Jesse and Zander Kirkland have finished competing in the Seiko 49er World Championship Regatta on in the waters of Grand Bahamas Sailing Club after 8 races.
The brothers competing in their first International Competition in their 49er finished 36th in the Silver Fleet with 408 points.
The brothers failed to finish either race on the day as Zander Kirkland said, “In the first race of the morning, we were able to recover from a mediocre start to get in the mix in the middle of the fleet. Unfortunately, at the final leeward mark we were fouled by a boat resulting in a tear in the bottom of our spinnaker. We were forced to retire from the race and unable to find a replacement”.
Jesse Kirkland said, “In the final race of the afternoon, with the boat favored and the Black flag hoisted, we won the boat! It was of great relief that we finally had a good start. After several poor starts you forget how much easier it is to sail a beat when you actually have options! We rounded the top mark in the top 15, and on the downwind leg, near to the leeward mark, we had a race-ending incident with two other boats”.
must be feeling lucky that the local media have treated them much better than they treated their fellow younger sailors over the Christmas break during the Orange Bowl Regatta, picked up where they left off yesterday with a Did Not Finish in the day’s first race which was the 6th in the series, before finishing 25th in race seven and then they finished 27th in race 8.
“Today was probably the most tumultuous day of sailing the 49er yet. We had great moments between starting and straight-line speed, however, they were overshadowed by incidents forcing us not to finish races. One day down the road, today’s antics will provide comical relief, but for now, they are nothing short of sheer frustration”, concluded Jesse Kirkland.
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