Following their 24th place finish in Miami, Jesse and Zander Kirkland reflect on their progress and discuss the rationale behind their goal (written Fall 2009):
“We will put emphasis on error-free boat-handling in a pressurized environment. We will be watching the top players in the fleet, with the hope of picking up skiff sailing subtleties. This event will enlighten us to the different style of tactics that are employed in skiff sailing. This will be a big, tough regatta because everyone will be in the region because of the World Championship held earlier in the month in nearby Bahamas”.
Zander said, “We are stoked to have achieved our goal and happy it was a realistic one. This past month of sailing has gone by fast and we are excited about getting into the class. It will be a lot of work, and it will not come easy, but we think it is realistic to slowly work our way in to the upper echelon of the class. It was refreshing in this event to finally be racing and not just competing against the boat! Yes, that was partly due to the fact that it was moderate air regatta, but we were starting to feel more and more comfortable in the boat”.
“Now we take a hiatus until Kiele Week - June 2010 - (Jesse is going back to finish up at St Mary's and I am heading back to California to coach) and then back on the campaign trail to get cranked up for our first mission in Europe this summer. I will be working on my fitness level all spring to get it ready for the top level Euro leg - lots of upper body work and cardio”, continued Zander.
“We are hoping to get "Sled" to Europe soon, so we will have her over there for our Euro-legs”, concluded Zander.
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