tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21252785927761094522024-03-13T01:21:11.407-07:00Kirkland Brothers 49er SailingKirkland Brothers 49er Sailing: Come follow our Olympic Campaign in the 49er, as we try and become the first Bermudian skiff sailors at the Olympics.Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-23001461227174057332012-09-06T20:28:00.001-07:002012-09-06T20:33:10.380-07:00Wrap Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0zQpQ0vI9OYYDeGia1gzFHHDkwOpihnATE0wUBKOpipxkBW3iDn9SYzlcGEQxW3iudkN9ZMWlFTaC6fGQ-6VtJ3ZIjQPkK6VGBLK2rKx3djQSloSFIAr856hl-vnqBRTPTVQmvwsYjU/s1600/2012+Downwind+GBR+BER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="217" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0zQpQ0vI9OYYDeGia1gzFHHDkwOpihnATE0wUBKOpipxkBW3iDn9SYzlcGEQxW3iudkN9ZMWlFTaC6fGQ-6VtJ3ZIjQPkK6VGBLK2rKx3djQSloSFIAr856hl-vnqBRTPTVQmvwsYjU/s320/2012+Downwind+GBR+BER.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Dear Friends of Kirkland Brothers 49er Sailing,<br />
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Since we finished up racing at the 2012 Olympic Games last month, we have had some time to let things settle for a reasonable reflection of this defining event in our lives (the whole three year campaign!). For so long, all we have been focused on is eating, breathing, thinking the campaign. It is definitely strange to be done with it! No longer does the burden of the mission weigh on us, no more do the lofty goals lay on our shoulders; never before have we been so pushed so hard for so long for one goal. It wasn’t just the sailing that got us out of our comfort zone, for often we battled with the fundraising and the complex logistics to keep us on track.<br />
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Being done has allowed us to look back on the campaign with some perspective and think about how far we have come in such a short time and to appreciate all our support along the way. Simply, this project never would have been possible without all the goodwill and generosity over the course of the campaign!! To be Bermuda Sailing’s first Olympic Skiff team is an honor and hopefully the beginning of a proud legacy in high performance sailing. Trail blazing is not an easy task, but it has been a rich experience. Robert Frost was onto something!<br />
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The mission was an adventure and took us all over, with us never staying in one place longer than 6 weeks consecutively: 8 trips to Europe (averaging 5-6 weeks), 1 trip to Australia, 4 drives cross America, 3 winters in Miami, and 2 Falls in California. We logged over 300 days of 49er sailing (days spent rigging/transport not included) and sailed in everything from the calm conditions of the Mediterranean to the open ocean waves of the Northern Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz. <br />
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We stayed with friends when we could, in tents or on the floor when we had to, in boats in the marina if we had the opportunity to and in apartment rentals when all other free options were exhausted. Our frugal accommodation budget allowed us to focus our money towards important items like coaching and boat expenses. We also did well with transportation expenses, often hitch hiking ourselves and the 49ers around Europe – teams were always looking to split gas! There was a real ‘can do’ attitude whenever we approached logistics and we didn’t let tough predicaments drag us down.<br />
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The feeling of vindicating all our early donors support with our qualification was great! Outside of us and our close circle of friends, the mission looked tough odds and questionable if it should have been tackled. Luckily we had confidence in our vision and there was enough critical mass behind us to get started. So special thank you to those that came on board in those early days, where the campaign existed in a tenuous state. The Grateful Dead tune “Uncle John’s Band” comes to mind “Well, the first days are the hardest days...”<br />
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Another critical moment maintaining the campaign’s solvency was the amazing fundraiser at Kathy and Peter Watsons’ House last October. This was massively successful in raising capital for the last hurdle of expenses. Many people helped out to make this a hit and many others so willingly participated in the auction/registry, which vastly surpassed our expectations for the evening…Thank you!!<br />
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With that cash influx we were able to get a new boat (Cahow!!) in Europe and afford Ramon, one of the best coaches in the world. That evening during our presentation we pitched the idea there was a correlation between results and coaching support…and we proved that this was the case with a 13th at a Grade 1 World Cup Event (Mallorca, Spain) and 10th at the World Championships months later.<br />
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Goal Setting<br />
We came along way these past 3 years: from the humbling days of learning how to trapeze/keep the 49er upright and getting 2nd last at the 2010 Worlds (our first event), to our medal race showing at this year's World Championship it has been quite a ride! We are proud that we set realistic goals throughout the project timeline and put us where wanted to be in time for London 2012. It was no easy task back in 2008 to map out an expedited campaign, but we knew we could do it. For us, the general progression was: 49er boat handling - 49er Style Racing - Gold Fleet Racing - Olympic Qualification at 2012 Worlds - the Olympics. We didn’t panic early on when the results were rough because we knew we were still tackling the tricky boat handling stage of our development curve. <br />
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It is wild to read our results goals from 2008 and to see how close we got to them! To be able to look forward 4 years, at our infant stage in this demanding boat and say we would be ready at the 2012 Worlds (for Olympic Qualification) and possibly fighting for a top 10 finish was amazing! It is a testament to a sound self-assessment, quality reconnaissance with sailors with similar pedigree, vision and long-range execution. The other initial milestones of the campaign were also met, but there was a delay because of our lack of coaching early on due to financial realities, which curbed our march up the learning curve.<br />
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Reflections<br />
What is cool about Olympic campaigns is that everybody has their own story, you learn it in the boat park, at the pub, the long drives around Europe, and during the Olympics on TV. The successful ones you see on TV every 4 years are powerful, but all the ones you don’t hear about are just as moving. Everybody there has put their personal lives on hold, made laden sacrifices, trained hard, been cash-stricken and spent months away from their friends/loved ones to try and become the oh-so romanticized Olympian. “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it”, was definitely something that we caught ourselves saying throughout the campaign.<br />
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Our Olympic story is no different: a tale of driven Brothers from a tiny country with little institutional support, unintimidated by the challenges of World class standards and armed with a ‘can-do’ attitude to be ready for London 2012. When you are immersed in it, glory is largely eclipsed by the hard work, sacrifice and the grueling transient lifestyle. On this note, our parents deserve a massive thanks for their consistent support throughout the entire campaign, like many critical beams of support for this campaign, we couldn’t have done it without you two! Indeed they were very helpful in cradling and molding the delicate early days of the campaign, which no doubtably made this year’s success a reality.<br />
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Then there’s the pressure: all this time, all this money, all this sweat, what do you have to show for it?! What if we don’t make it??<br />
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This was certainly on our minds at this year’s World Championships. We went into the regatta knowing we had to excel for a week against a large field of deserving competitors for a scarce amount of Olympic spots. How gutted would we have felt if after all this, we had come away with nothing? Having this fear nestled in the back of our minds fired us up for our immensely successful training period leading up to the Worlds in Croatia. However, the drawback of peaking for the Worlds in May was not being at our best for the Olympics. Not that we didn’t give it everything for the Games, but recovering from an intense focused period takes time, and we just didn’t have enough to reach another peak. We diagnosis this matter as simply not having enough time, for if we had been sailing for another year, we could have probably qualified for the Games in Perth, and gone into Weymouth fired up and ready to take it by storm. But alas, it’s a reality that we knew we’d have to deal with from the beginning.<br />
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In further analysis of the Games regatta, we definitely had the potential, but things just didn’t go our way. Fraught with bad luck and unexecuted maneuvers, we just came up short. That’s sport, especially sailing for you! At the elite Olympic level, you pay dearly for your mistakes and unfortunately for us it was not our week. We had our moments in a diverse set of conditions, which proved we were competitive in all wind strengths, but couldn’t string together a complete series. We had 3 top 6 finishes (one 2nd), in races where it was no fluke if you ended the race at the front because of the high number of laps we were sailing (often 4 laps!) – you earned it if you stayed ahead through that type of race!<br />
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All in all, we have to be pleased for what we achieved in our campaign. Elite sports can be cruel world (relatively) sometimes, but we must walk away with our heads held high. It has been nothing short of a battle of attrition. What an amazing experience that inculcated us with many incredible life-long lessons. Once again, thanks again for enabling us to achieve our Olympic dreams!!<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
Jesse and Zander<br />
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</div>Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-32808963545440432222012-07-05T17:10:00.002-07:002012-07-05T17:10:50.445-07:00Here's a little piece on us from a local newspaper near to St Marys College, where Jesse went to school. <br />
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http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120704/SPORTS/707049716/1052/setting-sail-in-london&template=southernMarylandZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-91745063637377837812012-07-02T04:19:00.000-07:002012-07-02T06:51:01.102-07:00Training in Weymouth Wrap-UpOur month of training has flown by, with our arrival to Weymouth in late May seeming just like yesterday. The sailing at the Olympic venue has been beneficial yet wearing, as we put in a lot of hours on the water in more than undesirable conditions. England blessed us with munificent rainfall as it goes down as “one of the wettest Junes on record”! Weather aside, the sailing was very productive with training sandwiched between two events, the Sail for Gold and the Coaches Regatta. Our goals heading into this important Pre-Olympic training were to: get acquainted (more like slapped in the face) with sailing in Weymouth, get stronger, and above all, refine our >15kts racing tactics and speed. <br />
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In the month we accomplished what we set out to do- we both feel stronger and more confident in the breeze. Weymouth brought forth about every wind speed and direction over the tranche of training. We were fortunate to be granted such a diverse pallet of conditions to get ourselves comfortable and the rig appropriately tuned. It was almost Ground-Hog Day every week, as we were constantly bombarded by low pressure system after low pressure system on the same weekly schedule!...Friday was usually the day when it would blow 40knots+ and we could do nothing but check over the equipment and gym it. <br />
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The training culminated with the Coaches Regatta which was attended by everyone but the Aussies and Kiwis. It was a great experience to not only to gauge our abilities against these top-calibre guys, but also to observe and analyze the nuances and tendencies of a quality 20-boat fleet. On evaluation of the racing (which saw several days of 15 + knots, with the last day hitting mid 20s), we are stoked to be able to play with the top players. Looking towards the Games, we are optimistic of our chances of getting quality scores if we get a blustery day.<br />
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So, with the Olympic Venue closed for preparations, we are returning home to thaw out and rest before the BIG EVENT. We are excited to experience a little summer, and to recharge the battery! We will have a little reprieve from each other as Zan will head out to Hawaii to be a Groomsman for a friends wedding. On July 17th, we will reunite in London and resume a week of hard training to get to mind and body back in rhythm with the boat before the Regatta starts on the 30th. <br />
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Thanks again for all the support that has enabled us to reach this point. Our ultimate goal is not far now!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf8PjwFRE7KqlLF3uGMXXb1iVKq9912SFCq07QGuAquv8KkTFhyva7NFTBhs__cTDw19flfzy1I4OLR0Goo5iP10akm0chbZtZ5WaExN2gtav1vo2Jf2a5D8MIgL4TY_h5t-Tq7jRzXw/s1600/leeward+mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="198" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf8PjwFRE7KqlLF3uGMXXb1iVKq9912SFCq07QGuAquv8KkTFhyva7NFTBhs__cTDw19flfzy1I4OLR0Goo5iP10akm0chbZtZ5WaExN2gtav1vo2Jf2a5D8MIgL4TY_h5t-Tq7jRzXw/s320/leeward+mark.jpg" /></a></div><br />Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-36237662545127670512012-06-13T01:56:00.000-07:002012-06-13T01:56:34.991-07:00Sail for Gold Wrap up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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Kirklands learn from tough week at Olympic venue<br />
By Colin Thompson<br />
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Jesse and Zander Kirkland reckon they learned valuable lessons at this week’s Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, England.<br />
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The siblings’ main priority heading into the regatta was to get reacquainted to heavy air racing and they probably received more than they bargained for as strong gales and tall seas wreaked havoc on the 49er fleet.<br />
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The Kirklands only managed to get in three days of competitive sailing as the unsuitable conditions prevented them from completing a full quota of races.<br />
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Still, crewman Zander believes there were positives to take away from the final dress rehearsal for next month’s Olympic Games.<br />
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“The takeaway from this event is that it has refocused us on what exactly to work on for these final three weeks here before we show up for the Games,” he said. “With strong winds we need to continue to refine our rig settings so we are up to speed with the top guys.<br />
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“We will also be working on our boat handling and fitness to make sure we are sailing the boat as hard as possible in tough conditions. We will also be purchasing some warmer gear.”<br />
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Chilly winds reached as much as 50 knots in Weymouth earlier this week, forcing organisers to reshuffle, postpone and in some cases cancel races.<br />
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Weather permitting, the Kirklands intend to go back on the waters today to get in some more practice, now that their Skandia regatta campaign is over.<br />
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Next week will see the duo continue their Olympic preparations under the watchful gaze of coach and former top British 49er sailor Mark Asquith.<br />
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The Kirklands qualified for the upcoming Games after finishing ninth at last month’s 49er World Championships in Croatia.Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-48555866395946708892012-05-25T04:03:00.000-07:002012-05-25T04:16:59.536-07:00Worlds RECAP and Moving ForwardAfter a couple weeks to regroup after an eventful and draining World Championship (18 races over 6 days), we are keen to get back in the 49er. We did manage to squeeze a few nice days in Rome (easily saturating our history thirst!) with our parents, before heading home. Jesse also pit-stopped at his old college, St Mary’s, to help their team prepare for ICSA Team Race Nationals. On Monday, we continue our push for London as we head to Weymouth for a month of training, which includes the Sail for Gold Regatta and the ‘Coaches Regatta’. <br />
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But back to the Worlds! It was a tremendous event for us seeing us stamp our ticket to the Games with a 9th place finish (BER 9!). We were pleased we could continue improving after an incredibly productive month in Palma in March/April that saw its fruition in our 13th place. It was a confidence booster knowing that we have the pace to hang with the Worlds’ elite in <15knots. Also, the Worlds saw us gain our first experience into the Medal Race, which hopefully will benefit us down the road…
All in all, we are ecstatic about the Worlds’ finish, but the mission is not over. The goal remains London. There are certain facets of our sailing we can improve upon, and all qualifying did was give us more time. There is no room for contentment or complacency with our current level and we will be hungry to get better. We need to clock some more time in windy conditions between the facts that Weymouth can effortlessly RIP, and that we have been breeze starved most of our time in the Mediterranean this spring.
We can also say, that Mark Asquith, ex-49er British Skandia team member has joined Team Bermuda as our coach. We are excited to get him on board with the island nation from Sail for Gold thru the Games!
The dream remains alive thanks to all our supporters. Keep posted as we continue our final push for London!
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<br />Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-49002548463714475542012-05-13T01:40:00.003-07:002012-05-15T11:06:09.574-07:009th at Worlds!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The 18 race World Championship (17 races and 1 Medal race) is in the books after 6 days of tricky sailing in the light to moderate winds off Zadar, Croatia. The 74 boat fleet had sailors from 32 countries. We finished 7th country.
It was a huge event for us!
- First Gold Fleet qualification at a 49er World Championship (this is our 3rd Worlds)
- First Bermuda team in the 49er Class at the Olympics!!!! May this continue
- First Medal Race appearance in a 49er event
- First Gold Fleet Bullet
The other countries that qualified with us here were: Italy, Japan, Canada and Greece.
We will reflect more when this has sunk in, but for now we will recharge after a draining, stressful week of sailing. We still have 2 more months before the Games and look to continue the learning as we head into the Olympics.
We would like to thank our dedicated friends (both who were here and elsewhere), who have helped make this seemingly giant task a reality for us. We couldn't have done it without you...THANK YOU!
Stay tuned and Go BERMUDA!!
-Zander<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rRDkPVAv2L4ymQB5Okrt8qy0i960Ug3bMZ1we2gBR35WSn6eddGOZTaWCfc-vxcT5IpG5WmIa-obeYCIjdxi1ih9_lA4_hgP6xNMaU3xohh5A__pmNGwbNa07pn6dZVp1PTmqG9-PwU/s1600/Day-6_7993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rRDkPVAv2L4ymQB5Okrt8qy0i960Ug3bMZ1we2gBR35WSn6eddGOZTaWCfc-vxcT5IpG5WmIa-obeYCIjdxi1ih9_lA4_hgP6xNMaU3xohh5A__pmNGwbNa07pn6dZVp1PTmqG9-PwU/s400/Day-6_7993.jpg" /></a></div>Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-30562951262628083932012-05-09T10:54:00.001-07:002012-05-09T10:54:32.277-07:00Gold Fleet at Worlds and Olympic Qualification!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
more news to follow, but we made it into GOld fleet and have qualifief Bermuda in the 49er class!
3 days of Gold Fleet racing now
Thanks for all your support! Couldn't have done it without you!
best,
Zan and JessZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-61098196329343685072012-05-05T12:29:00.003-07:002012-05-05T12:31:26.706-07:00Just Another RegattaEverything is ready to go for the upcoming World Championship, our Olympic Qualifier for London. We arrived here in Zadar, Croatia a week early to acquaint ourselves with the local conditions and to make sure our boat and us are primed for the event. After some productive days on the water in different breezes, we feel good about our speed and maneuvers around the course.
Ramon joined us a few days into our training, and will remain with us through the event. His insights and thoughts for the week will no doubt be invaluable.
So, as this important regatta approaches, our mentality will be to treat it like any other. There is no pedestal for this event. We will not lionize the qualifying side of it unless it is necessary. Our objective here is to sail a good World Championships. To do that, we must stick to the fundamentals that we always apply when racing…sail high percentage moves, good starting, lane management, observe wind patterns etc.
We are really excited to get out there and start racing. It begins Monday, so stay tuned for results! You can check our facebook page for updates.
Thanks again for all your support that has gotten us to where we are today, with a chance to represent Bermuda at the Olympics in London!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-26479381213846193032012-04-09T06:54:00.000-07:002012-04-09T06:55:03.465-07:00PALMA RECAPWe are making our way back to North America (California then Bermuda) after 1 month of sailing in Mallorca. It was an exciting month for us, between putting our new boat together, to working with Ramon for a week, and to qualifying for Gold Fleet at the Princess Sofia Trophy - ISAF World Cup Event (Grade 1). We sailed 21 days (9 race days and 12 training days) over there and that concentrated sailing, a month before the World Champs, is a great preparation for our Olympic Qualifier. We are looking forward to a few weeks break before we head to Croatia to qualify for London 2012!<br /><br />The event had 76 teams from 28 countries (we were 7th country) and was by far, our best performance in the 49er. We won two races (one in qualifying and one in Gold Fleet) and had numerous top 10’s, which had us in 7th place after day 4. The goal for the event was to sail consistently in the top 15 in the 3-day qualifying series, to make Gold Fleet. We did that, with finishes of 13, 6, 13, 3, 25, 5, 9, 1, 17. <br /><br />The breeze throughout the qualifying was in the 6-10kt range and our speed in these conditions was good as anybody in the world. We were happy to close out races, where we were doing well and also to scrap back into races, when we were mired in the pack early on. The highlight of the week was winning a race in Gold Fleet, where we had great lane management on the 1st beat and then won the battle of the top 3 pack throughout the next 3 laps.<br /><br />We still have much to learn in Gold Fleet though as showcased in our final day of sailing in 14-18 kts, where we struggled to find the speed we had earlier in the week. There were large waves and the sea state made for challenging 49er sailing, with the boat consistently jumping into the air (centerboard out of the water) going upwind and downwind. We have a few ideas on the tuning for these conditions for the next time; at this level, the changes are subtle, but they make a big difference when competing against this tight pack (Gold Fleeters). We were happy on the day to have kept our boat handling clean over the 3 races on the intensive 6 leg courses (think 9 spinnaker sets, 9 douses, etc), which kept our scores fairly respectable (17, 19, 17).<br /><br />We were pleased with our performance here, but the mission is not complete. Qualifying at the Worlds in Croatia next month remains the priority. We have enjoyed the success, but also discussed the improvements to take away from the week. Rather than resting on the laurels of Palma, we hope to build on the success to crescendo towards a great Olympic event this summer! <br /><br />Thanks again for all your support!<br />- Zander and JesseZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-72198851150474831522012-04-06T10:03:00.002-07:002012-04-06T10:06:54.119-07:0013th in Palma!!Gold fleet for the first time!<br />13th Overall at a Grade 1 in an Olympic year!<br />7th country (28 countries represented)<br />Lots of work and plenty more to come!<br /><br />We will update later with a fully entry.<br />Time for a rest and then the Olympic Qualifier in Croatia next month.<br />Thanks to all our faithful supporters who have supported us through these past 2 years!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-33802725353984042962012-03-31T12:26:00.003-07:002012-03-31T12:48:48.674-07:00Training in PalmaThe last month has been an exciting and busy one. Prior to our arrival in Palma de Mallorca, we knew that it was going to be a critically important segment of training as we crescendo towards the Olympics Qualifier in early May in Croatia. When we arrived here on March 4th, we were busy for several days rigging our new boat, ‘Cahow’- she’s looking real good! After sailing 1042 for so long, we long forgot how stiff a new boat feels! We are happy to say her and the masts’ performance during our training have been very promising.<br /><br />Following the preparation of the boat, we had 2 1/2 weeks of probably our most productive tranche of training to date in the beautiful bay of Palma. Almost all of the top European boats were present for at least portions of our sailing, constantly allowing us to weigh our progress. Although the weather has been a little chilly at times, we have had numerous valuable sessions on the water in light, windy, shifty, steady, flat and choppy seas. Since there are constantly world-class boats out practicing, we have been able to consistently assess our quality in both speed and maneuvers up and downwind.<br /><br />In the middle of our training, we were able to test our progress in a ‘Training Camp Regatta” that fielded many good teams. The conditions through the three day event couldn’t have been more different from one another as we saw light, shifty winds on Day 1, steadier 8knots on Day 2 and concluding with a real wavy 14-18knots! We ended up finishing mid-fleet with a couple good results. A real standout out for us was our starting and speed. But again, we were plagued with some little mistakes that cost us a few top tens, specifically downwind in light winds. With some good critical evaluating of what went wrong, we prepared for Ramon’s training that began 2 days after the event. <br /><br />Our week of training with Ramon couldn’t have been better timed. After feeling a little exhausted after our first half of training, Ramon’s arrival sparked us into form again. With more practice races with quality teams, we again were able to practice our skills- except this time under the watchful eye of our coach. His keen observations of our maneuvers, tactical decisions and sail trim were incredibly beneficial to us. <br /><br />After Ramon left on Tuesday, we finally took a few days off to rest and relax. While European teams can just take an easy 2hr flight home to recuperate, Bermuda isn’t so close! However, we were able to escape the confines of the boat park and explore the other, less developed and more beautiful coasts of the island. <br /><br />Yesterday we did our pre-regatta check of all our equipment, and gave ‘Cahow’ a good polishing prior to the Princess Sofia Regatta beginning on Monday. With a day of training today, following by a day off tomorrow, we are very excited to get racing. Keep posted for daily updates on our Facebook page (Kirkland Brothers Sailing)!<br />Here are a few shots of the training (Photos courtesy of Ramon)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-CxtvnuOvMMWCcmg9yTwnJogrs19owlQgkd7IlvegG1x-5mJHYoXjA5XYO7U3Sr2lHIVdfaXoic1O7Gy8iuv6Y7U2WW6wkN3t_1oeSR4dhsT1tIfH8eR58OkDMSFA7-KFk26Lwwq_RY/s1600/DSC_0223.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-CxtvnuOvMMWCcmg9yTwnJogrs19owlQgkd7IlvegG1x-5mJHYoXjA5XYO7U3Sr2lHIVdfaXoic1O7Gy8iuv6Y7U2WW6wkN3t_1oeSR4dhsT1tIfH8eR58OkDMSFA7-KFk26Lwwq_RY/s400/DSC_0223.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726149601568152370" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7frNaxrRS6Rlp1FIfKM0mvlwUZpad3kWFLJhWrkKE1oyQVmsgTApjIVJPvG5tmvCm5aP5CfMXOYn0XE8H7dQGzR4mAhhpcckJxoQl6F0LcVTeKKWCa4sqOmnvLYs71jIQwAH9hQ5y58/s1600/DSC_0166.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7frNaxrRS6Rlp1FIfKM0mvlwUZpad3kWFLJhWrkKE1oyQVmsgTApjIVJPvG5tmvCm5aP5CfMXOYn0XE8H7dQGzR4mAhhpcckJxoQl6F0LcVTeKKWCa4sqOmnvLYs71jIQwAH9hQ5y58/s400/DSC_0166.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726149592596940034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI266BgfE8HTWlmY6QeDp_KGyaaeLVUHAYwFecUHIglBPE6rWrfDegrCHTT6piSgWi3226yjaPMDcl0N01YjXx_stSmnoKIwtRL6VCRAzK1sYAUDZBv4o2UO9pd0UWIofdseWhFzhFuLI/s1600/DSC_0135.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI266BgfE8HTWlmY6QeDp_KGyaaeLVUHAYwFecUHIglBPE6rWrfDegrCHTT6piSgWi3226yjaPMDcl0N01YjXx_stSmnoKIwtRL6VCRAzK1sYAUDZBv4o2UO9pd0UWIofdseWhFzhFuLI/s400/DSC_0135.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726149588330852226" /></a>Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-70000379900387178652012-03-19T05:15:00.001-07:002012-03-19T05:18:38.523-07:00Mallorca Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKT7pZAD2c7sgZrap8AGRtZZta3E_4qdBzJhHg1kFv70RSGJjd9RzjJ5SgAr9ZIdiPkSYLi698npiLN2VD-ULgE4BgjM60B7t6dZ1ogVzGudalb7jJm0jLPHOwlha58sJCTHaqaQ4aEyk/s1600/P3100092.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKT7pZAD2c7sgZrap8AGRtZZta3E_4qdBzJhHg1kFv70RSGJjd9RzjJ5SgAr9ZIdiPkSYLi698npiLN2VD-ULgE4BgjM60B7t6dZ1ogVzGudalb7jJm0jLPHOwlha58sJCTHaqaQ4aEyk/s400/P3100092.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721581497717722850" /></a><br /><br /><br />These past 2 weeks have been an exciting one. We have put together our new boat together in Mallorca, Spain and are gearing up for the first major World Cup Event of the European Season. Most of the major players of the fleet are here or showing up in the next week or so, thus making for great practice races every afternoon in de Bahia de Palma. The event starts here on April 2 and runs through April 7th and will serve as a great “dry-run” for the World Championships (Croatia – May 7-12), which will be our Olympic Qualifier.<br /><br />Ramon, our coach will be here tonight for a week of training to help us continue to refine the new boat, improve our boat handling and analyze our practice races. Further, it will be good to have him here to start the mental preparation for Croatia and make sure we are approaching the event in the right way.<br /><br />Back to the new boat! The early feedback on the boat is promising. The boat has come out of the box pretty ready to go and we were able to transfer our tuning numbers from our old rig. She feels immensely stiffer (less energy lost and able to hold rig tension) than the boat we were sailing in Miami and the new style wing construction makes for a more stable platform for boat handling operations. Lining up with top teams now, with correct rig tuning, we have confidence to hold our position. That is easier said than done, but if we can consistently stay on top of our tuning, our boat speed should put us in tremendous shape.<br /><br />So over these next few weeks, we will continue to tweak the boat, but also focus on our boat handling and keep our sailing ‘tidy’ (to keep the speed through all turns) around the race course. This is vital to maintain the good positioning that our speedy boat has given us with the margin for error so minimal at the top of the fleet.<br /><br />All in all, we are energized about this final stage in the qualification phase and are looking forward to making Bermuda proud over the next few months!<br /><br />Thank you so much for your support which has gotten us to where we are today and please standby on our progress as we aim towards London this summer!!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-76659498076452353032012-02-03T14:46:00.000-08:002012-02-03T14:50:36.210-08:00Jesse dodges a bulletThis youtube went viral through the sailing world last week.<br />Over 11,000 hits already!<br /><br />Check it out. We were in 5th/6th when it happened. Lost atleast 5 boats in the debacle, but we were able to regain composure and pull together a 10th. We are lucky Jesse was not seriously injured...carbon fiber spinnaker poles are not forgiving usually.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWBNpnkY9c4&list=UUCH2lVbRbLifZTe2eCWKqwg&index=1&feature=plcpZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-56598395968439761292012-02-03T03:56:00.000-08:002012-02-03T04:49:44.763-08:00OCR SynopsisAfter a few days to gain perspective on OCR, we can analyze our racing with a little more objectivity. We ended up 12th in the 23 boat fleet, missing out on the Medal Race by 1 point! If only Jesse hadn’t of been violated by that Austrians Black Pole…(check out the youtube video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWBNpnkY9c4) The breeze for the week ranged from 6-18 knots, with a few shifty days off Biscayne mixed in with a couple steadier ones from the Ocean. <br /><br />Results wise, we had 2 top 3’s, 7 in the top 10. The top 3’s are certainly a good indicator of our progression as we are gaining some comfort battling at the front end of the fleet. One of our top 3’s was in a steady 13-17knots (no feeling of being lucky in the front when the breeze is shifting only 5 degrees), with us winning the favored pin, and leading around the first windward. <br /><br />A couple positives from the regatta were our starting and downwind tactics. While we are trying to refine a couple other facets of our sailing, we were pleased to solidify starting as an asset. But even the positives can improve, and starting is no different, as we believe we can even further improve it with a couple of subtle tweaks. Our downwind tactics were something we were keen to work on from Perth, and though the fleet wasn’t as big, we were much more conscience of it and felt better throughout the racing.<br /><br />As always, there are a few things we need to refine. Standing out amongst other things, we will continue to work on speed, mark roundings, and simply maintaining top speed around the race track. Speed-wise, we are not far off. After a week battling with some top boats in an old style boat in all conditions, we feel fairly good about ourselves. A couple of tweaks and we’ll be there! Mark roundings are something we can constantly practice. They are incredibly important, and becoming proficient at them could be a valuable addition to the quiver. Thirdly, maintaining top speed throughout the race has always been at the top of the list. Encompassing mark roundings with the other maneuvers, it is one of the paramount goals of each race (sounds much easier than doing!).<br /><br />So, overall we felt like our performance and ability was worthy of a higher finish, but we can’t let it faze us. Ultimately, this is all a part of our road to the Worlds and hopefully the Olympics this summer. We competed in Miami with some specific goals in mind, and felt we achieved those. Looking ahead to our training in Palma, we will continue to refine a few small things here and there. We are also excited by the prospect of getting Ramon back for Palma. His world-class vision and experience is invaluable to us during this critical push toward the top level. <br /><br />Also, we CAN NOT forget to mention our new boat (BER1293)! She is heading down to Weymouth from Newcastle to have some work done on her before she piggybacks a British trailer to Palma. Gotta lionize our new girl! <br /><br />Start in one of the lighter races<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWs1rCtcjyfWf44Ep6d2daSmktDeRrd5b5fgf2k_HqdMWdtKPJQyVhMOtp997E5RfEGujnf4oIrSzin_Yzd3siZ78Hdb3clyauebmu9BdAdO35Y9KjyLjw5GY5-AZSrjKyk8hddm7XEJE/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWs1rCtcjyfWf44Ep6d2daSmktDeRrd5b5fgf2k_HqdMWdtKPJQyVhMOtp997E5RfEGujnf4oIrSzin_Yzd3siZ78Hdb3clyauebmu9BdAdO35Y9KjyLjw5GY5-AZSrjKyk8hddm7XEJE/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704878592549040498" /></a><br /><br />Locked-in Downwind<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQewpL4QBTYYLHNThyg3iRHYkBV8w8wcCyHwzu1GwTUwh7H_db8gslUcrchBhdSYqChARSrB3WMNLcaP1qHNCMPLBOzHaEnPdN5m1AvlTedWvkGbfK1LfSvui_3YLu1YwkLWVZSdk2lE8/s1600/DSC_0053.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQewpL4QBTYYLHNThyg3iRHYkBV8w8wcCyHwzu1GwTUwh7H_db8gslUcrchBhdSYqChARSrB3WMNLcaP1qHNCMPLBOzHaEnPdN5m1AvlTedWvkGbfK1LfSvui_3YLu1YwkLWVZSdk2lE8/s400/DSC_0053.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704879475543561346" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1W0e2l7Fnf79CzHP3A9ARX_vPY6oPUe_jDSrYbDs5cEQLsMjVlGqaaw1H1Yp-tlyDuMd4tNtBx7CxRRr-L8SwKsGIfMUfFEhXEJRejppBT9LyVtBbWeOf-EiCqnq7sx7YaJ5C4BfB0U/s1600/DSC_0118.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1W0e2l7Fnf79CzHP3A9ARX_vPY6oPUe_jDSrYbDs5cEQLsMjVlGqaaw1H1Yp-tlyDuMd4tNtBx7CxRRr-L8SwKsGIfMUfFEhXEJRejppBT9LyVtBbWeOf-EiCqnq7sx7YaJ5C4BfB0U/s400/DSC_0118.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704880074019963666" /></a><br /><br />Spot the Bermuda Flag<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIluXCaZrYjfRvKhFzwOE67hlgNPl0tqlElqtyuA6HL72XO2VGBQsc8DpIuZv5Q8ufEe2KJU3mO5Yz8y2lpCt_ROw4KQpASyV1gFyEe4mewB9pd7z7YKtyoM5e5ed1jldUIEZq9RJRUUc/s1600/DSC_0158.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIluXCaZrYjfRvKhFzwOE67hlgNPl0tqlElqtyuA6HL72XO2VGBQsc8DpIuZv5Q8ufEe2KJU3mO5Yz8y2lpCt_ROw4KQpASyV1gFyEe4mewB9pd7z7YKtyoM5e5ed1jldUIEZq9RJRUUc/s400/DSC_0158.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704880679033617762" /></a><br /><br />Coach Ramon and us<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Xy1QhE0HO0lUTrZou7QBqtmU4j9KYjEb25-beBq7nNCIOvaZwwuqXVlCGZNNUHWC6InxGnV57mcXGI1ParxUK0UCrUVkciT7NZ39tCc1wbAqQgGbS7P9U6dH8DAavdoxfMtZhaZ32g/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Xy1QhE0HO0lUTrZou7QBqtmU4j9KYjEb25-beBq7nNCIOvaZwwuqXVlCGZNNUHWC6InxGnV57mcXGI1ParxUK0UCrUVkciT7NZ39tCc1wbAqQgGbS7P9U6dH8DAavdoxfMtZhaZ32g/s400/DSC_0007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704881389057947874" /></a><br /><br />Leading Around the Windward in the Final Race!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOlpbRw3CK_D822av1Cy-dTvQnGKqSYUOa7JAFRHtj6o2wzvn3jErJz907M6PFJgdrjxMen35hbFRYiJzceWbtGHB_sykiuxb5M9yu5S-67Vgts0sIg4Sv-z0nNNbnUf0rb0KFnA0iNk/s1600/DSC_0217.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOlpbRw3CK_D822av1Cy-dTvQnGKqSYUOa7JAFRHtj6o2wzvn3jErJz907M6PFJgdrjxMen35hbFRYiJzceWbtGHB_sykiuxb5M9yu5S-67Vgts0sIg4Sv-z0nNNbnUf0rb0KFnA0iNk/s400/DSC_0217.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704882238598916578" /></a>Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-7638687883911448442012-01-22T13:39:00.000-08:002012-01-22T13:40:09.115-08:00Gametime in MIAMIThe Rolex Olympic Classes Regatta begins tomorrow with a more competitive field than last year’s event (4 from the top ten in the World this year). After a rejuvenating furlough at home being spoiled by our mums cooking, we returned to our winter training grounds in Miami. The sailing has been very productive, especially since the return of our coach, Ramon Oliden, this past Tuesday. We are stoked to have him with us for the event! With Ramon we have been working on the boat, getting it optimized (to Ramon’s world class eye) for the event. We have also been working on clean maneuvers around the race course under Ramon’s eye. The more confidence you get with these, the more you can get your head out of the boat and anticipate the next wind shift/pressure line.<br /><br />Looking ahead to the week, we have one goal above all in our minds…RACING WELL. After squandering many great opportunities at the Worlds, we realized the need for us to shake off the rust in the fundamentals of racing (after a year and a half mostly focusing on boat handling, this can naturally happen). With our newly-found self-belief in our boat handling and speed, we have been working hard in practice to be on top of our tactics and putting together solid race-long performances. Ramon incessantly saying “head out of the boat, head out of the boat!” has certainly helped our focus (especially Jesse’s) of looking around more, focusing on the big picture. <br /><br />With a promising breeze forecast for the next week, we are hopeful to put together a good championship as we are feeling ready as ever. Keep posted on the racing!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-50346737053586065252011-12-11T16:48:00.000-08:002011-12-11T17:06:55.075-08:00Game Day in Perth!We are starting our Olympic Country Qualifier campaign today in Freemantle! We have put in the preparation and now we need to remain poised in the tense atmosphere of the World Championships and sail to our potential. With consistent starting, smart lane management, steady boat handling and solid pace, we are looking to get steady finishes in the low teens (12-15) to put us in the hunt for qualifying for Gold Fleet (top 25). Another thing we will have to remember is that there is only one drop for the event, which will put a premium on consistency in this long series. <br /><br />The wind today is forecasted to blow offshore and we are sailing on Centre Course (real close to the beach), so it could largely be a case of staying in phase and managing the variable breeze. That said, the Easterly could fade and we could be sailing in the Doctor come this afternoon. The thing fighting this will be the clouds that are currenly overhead (we even had some rain this morning. Regardless of breeze we are ready to compete and commence our campaign to qualify Bermuda for next summer's Olympics!<br /><br />-ZanderZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-3903731552852132552011-11-11T18:02:00.000-08:002011-11-11T18:07:12.174-08:00Final Chapter of San Fran TrainingAfter our trip home, we headed back to San Francisco rejuvenated and refreshed for a final train before we head to Perth at the end of the month. We were joined by a few other 49ers for most of the training (2nd USA team, 2nd Canadian team, and the Mexican team). We were also able to get our training partner before his campaign-ending injury, Alex Bishop, to come out and coach us for most of the training. A big thanks to him! For the sailing, we were graced with a lighter breeze for most of the training, which we felt we needed after a month and a half of San Fran breeze!! <br /><br />Alex was very helpful in refining/polishing our mechanics (especially in the light-air). After 30 some days of training in 12+ knots, our light air maneuvers definitely needed some practice! We were able to analyze every single one of our maneuvers in post-sailing video sessions. This constructive discussion led to many good resolutions with our mechanics looking more polished by the trainings conclusion. <br /><br />A further positive out of the training was our dissection and testing of the rig in the 3-12 knots. We did a ton of testing with different mast bends, cap tensions, gybe shapes etc. By the end of the sailing, we felt more informed and confident in what we want from the rig in specific conditions. <br /><br />So all in all, a very good tranche of training that saw us sail almost every day. We were stoked to get the practice in the light air, as we had hoped for it when planning this final trip. With our confidence in our boat handling and speed at its highest level yet, we are stoked and feel ready for Perth. After a couple weeks separated (Zan is coaching in SoCal, and Jesse is painting in Bermuda), we will reunite in the Aussie Summer at the end of Nov! We will have a couple weeks of training before the World Championships start on December 12, 2011. Keep posted!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-83272099626649606202011-11-11T12:53:00.000-08:002011-11-11T12:54:30.829-08:00SF final training video<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31945536?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&autoplay=1" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br /><br />video from last week of training with our former training partner and now expert 49er coach!<br /><br />-ZanderZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-75921420878782670822011-10-26T04:23:00.000-07:002011-10-30T18:46:21.758-07:00California Fall 2011 Traininghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNk9b-b6jr0<br /><br />Gearing up for Perth.Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-25222378439373118392011-10-20T19:13:00.001-07:002011-10-20T19:16:52.081-07:00New Record: Round De Rock, Part II!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ7TFT_PVwymUZMKGGXs359kf9LyOr4_YpaYz6bLWxqXSO9ewX_rf0nYHeJFXZIjmfBA8miO-goxFGcgKJ7XEJ1gvUEd_q4ZE4Z8j-0faC14LBd1KGI14XxHMXeqIZaNpM0Y4VvDj_08/s1600/PA201779.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ7TFT_PVwymUZMKGGXs359kf9LyOr4_YpaYz6bLWxqXSO9ewX_rf0nYHeJFXZIjmfBA8miO-goxFGcgKJ7XEJ1gvUEd_q4ZE4Z8j-0faC14LBd1KGI14XxHMXeqIZaNpM0Y4VvDj_08/s400/PA201779.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665763660568322642" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyp8ZCSl9T5tUqMOBSKAUJUISGjiSShpnVaT3xlWMTIed0N9MSkJCGAs0zeLFg7KPhl_Oeytgib484fSXG_a5-n7wwma1nl81dnYzEFii8Qi0Gp0PB_ujjiO8Wlu7zqevORmAYwQ3CHW4/s1600/DSC_0667.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyp8ZCSl9T5tUqMOBSKAUJUISGjiSShpnVaT3xlWMTIed0N9MSkJCGAs0zeLFg7KPhl_Oeytgib484fSXG_a5-n7wwma1nl81dnYzEFii8Qi0Gp0PB_ujjiO8Wlu7zqevORmAYwQ3CHW4/s400/DSC_0667.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665763457371855746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6BlQAsccBAJh0GF0Ke84QwkslRfOtEYppxdJ212TVvWcy1HRj17sxHcT1FRSgiQbptXdUcS4oRB8yzz-43I6BPXertSwAaRT9ykhYzy5ajTKm4IB4hVBvBPROce17Js1lT2MMzp1iII/s1600/air.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6BlQAsccBAJh0GF0Ke84QwkslRfOtEYppxdJ212TVvWcy1HRj17sxHcT1FRSgiQbptXdUcS4oRB8yzz-43I6BPXertSwAaRT9ykhYzy5ajTKm4IB4hVBvBPROce17Js1lT2MMzp1iII/s400/air.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665763220657145714" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTX0QSOX1_ud4oyuASTTKZY2yWVuLmclNQcLFeSGtUIci-KifgC6REVfpFVVpl6mIP_y6b-fPgCtfKFNpsq7aKi6R-m7cyai0vbB_tRl6QhbA0nmsN0yMGOIW1nlk6xsVbxzra7JaYDX4/s1600/hookin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTX0QSOX1_ud4oyuASTTKZY2yWVuLmclNQcLFeSGtUIci-KifgC6REVfpFVVpl6mIP_y6b-fPgCtfKFNpsq7aKi6R-m7cyai0vbB_tRl6QhbA0nmsN0yMGOIW1nlk6xsVbxzra7JaYDX4/s400/hookin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665763126636296674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjCQf-qUSZQOg5JChlFs4W0jdsecJc21tEdh0UX88WnybsQuGnGOAQFyaKJj9gVF26T6snusa2YwC4SqEQ07SbcYczuYNOIYi-FN45uncWBofpBykYnVWsaokwexAFN0PEe5HI8-BXKs/s1600/better+air.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjCQf-qUSZQOg5JChlFs4W0jdsecJc21tEdh0UX88WnybsQuGnGOAQFyaKJj9gVF26T6snusa2YwC4SqEQ07SbcYczuYNOIYi-FN45uncWBofpBykYnVWsaokwexAFN0PEe5HI8-BXKs/s400/better+air.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665763032846977906" /></a><br />We broke our circumnavigation record by 10 mins! finishing in 3hrs 37 mins and 4 secs. It was an extremely rough sail around today, especially along the south shore, where there were big swells and a punchy 18-22kts. The breeze direction was SSE, so it meant the ever awkward beam reach for the majority of this tough leg. We left our safety boat in the dust, as we skipped over the waves, charging West. The 49er was like a bronco, frequently jumping in the air with the flying fish, with just the rudder in the water. The sensation of trapping hard and getting air is really cool and we got 15 miles of practice doing that! We had a great sail going until the approach to Whale Bay, where we had a dramatic pitchpole and flipped the boat - time at this point was 2 hrs 18 mins. The pitchpole was hard to avoid, as the waves were shoaling up as they approached the shoreline. The wipeout left us with a broken main halyard and a missing tiller extension. From there we limped into the finish in the Great Sound, with a jury rig to get her across the line. We were on track to go sub-3hrs around the island! We now know the right wind direction (or the opposite, a NNW'ly) to do it right! Just makes for a hairy sail! Its goes down as Jesse and I's most extreme sail in any boat!<br /><br />Big thanks to Gareth for lending his 49er for the mission, to CELLONE and Lindos for sponsoring this event and for our safety boat drivers: Paul Doughty, Tom Evans, Malcolm Kirkland, Raymond Lambert, and Nick Hutchings. The winner of the bet was Nick Kempe, who guessed 3hrs 37 mins!<br /><br />We return to San Francisco next Friday, to wrap up our training out there as we build up towards the World Championships (our first Olympic Qualifier) in Perth in December.Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-51028245938801693762011-10-17T08:44:00.000-07:002011-10-17T16:07:06.057-07:00California Training Wrap Up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmL-7hG32_8TR3BkEdNOfKwYVXJ-t6Io_GynPiYtF_gSU5NQRwtfwmEcMwgRjTHcj-wxwDF8JkRpGe8AIGkQ-j5Q-ELWUyxTCclHL2u1PAAWxzkDMDf41TPwBh8t1dxU8aMHx_VyvJaA/s1600/P9221628.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmL-7hG32_8TR3BkEdNOfKwYVXJ-t6Io_GynPiYtF_gSU5NQRwtfwmEcMwgRjTHcj-wxwDF8JkRpGe8AIGkQ-j5Q-ELWUyxTCclHL2u1PAAWxzkDMDf41TPwBh8t1dxU8aMHx_VyvJaA/s400/P9221628.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664581358020543154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpEr8-vb_5ftOseTRTEdq50PqhC50BAR4gf6YBCdHeRIvefGXJrgAZB_XIHblmN6xtInszfr6uHGW9KzWVcKqR1br1BmKg85e-8iRu_ijjG65-a_IMf-6JGMDswU2RzzRmsMdgMJqxtw/s1600/DSC_0640.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpEr8-vb_5ftOseTRTEdq50PqhC50BAR4gf6YBCdHeRIvefGXJrgAZB_XIHblmN6xtInszfr6uHGW9KzWVcKqR1br1BmKg85e-8iRu_ijjG65-a_IMf-6JGMDswU2RzzRmsMdgMJqxtw/s400/DSC_0640.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664579986887473874" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3UrI2f6dqYIAFpyi4f8gyEkvvPtyudiCgRvYLnS78iknhto4bCPKh1lkp5Y1fDYnrEjUSUbX5A0hzK93flZa7R1K-7YA8voaTA89NGkp-C65v1Tzo1kjGoLw36Ojte9EjXlakITjtZc/s1600/DSC_0573.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3UrI2f6dqYIAFpyi4f8gyEkvvPtyudiCgRvYLnS78iknhto4bCPKh1lkp5Y1fDYnrEjUSUbX5A0hzK93flZa7R1K-7YA8voaTA89NGkp-C65v1Tzo1kjGoLw36Ojte9EjXlakITjtZc/s400/DSC_0573.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664579683715815378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegIW7CCbTick3iQt7eFFw9RdW8EHrEPac0x5hiCm0vULdY15Vml_wWS3X10eBvyINLcjg2oNMcWnYcWSsdsP5RaqF65yh3agJ4rL0KDhoMuQz6kG8gtClz2RMWUnj0-qWYTrPKNk-CAk/s1600/DSC_0576.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegIW7CCbTick3iQt7eFFw9RdW8EHrEPac0x5hiCm0vULdY15Vml_wWS3X10eBvyINLcjg2oNMcWnYcWSsdsP5RaqF65yh3agJ4rL0KDhoMuQz6kG8gtClz2RMWUnj0-qWYTrPKNk-CAk/s400/DSC_0576.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664578960736466690" /></a><br /><br />Tired, sick and enjoying the spoils of rest and our Mum's cooking, we are back in Bermuda after our most productive tranche of training in the boat. The 7 weeks of sailing we did out in the Central California Coast once again lived up to the hype as the magical combination of the hot Central Valley juxtaposed to the Cold North Pacific Ocean delivered the thermal gradient which pumped in the great wind. San Francisco Bay in particular was "skiff sailing paradise" for the month of September, as windy, sunny days were on tap day after day. The majority of the top talent from around North America (USA, CAN, MEX, & ISV) showed up, which made for a great training group to gear up for the Perth Worlds. San Francisco with its famous sea breeze and challenging chop is seen as a great warm up to Perth, which is home to notorious "Doctor" sea breeze. We sailed hard and got the most hours on the water out of any of the teams for the 7 weeks we were out there. We have never felt more comfortable in the boat and look forward to measuring up against the World Championship fleet in December!<br /><br />Coaching: Worth it!<br />We started the training out there with a 10 day boat camp with Ramon Oliden, Spanish National Team Coach (49er Olympic Medalists Iker and Xabi). We focused on the mechanics of boat handling in the big breeze found on the bay. Ramon had a great eye and was able to make subtle adjustments to Jesse and my technique which made for much more efficient maneuvering. He is such a wealth of information to bounce ideas off and it is inspiring to know exactly how the best in the world sail the boat. We also did many hours of video analyzing, comparing our clips with the Spanish team's clips. At moments, we are looking pretty good on camera and we know what to do, but now we are working on doing it consistently under pressurized situations. Practice, Practice, Practice!<br /><br />North Americans: 3rd/9 boats(second North American team)!!<br />This was our first real result in the boat and was no doubt a testament to the hard work we have been putting in over the past 16 months (since we went full-time) and not surprisingly the help we received from Ramon. Coaching makes a big difference, that is why the vast majority of teams countries have them and it was cool to see the high correlation with us in terms of results and coaching. Imagine if we could have him 10 days a month until the Olympics! We will need to do much more fundraising to make this a reality, but believe people/companies will take notice because of how we have responded to this first stint of coaching.<br /><br />The regatta itself was a great event, with the first day being very windy and the final day being lighter and more tactical. Our key was keeping it simple and staying upright on the windy day and that seemed to work pretty well, coupled with the fact that we had good speed upwind. The second day was medium breeze and put more of a premium of managing the current and the wind shifts. Tactics and wind shifts are something we are pretty confident in and with the boat handling under control in those conditions, we sailed smart enough to consolidate our 3rd place. The regatta was won by the Finnish team, who were 11th at the last World Championships and second place went to the top American team (Storck/Moore), ranked 14th in the ISAF World Cup standings. Fourth place went to the top Canadian team, who went to the previous Olympics. We were stoked to be in the mix with these top teams and gives us confidence as we head down under to Perth. Yes it was a small fleet and has to be taken for what it is, the fact that our speed was putting us among Gold Fleet sailors consistently is promising.<br /><br />Santa Cruz Training: Ocean Sailing<br />Well it was not quite the gnarley, memory searing conditions we had last year, where it was BIG Breeze everyday, but it was still nice to get out of the Bay after 5.5 weeks of sailing at Richmond. It is amazing the difference there is when you get a swell under your feet! Boat handling, trimming and steering, all require an adjustment period to manage the change in sea state. It is especially hard trimming the main, when you want to keep the boat perfectly flat and the boat is slowly yawling around because of the swell. It is just another factor in an already complex equation and what we learned was that it is often better to try not to react to the natural roll and trust that the swell will bring the boat back to level. The other good thing we found productive in Santa Cruz was narrowing in our rig settings in the medium breeze, a condition that has historically troubled us. We experimented with some things and think we have some leads to go faster in these conditions. It was nice too, to have the fast boats there to test alongside, to give these findings some legitimacy.<br /><br />We return to San Francisco on the 28th, for 2 more weeks of sailing, to get everything dialed in for Perth and our first opportunity to qualify for next summer's Olympics.<br /><br />While home, we will be painting houses, attempting another Bermuda circumnavigation (if weather permits) and co-hosting a fundraising dinner for our Campaign! Busy! But a nice change from what we have been doing since late August.<br /><br />-ZanderZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-84006010613166082772011-09-26T22:01:00.000-07:002011-09-26T22:16:09.361-07:00Spinnaker Pole Video!Fresh off the iVideo<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzsHN8poK6wM1uZDDkCF_cSHPHHBg2l3ySOhYUtO7XCur2d5IS7AAsOnYfIFQJM9ET22DbmcjMj-zeAzDjwAQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Thanks to Malcolm for his creative GoPro housing unit which fit on the end of the pole! Thanks Dad!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-64112558339251805652011-09-26T10:39:00.001-07:002011-09-26T10:42:29.803-07:003rd at North Americans!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqaZnRz9NjwuZjKaJO7BRti0mNc5RAmoShCpCoOdLF553XeO2WajPIWs2hAZ-s9nJYSSrVq2tjU9itbyljRM2dOntiv1g-u_yo8shyphenhyphenUOIxIk9ahCX8xWuFA-ZMs_EkWa2BrUn5npk2Sc/s1600/DSC_0637.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqaZnRz9NjwuZjKaJO7BRti0mNc5RAmoShCpCoOdLF553XeO2WajPIWs2hAZ-s9nJYSSrVq2tjU9itbyljRM2dOntiv1g-u_yo8shyphenhyphenUOIxIk9ahCX8xWuFA-ZMs_EkWa2BrUn5npk2Sc/s400/DSC_0637.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656725022723531394" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNqrFUvEhAgQqGZY0PqnzODZ2U8_q783a734jjZGPxDYid1IkjGbyI8AlwqKmzJCn7PVu5tBQsVLOEjuklInEEc9_mxZUxKd8Q7j0HoroqGvgiW5S0FaZMjjo77BqP2qsM5d_de84-YI/s1600/DSC_0602.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNqrFUvEhAgQqGZY0PqnzODZ2U8_q783a734jjZGPxDYid1IkjGbyI8AlwqKmzJCn7PVu5tBQsVLOEjuklInEEc9_mxZUxKd8Q7j0HoroqGvgiW5S0FaZMjjo77BqP2qsM5d_de84-YI/s400/DSC_0602.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656724881616249282" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0fP4Xrf3ZvZndfFaHzwxzBtnbXckwoWJzdQZRZTYnySUfIWk5-axLrIF8-LOuRh56e3UOOH1DNZu2ff9GxXjXaEWTl4ZltJdR1RxhvEjok9ed0RUZbyo824usI3rH2PV0eIN6xvYmV4/s1600/DSC_0640.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0fP4Xrf3ZvZndfFaHzwxzBtnbXckwoWJzdQZRZTYnySUfIWk5-axLrIF8-LOuRh56e3UOOH1DNZu2ff9GxXjXaEWTl4ZltJdR1RxhvEjok9ed0RUZbyo824usI3rH2PV0eIN6xvYmV4/s400/DSC_0640.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656724725688193154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30mflmd84k3IdgDiztCirbebziqsmEbwZht6hCgI7y6o7oPRe7DvQiw6xvhqcBWz7rBE4jXgxhk-FSp2e2M4-bbd4LttnodfBmSh7qjCnrJDipcnmuMaA8LCa2yTkagJFvP6RFFd2nIo/s1600/DSC_0643.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30mflmd84k3IdgDiztCirbebziqsmEbwZht6hCgI7y6o7oPRe7DvQiw6xvhqcBWz7rBE4jXgxhk-FSp2e2M4-bbd4LttnodfBmSh7qjCnrJDipcnmuMaA8LCa2yTkagJFvP6RFFd2nIo/s400/DSC_0643.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656724476027075794" /></a><br />Battling with Erik and Trevor<br /><br /><br />San Francisco, CA<br />Sept 24-25<br />Richmond Yacht Club<br /><br />Finishes = 3,4,3,4,2,4,5 = 3rd Overall/8 boats (6 countries represented)<br /><br />3rd place at the 49er North American Championships is big deal for us and is a testament to the hard work we have been putting in the boat in the last 15 months since we went full-time in an effort to qualify for next summer's Olympics. The racing was tough out in the Bay, with big breeze on Day 1 and then ripping tide to manage on day 2, to create a multitude of conditions to test North America's best 49er sailors. The regatta was actually won by the Finnish team (11th at last year's World Championships), who are here training with the North America contingent in preparation for the 2011 World Championships which are coming up in December in Freemantle, Australia. The top American team was 2nd, who are smart and fast in the boat and then we were a few points after them after the 7 race series rounded up yesterday. We were excited to be near these guys and beat the top Canadian boats. The fleet was only 8 boats, but of a high quality - top Mexican team, top Finnish team, 2 top Americans, top 2/3 Canadian teams, and the top US Virgin Island team.<br /><br />Going into the event, we knew it would be windy and just wanted to keep the sailing as polished as possible. Basically, we wanted to test our boat handling, which we have been practising for the past 3 weeks out on the notoriously windy San Francisco Bay. Ramon Olideen, the coach of the defending World Champions, was very helpful to us when we had him for 10 days earlier in the month. He adjusted subtle things with our technique, which make big differences on the consistency of our boat handling. It really awakened us to how helpful coaching is at this level and really got us excited to raise more money so we could get him again. There is pretty high correlation between our best result to date and the fact that we just had one of the best coaches in the world work with us for 10 days before the event.<br /><br />Back to the event, Saturday was challenging, as the tide was running against the 15-22kts of wind, which put a premium on executing the tricky boat handling maneuvers, all the while trying to avoid stuffing the bow in the steep waves. We had some good speed with the fast guys upwind and had some super clean tacks to keep us battling in the front pack. On the treacherous runs, we kept her upright, despite numerous wipe outs and pitch-poles by our competition. We had one gybe, where we hit a wave in the middle of it and it almost sent us over, as the boat loaded up without us not being clipped in; Jesse somehow saved it by steering from the water, with one hand holding the 8ft tiller extension and the other hand holding his trapeze wire, as we were being dragged off the windward wing - It was not pretty, but sometimes "gutsy athleticism" is what is needed to get the boat across the line in these big breeze conditions. <br /><br />Sunday dawned with the first rain of "the California wet season", as a weak cold front crossed the Bay Area, leaving us with uncharacteristically light winds on the race course - it did build to a moderate westerly as it cleared up. We sailed on a new race course to cater to the different wind, which had more current running through it. The racing was more tactical than the previous day's speed orientated theme and made for a well rounded championship. We sailed well enough to consolidate on 3rd place for the event, but have plenty of room for improvement in the tactical and boat handling department. The biggest take-away from Sunday, was finding a rig setting in those conditions where we had good speed with the top guys. Historically, we have had our biggest speed issues in those conditions of 7-11kts, and we adjusted a few things to get up to speed with our competition. It was nice to rely on our speed to get out of tricky situations and not feel like we were always losing distance to people around us when going in a straight line. Our setting in these conditions still needs some refinements, but we like the direction it is headed.<br /><br />We have 3 more weeks out here, training in the same conditions, with the same high caliber group, before we head back to Bermuda for a break and to do some more fund-raising and work. We are tentatively planning on doing another "Round de Rock" record attempt as well - we want to get below the 3 hr mark if we can get the conditions to cooperate. Let us know if you want to put up any prizes for the bets on our time around. email zankirkland@hotmail.comZander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-67674703992878982002011-09-24T18:06:00.000-07:002011-09-24T19:02:33.042-07:00NA's Day 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVP-_mcSae0yc5SwBK53JR7_rbCQHpFT498FBhg7L4Ur0Qlh7PuwgAj-dga9bkFrpjCrWz400pydd1dVsXCEPpF1coKXm3w7uIiyiItnpiigiXMF9dcrbZsfLHBG8x5fi8dup2OGsFPw/s1600/DSC_0556.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVP-_mcSae0yc5SwBK53JR7_rbCQHpFT498FBhg7L4Ur0Qlh7PuwgAj-dga9bkFrpjCrWz400pydd1dVsXCEPpF1coKXm3w7uIiyiItnpiigiXMF9dcrbZsfLHBG8x5fi8dup2OGsFPw/s400/DSC_0556.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656110417453406242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6Rs_8FI9lxsfYDjFrovcrfYxCM87CabBuoWnQb-rMmWz-yzEe3N2r6Va-M8zP9biLYDNBaDzhE-_d7wYOVWQsVKDXgjTMkKVecYmqhSi1VqmUC7HX6kvTWy9UWT4ludhLTdDcXYJGAQ/s1600/DSC_0581.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6Rs_8FI9lxsfYDjFrovcrfYxCM87CabBuoWnQb-rMmWz-yzEe3N2r6Va-M8zP9biLYDNBaDzhE-_d7wYOVWQsVKDXgjTMkKVecYmqhSi1VqmUC7HX6kvTWy9UWT4ludhLTdDcXYJGAQ/s400/DSC_0581.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656110177670631602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjpS4WdAX7kRVCB6TzjcOilJPDtbrPXm8YFCjE4Vh-wR3K63VKgpYENvMNqkQ6e7SMndgLZHDFj4d3GIzfZdCkdF45PCZLa0574V6sM3Gos7HnDKV1NxX5fSoH3IC0pbxeCfh3UikIgk/s1600/DSC_0573.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjpS4WdAX7kRVCB6TzjcOilJPDtbrPXm8YFCjE4Vh-wR3K63VKgpYENvMNqkQ6e7SMndgLZHDFj4d3GIzfZdCkdF45PCZLa0574V6sM3Gos7HnDKV1NxX5fSoH3IC0pbxeCfh3UikIgk/s400/DSC_0573.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656109984747650610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfydq2QwG4Ab6cxowkc1hrJfNGKfou7DC55vmQlIfI4xzhQIRQCcWZ5AC1BoOA9ntt1ghXDtohyphenhyphenPpyCPNzYHFwy9tEkvvROEnqlehUp7AFfg5E4I6DvJP8cLxn6BEUy5OueABvUoXJsrE/s1600/DSC_0576.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfydq2QwG4Ab6cxowkc1hrJfNGKfou7DC55vmQlIfI4xzhQIRQCcWZ5AC1BoOA9ntt1ghXDtohyphenhyphenPpyCPNzYHFwy9tEkvvROEnqlehUp7AFfg5E4I6DvJP8cLxn6BEUy5OueABvUoXJsrE/s400/DSC_0576.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656109799253296194" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />North Americans started today in a punchy 15-20kts+ out on the Bay, in an exposed area, just south of line between Treasure Island and Angel Island. It was ebbing for the majority of the afternoon, which made for lumpy conditions and put a premium on survival boat handling at times - excess of 20kts with nasty chop will do it. The goal for today's first day of racing was to keep it simple and keep the boat upright. We knew it would be BREEZE ON and so we just wanted to put all the boat handling practice we have done in the past 3 weeks to the test. We knew with all the technique work we did with Ramon that it was in us to do it, but to do it under race conditions is always a whole other deal.<br /><br />The fleet is a tight, international fleet of 8 boats (2 USA, 2 CAN, ISV, MEX, FIN and BER). Our finishes today were 3,4,3,4. We had good speed upwind and were smart about managing about the ebb current for the most part. We also nailed some windshifts and had some nice gainers on some of the fast guys (FIN was 11th at last worlds, Team Storck/Moore is Gold Fleet, and CAN 49 is Gold Fleet and past Olympian)! We are getting closer!! The boat handling is continuing to come together, thanks to Ramon, the endless wind to practice in out here and we are nearing a critical mass of 49er sailing hours where boat handling is slowly becoming more natural. We had some real nice tacks out there, where we carried our speed well and had a few solid gybes as well. We also had a few hairy gybes, where we just saved them thanks to a little luck and gutsy athleticism (sometimes that is good enough in a 49er when the course is littered with wiped out 49ers). We will work on these to continue to make these smoother and more in control!! The wave state really complicates matters...in our most hairy gybe, we dug the bow mid gybe and scrambled from there to keep her upright.<br /><br />Goal for tomorrow is the same for today. It's most likely going to be windy again and we will need to continue to execute on the boat handling to get through the Bay's tough conditions.<br /><br />PS. On our training since we have been here has been great! The breeze has been like a machine out on the Bay and the international training partners have been great to sail with. It was awesome to have Ramon out here in the early part of this SF training to get our new boat sorted and to get our boat handling mechanics in order. Coaching does make a difference - especially when he is coach of the defending world champions! He had a great eye and could see very subtle things, which make a big difference. The whole time we had Ramon, both of us couldn't stop thinking how great this was and if only we could regularly get this type of support!! Please talk to us if you are interested in making Ramon a reality for more than 10 days a year. Even Ramon mentioned it, "imagine if I had 10 days a month with you guys..." We also have to thank our Dad for coming out and filming/analyzing us for the past week. He has been very helpful on the water and is also an added dynamic in the post-sailing time to keep the chemistry fresh for Jesse and I. THANKS DAD! Hope we get you back on the campaign trail in the future. Plus he makes good burgers and gets us in the HOV lane!Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2125278592776109452.post-32274413541269172332011-09-09T19:56:00.000-07:002011-09-10T01:30:22.125-07:00Training with RamonHere is short clip we put together of some of the training we have done out on the Bay. The footage is split between the GoBro and our coach, Ramon.Zander Kirklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16852171417273995410noreply@blogger.com0