Laser skipper Zander Kirkland has qualified to represent New England at the North American Single-Handed Championships.

The Bermudian, who represented the Island at the Pan-Am Games earlier this year, is a second year student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and is one of four New England representatives who will be at the event at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida this month.

Kirkland placed fourth in the two-day New England Single-Handed Championship at Dartmouth. He racked up 99 points with two wins and ten more top-five finishes from 18 races.

?Zander did very well,? senior co-ed captain Joel Hanneman said. ?He wanted to finish top three or win, but he was really consistent in every aspect of the race, very fast upwind and downwind. He just played the wind well.?

It is the second time Kirkland has qualified for the Nationals, having done so as a first year student last year when he placed second in the New England qualifier. He went on to finish fourth in the national event at Rice University.

?It was a very, very competitive event,? coach Ken Legler said. ?Last year the New England Single-Handed qualifiers finished second, third and fourth in the Nationals, and we expect that our qualifiers will finish right up there again, so it?s almost a preview of the Nationals.?