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

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

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

Royal Gazette - June 9, 2010

Kirkland brothers step up Olympic campaign

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By Kyle Hunter

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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.

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!

Jesse wins Team Race College Nationals!

Jesse bookended his collegiate sailing career with another Team Race Title in Madison, Wisconsin today. Jesse had previously won Team Race Nationals his freshmen year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. St. Marys has now won this Championship 5 times and is a testament to the program's status as one of the perennial powerhouses in college sailing. Jesse and the St Mary's team have been working hard all year for this event and are excited that they executed on this lofty goal.

While aspects of team racing are not highly correlated to 49er sailing, many of the same principles remain: good coaching, staying calm under pressure, seamless teamwork, effective goal management, hard work, good boat handling, and managing the ups and downs of the championship. Winning championships is not easy to do and the more practice the better! Jesse has now won three collegiate national titles - 2 Team Race Titles (2007, 2010) and the Dinghy Championship (2009). This extremely successful collegiate career is a great foundation for international sailing as it has made Jesse tactically sharp, a confident starter and very knowledgeable in the rules department.

Jesse's last collegiate regatta starts tomorrow as St Marys sets out to defend its 2009 Dinghy Championship. He then returns to Bermuda on June 4th and we head out for our first summer in Europe of 49er training/racing on June 10th.

PRESS RELEASE:

ST. MARY'S COLLEGE WINS
2010 ICSA/APS TEAM RACE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP


Madison, Wisc. (May 31, 2010) - Over the three-day Memorial Day holiday
weekend, the top 14 schools in the nation - as determined by their
performance in one of the seven Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association
conferences to which they belong - were in America's Heartland racing for
the 2010 ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship title on Lake Mendota.
And for one team, St. Mary's College (St. Mary's, Md.), it was a reversal of
fortune from 2009 when the Seahawks lost this championship on a tie breaker,
to come back and win this year's contest on a tie break with the same team -
Boston College.  Proving that they are a powerhouse in this format of
sailing, the win marks the fifth time the Seahawks have clinched this unique
championship which pits each college's three-boat team against another's in
a round-robin series of matches. 

The competition starts with the 14 teams divided into two groups; the first
hurdle for the teams was finishing top four in their group.  In Group 1, St.
Mary's (6-0), Tufts (5-1), Yale (4-2) and College of Charleston (4-2) moved
on to the Gold Round.  Northwestern University (2-4), Texas A&M Galveston
(1-5) and the University of Hawaii (0-6) were out of contention for the
national title at the conclusion of that round.

>From Group 2, Boston College (6-0), Georgetown University (5-1), the U.S.
Naval Academy (4-2) and the University of Wisconsin (3-3) progressed to the
Gold Round, while Eckerd College (1-5), Stanford University (2-4) and the
University of Washington (0-6) were also out of contention. 

At the conclusion of the Gold Round, also known as the "elite eight," the
"final four" race to determine the champion.  The goal of the championship
is to have the top four teams meet each other three times, which also allows
for a tie break.  This year's event was a light air contest, and credit goes
to the Race Committee for giving the sailors every opportunity to get races
completed especially on the penultimate day of the championship (Sunday, May
30) when competitors were out sailing at 9:00 a.m. and finishing up about
8:00 p.m.

"When teams make the 'elite eight,' each team is capable of beating everyone
else," explained Adam Werblow, Head Varsity Sailing Coach at St. Mary's.
"There is no easy win.  Every team has worked damn hard to get here and
they've accomplished a lot by the time they get to the championship round.
That's what makes it fun.  There are simply no gimmes once you get into the
elite eight."

"What helped us is that we have a team who has worked together for a very
long time," said Werblow.  "This team has been perfecting the skills of team
racing and Bill Ward (Varsity Sailing Coach) has been exceptional on
coaching the details of how to team race well.  The level of consistency
that they've had is remarkable.  With the support of our alumni we set the
bar really high and we had a goal at the beginning of the year to win this
championship. "

On the water for St. Mary's were senior skipper Ted Hale (Annapolis, Md.)
with junior crew Francis Kupersmith  (Alexandria, Va.), junior skipper
Michael Menninger (Newport Harbor, Calif.) with senior crew Kelly Wilbur
(Ipswich, Mass.) and senior skipper Jesse Kirkland (Warwick, Bermuda) with
junior crew Madeline Jackson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.).   For the last race
of the championship, senior skipper Mike Kuschner (San Francisco, Calif.)
sailed with Kupersmith, and Hale sailed with Wilbur. 

"We have such a proud tradition and we are thrilled to be able to represent
the school and one another," summed up Werblow.  "There are 30 kids on our
team and 2,000 in the school.  The 10 kids sailing here are representing the
rest and feel really proud to regain the national title we covet so much."

Final standings for the final four:  St. Mary's 12-5, Boston College 12-5,
Georgetown 10-7 and Charleston 9-8.  Complete results are available at:
http://2010nationals.collegesailing.org/page/Team-Race-Results

Sled on her way to Europe!

I am back in California and 'Sled' is on her way to Europe! We packed her up in early February and she should be in Barcelona in early March. I hope she will be fine on her journey! She is hanging in the container lashed down, between the boats of our friends from the States and Argentina. Check out the pictures of the pack job. She will live in the South of France, at our friend's house until we show up in early June for our exciting Euro-leg. We are in the midst of planning it all! Looking forward to it. Stay tuned...
-Zander