Mission: London 2012
Dear Friends of the Campaign!
Mission: London 2012
We wanted to update you on our sailing as we continue to make progress towards next summer's Olympics. We are stronger, smarter in the boat, and more confident of speed in certain conditions than we have ever been. The hard work and humility we have exhibited in the last 18 months is paying off at the highest level in Europe this spring. Our development plan and professional focus is setting us up to be right where we want to be heading into this critical year ahead.
For our 6 week trip in the Mediterranean (Palma & Hyeres) this past spring, we were left to the whims of a weak thermal breeze for the majority of days. This fair weather was great practice for improving our light air speed, which was something that we needed to address. By the end of the trip, our focus in light air had paid off as we finally found a good light air setting. We then used that setting in Holland when it was light and found the same solid pace!
However, we learned this rigging subtly 'the hard way' and had many frustrating hours of sailing before we had a breakthrough. Coaching, a luxury we can't afford at the moment, would have been helpful in accelerating this progress. Coaches help with their out of the boat perspective, rig tune secrets, and video/photo de-brief. Coaching and its associated costs (coach food, airline, accommodation) are close to $600 a day! We are close to a break through to Gold Fleet (top 25) and feel this will help facilitate this improvement over the next year. Coaching + good training = better results = more money = more coaching + more good training + more gear = better results, etc.
Campaign Finances: Raised to date: $109,855
- Personal Investment: $13,000
- Private Donations: $79,755
- Companies & Foundations: (BOA, NHSF, BoB Fnd, XL Fnd): $17,100
Budget through London Games: $146,442
- Coaching (175 days split with training partner): $49,362 / 33%
- Boat/Gear Expenses: $53,850 / 37%
- Travel, Transport, Entry Fee's and Accommodation: $43,230 / 30%
Next stop after the European Championship in July (Finland) will be training and events in breezy San Francisco Bay Area this Summer 2011/Fall 2011. The wind there is similar to the first Olympic Qualifier in windy Perth, Australia in December and should prove invaluable in preparation for this important event down under!
Once again thank you for your support to date! We will continue persevering towards next Summer's Olympics and would appreciate any continued support. Stay tuned on our progress in Europe this summer!
- Zander and Jesse
Stay tuned...on facebook at "Kirkland Brothers 49er Sailing" and on the blog: www.bermudabrothers49ersailing.blogspot.com
Recent Press: www.royalgazette.com/article/20110531/SPORT03/705319995/-1/sport
