Zander and Jesse Kirkland moved up two places on the leaderboard in the 49ers fleet competing at the Open European Championships in Helsinki, Finland after three races on day two.Rising from 49th to 47th, the brothers had finishes of 21st, and two 16ths to sit in the lower half of the fleet after nine races.“After nine races, we are lying in 47th place, but only 20 points out of a mid fleet,” said Zander. “The conditions have been really shifty with the course tucked up right under the shore of Helsinki, leaving the fleet very close.“With half our races still to come, we have the room to make a good jump up the leaderboard.“The course that we were put on for our races has been very difficult and unpredictable, leaving the tactics and strategy that much more tricky.“However, one thing that we can pride ourselves on for most of this event is our starting. We have had some really good starts in the middle of the line allowing us to be a little more conservative with the oscillating breeze.”The Kirklands are still hoping to quailfy for next year’s Olympic Games in London, competing in a number of regattas in Europe.