Olympic hopefuls Zander and Jesse Kirkland make their long-awaited return to competitive sailing in the Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta next week and are anxious to discover whether their recent hard work in training has paid off.The Grade 1 Regatta will be the Kirklands first since racing in an Olympic test event called the Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England, in August of last year.Since then the Bermuda brothers have spent around 70-days of intensive training in North America as they step up their preparations ahead of this year's first Olympic qualifier in Perth, Australia.The substantial costs involved in shipping their new high-performance 49er from England to Miami means the duo will race in a much older slower sailboat making it difficult to gauge their recent progress.However, they remain confident of a respectable finish in the Bay of Biscayne where fellow Bermuda sailers Peter Bromby (Star class), Cameron Pimental (Lasers) and Alex Jones (RS:X windsurfing) will also be competing.“We couldn't afford to ship our new 49er back to North America from England so we will be racing in our ten-year-old boat against a lot of new boats which will be quicker,” said Zander, who along with his younger brother is a full-time professional.“We just don't have the money to ship a boat back for one event, that's the reality of our programme and how expensive it is. Last week we had a breakthrough practice session where we had good speed.“We had been getting frustrated after 70-days of training as we didn't feel we were getting the rewards we should have been.“But that great session was in a friend's boat, which was quite new, and we just have to get through the Miami regatta, get a respectable result before getting back in our new boat in March for the European circuit.“The fleet in the US is not as competitive as in Europe but some of the Euro teams have made the journey (to Miami) and it will be good to see how we stake up against them.”Zander, 27 and Jesse, 22, both top dinghy racers, have spent the past few months putting in the hard yards in Santa Cruz, San Francisco Bay, Southern California and Miami. Previously they were touring Europe in a rental car with their new boat strapped to the roof, living on friends' sofas in an effort to cut costs while gaining valuable experience in Germany, Poland and England.Their mission is to be the first Bermudians to quality for the Olympics in the 49er class a two-man, stand-up skiff which combines regular sailing with wakeboarding.In Zander's words it has been “a battle” to fund their campaign trail this far and he estimates they will need a further $200,000 on top of the $100,000 they have already raised in order to fulfill their Olympic dreams.“We spent around $25,000 on a new boat a year ago and took it to Europe last summer with it strapped to the top of our car,” he said. “Then there's the shipping costs before you start thinking about hiring a coach at around $300-$500 a day. It's a battle for sure and we need to raise another $200,000 if we're to sail through to the Olympics.“Sure, we're living a cool life and sailing a lot but we've also had to make sacrifices. Like everything in life there's always a trade off, but we believe we have the potential to be in the medal race at the Olympics.”Over 50 nations and 700 sailors will converge in Miami for the Rolex Olympic Class Regatta, bringing the largest national diversity in the 21 years of the regatta.For those who want to follow the Kirklands Olympic campaign visit their blog at bermudabrothers49ersailing.