TWO of Bermuda's best young sailors, Jesse Kirkland and Katrina Williams, will compete this weekend in the Vanguard Men's and Women's Singlehanded National Championships in Seattle.

The championships see the best US college sailors competing. Kirkland, who was one of the top Optimist sailors in the world before going to Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts and then on to St. Mary's, will compete in the Laser class while Williams, who sails for Old Dominion, will compete in the Laser Radials.

St. Mary's is currently ranked the third best college sailing team (coed) in the US while Old Dominion is ranked the seventh best team among the women.

The University of Washington will host the championships with the regatta being sailed out of the Shilshole Bay Marina on the waters of Puget Sound. Kirkland will be competing to win the Glen S. Foster Trophy while Williams will be gunning for the Janet Lutz Trophy.

St. Mary's College, like Old Dominion, competes in the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA), arguably the most competitive district in the country, which includes such schools as Old Dominion, Georgetown University, the US Merchant Marine Academy, and the US Naval Academy.

St. Mary's has won national championships in all disciplines of college sailing ¿ team racing, dinghy, singlehanded, and sloop. As a result of the dinghy team's success, St Mary's is able to schedule and sail more national-level regattas than any other team in college sailing. Due to that aggressive scheduling, it's common for the team to be competing in several different regattas on the same weekend, allowing more opportunities for team members to compete each season.

St. Mary's sailors have also achieved national and international recognition. Since the programme was created, more than 90 sailors from the college have been named collegiate All-Americans. Three of those sailors have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, one earning a silver medal, while several others have sailed in Olympic campaigns. And two alumnae have been named Rolex Yachtswomen of the year.

While Kirkland and Williams will be competing in Seattle this weekend, local sailors will be getting team racing coaching from former US Naval Academy Sailing Coach and US Sailing Team Racing Championship Chairman Gavin O'Hare.

The clinic will consist of an introductory and educational chalk talk on Contemporary Team Racing to include World Championship training video and tactical computer based animations. The classroom will be complemented with on the water drills to simulate tactical situations and hone team racing skills.

The clinic will be staged at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club tonight (6.30 to 8.30) and tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The boats to be used will include the Opti and 420.