Kirkland places seventh in nation

Sophomore Zander Kirkland placed seventh in the nation in the North American Men's Singlehanded Championship laser sailing regatta, held two weekends ago at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Kirkland, a native of Warwick, Bermuda, led the field of 16 sailors from around the country after day one of competition, and was in second place after day two. The final day of competition proved more challenging, as Kirkland dropped back into seventh place.

Friday's regatta-opening race began at around 2:30 p.m., delayed due to a dying wind. Kirkland was positioned atop the leader board after five races on Friday with 25 points, four points ahead of Kings Point's David Wright. Just three points separated the second through sixth-place sailors. Stanford's Brian Haines and Harvard's Vincent Porter followed Wright with 30 points each, with Crimson teammate Clay Johnson was positioned fifth with 31 points. Greg Helias of USC was sixth with 32 points.

Saturday's competition featured just three races, with an eight-to-ten knot wind in the morning, which faded quickly by midday. Kirkland placed fourth, third and sixth in the three races, falling one point behind Porter at the end of the day, but distancing himself from Wright by ten points. Johnson dropped back to eighth following a disqualification and 11th and seventh place finishes.

Shifty winds characterized the final day of competition. Johnson sailed well enough to produce a win, three seconds and three thirds to finish in third place overall, while Wright also put in a solid effort to finish second. Porter maintained his grasp on the lead, winning the regatta by eight points.

Kirkland started off strongly, with a fourth and fifth place finish, but finished 15th, 15th, 12th, eighth and 13th in the final five races causing the slide back into seventh.

Nevertheless, the finish is testament to Kirkland's persistence and promise. It is his second year competing in the national event, having finished fourth overall as a freshman in last year's championship at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Kirkland also hopes to represent Bermuda in next year's Summer Olympics in Athens, and would possibly face several of the competitors from last weekend's event, many of whom recently competed in the US Olympic sailing trials.

The event caps off the fall sailing season. The sailing team will go into hibernation until the spring calendar begins next semester.



--by Jesse Gerner