Zander and Jesse Kirkland are enduring a baptism by fire in their first ever 49er regatta in the Bahamas this week.

The Bermudian brothers are beginning their push to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics and they couldn't have asked for a tougher opening assignment as they are going up against the best in the class at the 2010 World Championships.

After recording a fine 17th place in the first race on the opening day this week, they then finished in 28th and 30th position in the 62-boat fleet.

Then the second day's racing on Tuesday saw them face tough conditions and they failed to finish the two races.

And yesterday in a strong breeze which saw a number of the high performance skiffs capsize, the Kirklands didn't manage to finish the first race of the day – the sixth in the regatta – but came back and crossed the line in 25th place in the second race and then finished in 27th place in the day's final race. That left them in 55th place overall on 191 points.

Of the strong winds at the event, older brother Zander said after Tuesday's racing: "It was at the top end of racing breeze for the class – with reported gusts to 27 knots – and the day was shortened to only two tough races.

"We struggled even to get down to the starting line as it was a broad reach from the beach, which made for a powerful two-sail 'sled ride' down to the line. In both races we were only able to make it up and down once before capsizing too many times to continue racing. Not only does it tire you to the bone, but you get in the way of the top guys."

Zander said competing in the tough conditions had been a little frustrating.

"We were happy that we went out and pushed our comfort zone but at the same time frustrated we couldn't hang in the races. We need much more time in the boat before we can contemplate legitimately racing in this amount of breeze.

"We were watching the top Americans and other seasoned 49er sailors flip over in the powerful blasts of air that would charge through every five to 10 minutes or so. The thing we singled out as our weakest link was our spinnaker douse when we take it down.

"It seemed every time we were getting the kite down, the boat would load up because of the dramatic loss in speed and then get unstable and flip."

Of the first day's racing, he said: "We started off the first race of our lives together in the 49er with some flair in a stacked fleet. We rounded the first weather mark in 10th and then gained on the run to round the second weather mark in eighth."

But then the brothers ran into trouble and after eight legs they managed to hold onto a respectable 17th place.

Zander said of his younger brother: "Jesse showed great driving ability and windshift management and I was hanging in on most of the important crew work to get us around in good shape.

"The thing I really like about Jesse's style is that he is not intimidated by anyone out there. He has plenty of respect for the guys that have paid their dues but he is not afraid of mixing it up with them when he can. I think this will bode well for us in the future as our boathandling comes together."

Describing the World Championship venue in the Bahamas as "Somerset Long Bay meets Shelly Bay", Zander said: "All the racing is inside the reef line which barely reaches three quarters of a mile. The entire week should bring us gusty, offshore conditions that are going to make the racing very variable in terms of shifts and tight racing."

Leading the championships is the team of Iker DeLizarduy and Xabier Fernandez from Spain with Italian brothers Pietro and Gianfrnco Sibello second and Great Britain's Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes in third.