boats. We could have been higher if we had not lost our lane on the starboard layline to a Swedish boat who seemed to pinch for no other reason than to sail extra distance and screw us up - to each their own and we will avoid that barney from now on. Our run was solid (net even), losing boats and then catching others thanks to some solid speed and tactics around the finish line. It is amazing how much is always up for grabs in these races, you can never give up!

We ended up 17th in the race, were probably around 14th for a bit, but we were also last in the beginning, so a solid race for us in theses early days of the Euro-campaign. We are now in 44th and hope to continue to move up the standings as we reacquaint ourselves into the boat.

Hopefully the breeze is raceable over the next few days! Forecast is calling for a light northerly for the next few days, hopefully stronger than today!

Boat handling wise in these conditions need to focus on:
-starting acceleration
-smooth gybes
-avoiding taking coachboat chop over the bow (Zander needs to move fore-aft faster)

tactically:
-Cross when you can

-Zander

Saturday, June 19, 2010

KIel Day 1

Day 1 of Kiel is in the bag! In classic Kiel fashion, the regatta kicked off with a shifty and puffy 12-20knots with higher gusts with temperatures in the 50s. With the fleet split into two divisions with 27 boats in each, the Race Committee decided to break the day in two with each fleet racing two, then coming ashore while the other group raced, then racing two more. This made the day that much longer as we had to manage to stay warm in the down time between our set of races.

After a long day in difficult and blustery conditions we are sitting in 45th place out of 58 with a few boats unable to finish or sustained a breakdown(23-20-22-19). We are happy with our performance on the day considering our lack of practice recently(4 month break plus the 4 days before the event were 3-7knots), specifically our ability to keep our mast dry for all but one time in the first race! Our downwinds were pretty hairy but we managed to control the chaos and pulled off some good gybes while also keeping the boat upright when we fumbled from wing to wing. Our speed upwind was quite good relative to other boats in the fleet but there is still room to improve in the consistency and changing modes with varying conditions.

Our little hiatus due to Jesse finishing school was most visibly seen in the starting- with conditions as they were, and a super pin favored line, good boat handling=good start. Though we did see improvement through the day and managed to have a lane in the final race, our starting was something to be desired. This, however, did not faze us as we are not well rehearsed in our windy,shifty starting routine and our larger sailing around the course gave us much optimism on the day.

Off to bed, and with a lighter forecast in store for us tomorrow, we hope we can put together some moments and hopefully get a couple good scores!

Video clip of the racing: http://www.world-of-sailing.info/index.php?id=184


Jesse

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Getting back into the Swing of things in Kiel





We have spent the past few days rigging our boat and getting back into 49er mode. It has been light to medium air and reasonably forgiving, but we know the real test will be when the breeze comes up. We are camping on a field near the beach with the boats, which is very convenient and fun to stay so close to the regatta.

We got our new main out today! Looks great!

Regatta starts on Saturday! Keep you posted.

I hope the campsite stays dry!

-Zander

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Vamos to Deutschland!

After a few hours of organizing and fastening we got 'Sled' onto our Renault and are ready to get on the road late this evening bound for Kiel, Germany. 'Sled' has been graciously taken care of by Alex Bishop and his family in Bormes La Mimosa (near Toulon, France) this past spring. We are deeply indebted to them for this huge help...Thanks guys! The views from his house are amazing and remind me of the St. Barbara area (except no Rincon here!).

Aurevoir!
Zander

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Royal Gazette - June 9, 2010


Kirkland brothers step up Olympic campaign


By Kyle Hunter

Olympic sailing hopefuls, Zander and Jesse Kirkland, leave Bermuda this week bound for Europe where they take their campaign up another notch to qualify for the 2012 London Games in the 49er class.

First stop is one of the biggest events on the world's sailing calendar, Kiel Week in Germany, where they will take on the best.

After that they will travel to the European 49er Championships in Poland.

The Kirkland brothers launched their Olympic campaign earlier this year when they competed at the World Championships and then sailed at the Miami Olympic Class Regatta.

But then they had to put their campaign on hold as younger brother Jesse had to finish his education at St. Mary's University in Maryland where he was one of the stars on the college's sailing team. In fact, he ended up being a four-time All American.

Zander was based in Newport Beach, California where he sailed and also coached younger sailors.

But now that Jesse's education is finished, the brothers will be going all out to qualify for the 2012 Olympics and have sought advice far and wide about bettering their chances.

And not only have they spoken to former Olympic sailors like Peter Bromby (Star class) and Alan Burland (Tornado class) but have also asked the advice of former Olympic triple jumper and former World Indoor Champion Brian Wellman.

"We want to get every edge we can and it was great talking to Brian," said Zander this week.

"We are always picking the brains of people like Peter Bromby and Alan Burland. And since I have been back in Bermuda I have been working out at the Olympic Club. (Owner) Scott Stallard has given us free membership whenever we are back in Bermuda and I bumped into Brian Wellman. He has been great talking to us especially about his philosophy of getting to that world class level. As he said 'you may be talented but so is everyone else in that fleet'. He has pointed out that there are things that make you stand out – the correct programme and coaching and work ethic. He has told us that we will have to work like a dog – we will really have to want it and those are the things than can make the difference.

"He was also talking about our work-out programme. He said that we have to think about every manoeuvre we do in the boat and we have to try and replicate that manoeuvre in the gym – isolate the different muscles we will be using."

The Kirklands have already sent over their 49er boat to Europe.

"We shipped it out after the Miami OCR and it is waiting for us at a friend's house in France which is a great help. He is a fellow 49er sailor and went to school with Jesse. He will be competing at the same events as us (Kiel Week and the European Championships) so we will all travel together."

The brothers will be leasing a car to get their boat around Europe and will be camping at the events.

"It is Important to save money. We are doing it on as tight a budget as we can but without compromising the mission. We have to have the equipment and we have to put the time in but wherever we can we are being frugal as possible. We have raised enough money to make this summer happen. Then we will do a new round of fund raising in the fall."

Now that their campaign is in full swing both brothers are excited.

"After competing in the Worlds and the Miami OCR earlier this year we had to put everything on hold for Jesse to finish college. It was something that had to be done and I am really proud of him – he was an All American for four years and not many people can say that. We have both bulked up in the gym and we are happy with our weight. We are stronger.

"Kiel Week will be tough. The fleet will probably be about 80 boats and it will be the deepest fleet we have ever sailed in. It is going to be tricky initially because we have not been in the 49er since the Miami OCR. Now we are going to see if we can start putting this together."

Kiel Week will be from June 19-23 and the Kirklands plan to get there a few days beforehand for training.

"After Kiel we travel for about 10 hours into Poland to Gdynia for the European Championships."

Those championships start on July 5 but the Kirklands hope to get there on June 25.

"The International 49er Association are graciously helping the developing and smaller nations by putting on a clinic so we will be doing that before the championships start."

After those championships Zander will stick around at Gdynia to help coach a young Laser sailor.

"I will stay in Poland because I have a private coaching gig with a California kid who I used to coach – he is doing the Laser Junior Championships which are at the same venue. I am going to help him get prepared and that will generate a little positive cash flow for the trip. Every little bit helps."

And while he is coaching the young Laser sailor, brother Jesse will drive the boat to Weymouth, England where the sailing events will be staged at the 2012 Olympics.

"He flies back to Bermuda on July 15 and I return on July 25. We will have a short break and then return to England and spend three weeks sailing out of the Olympic venue. We will be competing at the Olympic test event which is called Sail for Gold. That is from August 9-14."

After returning to Bermuda they will start another fund raising campaign for the fall.

"The biggest expense for the fall will be for coaching. The top coaches in the world cost $500 a day – they are not cheap but if you want the best you have to pay world class fees," said Zander.

"And obviously we will need money for new sails and equipment," he said.

One event they will be sad to miss will be the Comet Long Distance Race – a race they have won.

"Unfortunately we will be at Kiel when that is sailed. If we were not there in Germany we would definitely be trying to hook with Stevie (Dickinson) and Gladwin (Lambert) and all the guys. That race still goes down as one of the epic races I have ever been in."

And for those who want to follow the Kirklands on the European adventure they will be updating their blog.


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Jesse Finishes up Successful College Sailing Career

With Nationals over and St. Mary's one National Title richer, Jesse has wrapped up his college sailing days on a high note. Having been named an ICSA 2009-2010 All-American Co-Ed Skipper for the fourth year, Jesse cements himself among an elite group of college sailors who were All-American every year of their college career. This is a testament to the St. Marys program which he developed under and to Jesse's class as a top national talent. He helped St Mary's win 3 National Titles (2 Team Race and 1 Dinghy Title) and also qualified for 2 Singlehanded Nationals over the course of his tenure at the school.

Jesse is stoked to get back into international sailing, where he will be sailing in much more open water conditions and in a high-performance boat. However, the lessons and discipline learned sailing in tricky college venues against top competition will serve him well as he takes on the world's best in the 49er. It is the hope, once we have the highly strenuous boat-handling aspect of the 49er under grip, Jesse will able to rely on this very solid tactical foundation to battle the Brothers into the upper echelons of the class. In the end, it is all still sail boat racing and the skill sets learned in college sailing will be an incredible asset to get us to the medal race in London 2012!