Zander and Jesse Kirkland have finished up in 55th position at the 49er World Championships in the Bahamas. While they did race yesterday they were not part of the Gold Fleet which only includes the top 25 boats.

The Bermudian brothers were part of the Silver Series and finished in 30th position among the 37 boats. While the Gold Fleet have 11 races (dropping one) only eight races are counting towards the Silver Fleet.

They have had finishes of 17, 28, 30, 24, 27 and three races where they did not finish, one of which is dropped for scoring purposes.

After leaving the Bahamas this weekend the Kirklands will travel to Miami where they will compete in two other top regattas – the North American 49er Championships and the Miami Olympic Class Regatta which should involve many of the same sailors who are competing in the Bahamas.

These World Championships is the first regatta the Bermudians have sailed the 49er in – a boat which is a high performance skiff.

And the going has not been easy as the winds have been gusting. But the Kirklands have admitted that this regatta will be the first of quite a few so they can get used to the boat in their bid to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

Leading the championships after yesterday's racing was the Spanish team of Iker DeLizarduy and Xabier Fernandez while teams from Great Britain take over the next three spots such is the strength and depth of that country in that 49er class.

Second is the team of John Pink and Rick Peacock while third is the team of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes. Fellow Brits Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith are fourth.

The medal race will be on Saturday.