 Kirklands in action IslandStats.com
“Racing was steady in a solid gusts on the Biscayne Bay chop”, said Zander. “The breeze and made for very challenging 49er sailing. The tacks and gybes are way harder in the waves because it bounces as you run 'cross de boat from wing to wing. Overall we were pretty pumped with our performance. We managed to finish several races (numerous people went in early because the building breeze and breakdowns)”.
Zander continued, “We landed a few gybes in the big breeze and had some near pitch-poles with our feet in the straps. All and all it was an awesome and was tons of fun. Our freestyle move of the day was waiting between races, dodging 470's and board sailors, when Jesse started "Supermaning" 15ft out to winward from the wing. It all started because we heeled to windward broad reaching and Jesse got swept off the wing and started getting dragged with only his harness keeping him attached to the boat”.
Jesse said, “We managed to have a few good starts though we still can improve on the final 5 seconds to get the boat up to max speed. On one occasion after some unfortunate luck (getting slammed by two boats and forced to tack an additional couple times), we ended up rounding the mark in 12, right behind the front pack. After rounding the leeward mark, I misjudged the trap and ended up breaking the tiller extension, forcing us to capsize”.
“To single out a specific instance, we had equal speed with the NZL team (finished 15th at Worlds and winning NA's) for a long port tack”, concluded Jesse.
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