Jesse and Zander Kirkland remained on course for a podium finish after putting in another solid display at the 49er World Championships in Zadar, Croatia yesterday.After three races in the final, the local sailing siblings were ninth in the 25-boat Gold fleet.Only the top ten boats after the finals are completed will advance to tomorrow’s medal race.The Kirklands, who qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in the UK on Wednesday, got off to a slow start after crossing the finish line in 16th in the opening race but came roaring back in the second with a superb second place.However, the local duo’s day on the surf came full circle when they placed 15th in the day’s final race.Despite slipping one spot down the overall leaderboard from eight to ninth, skipper Jesse was satisfied with the day’s performance.“Today (yesterday) was a good day for us with a 16-2-15 in another light NW,” he said. “We got a nice reminder of how unforgiving it is at this elite level in the last race when we fell from fourth to 15th in one downwind.“Due to a chaotic windward mark rounding we were unable to hold onto a lane to the favoured side. Since the fleet is so tight, we instantly lost 10 boats.“But Gold Fleet as expected has been very competitive, so we are pleased to have maintained top 10 overall.”The Kirklands now hope to finish the regatta on a strong note.“We still have five races left before the medal race and with points incredibly tight throughout the leaderboard there’s bound to be a lot of reshuffling over the next couple days,” Jesse said. “Hopefully we can come out on the good end of it.”The past All- American sailor said achieving the primary goal of Olympic qualification earlier in the regatta has taken some of the pressure off the team’s shoulders.“Having the qualification behind us now has certainly allowed us to relax somewhat and just race again,” Jesse said. “We can now refocus on our primary objective of the Olympics this summer.”Last month saw the Kirklands place 13th overall and reached the Gold fleet for the first time at this level at the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia-MAPFRE regatta in Mallorca, Spain.Defending champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia continue to lead the overall fleet in Croatia.