Bermuda Sailing Association (BSA) president, Somers Cooper, believes Jessie Kirkland's recent success in California could result in more local youth sailors being recruited by top US colleges in years to come.

Earlier this week 2012 Olympic hopeful Kirkland helped St.Mary's College to their third Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championship and first in seven years, in San Francisco.

"This is another shot in the arm for local sailing and it also creates an awareness within the collegiate sailing community about the talent Bermuda has," Cooper told The Royal Gazette.

Bermuda presently have several top future sailing prospects enrolled at the varsity and collegiate levels in the US who continue to make their presence felt.

Past Omega Female Sailor of the Year Award recipient Katrina Williams (Old Dominion University), Sean Bouchard (Roger Williams College), Peter Miller (Connecticut College) and Oliver Riihilouma (Stanford University) continue to thrive at the collegiate level while just below them are varsity sailors Joshua Greenslade and Blake Burgess who earlier this year helped the Christ Church School Seahorses to a maiden Leukaemia Cup and the Virginia Interscholastic Sailing Association Spring Series Fleet Racing Championship.

And there are others set to follow in their footsteps. Haley Powell, Cameron Pimental and Ryan Sairaiva will be joining Bouchard at Rogers Williams College next semester, Greenslade will join Kirkland at St.Mary's, Kyle Burgess will join his brother Blake at Christ Church School while Mackenzie Cooper – who helped Bermuda to runners-up honours at this year's Nations Cup in the Optimist Class in Ecuador – is set to enrol at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts.

Another promising sailor, Connors Astwood, just completed his first season of sailing at Hotchkiss School in Connecticut.

"The sailing powerhouses on the collegiate scene are looking down at the scholastic scene and are seeing that Bermuda is a player and they are watching very carefully," Cooper said. "The college scouts look at the inter-scholastic sailing scene and see the talent there and that's where it all starts."

Sailing coach, Paul Doughty, added: "We are beginning to influence, with a broader brush, North American sailing at youth level."

Cooper attributes Bermuda's success in collegiate and varsity sailing abroad to good coaching locally and ideal sailing conditions that enables sailors to compete all year round.

"I think we benefit from the fact we can sail 12 months of the year and that, in conjunction with good coaching, produces good sailors," he added. "It all goes right back to the grasroots with the sailing programmes we have here on the Island.

"They get these kids interested at the age of eight and then push them along and foster the sailing bug, if you will. BODA (Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association) is doing a great job keeping the fire lit and keeping the kids on the water."

Cooper showered praise on the ever-improving Kirkland who has once again helped thrust the Island firmly on the sailing map.

"This is another feather in the already feather abundant cap of Jessie. He is an incredible talented young man and he continues to improve and do Bermuda proud," he said. "Jessie is one of many exciting future prospects."