Kieler Woche 2008 Website

Visit the Kieler Woche website and see what it is all about . There are 168 Entries in the laser Olympic class. To view results and information on Kieler Woche 2008 click this link .

Today it is to windy to Train

Today weather conditions are very rough, do not want to break any equipment before the regatta . the wind speed is 20 knots gusting to 40.Had spotted Robert Shiedt (Brazil) , He is a living legend ,still an active Olympian ( on his way to China to try and win the gold medal in the star class). From 1996 to 2004 he has won two Golds and One silver on the trot in the Laser class. All sailors except a few who can afford to practice in this weather are taking a day of due to the horrible weather. Tomorrow Registration starts for the Kieler Woche 2008

European Tour 2008 Half way Report

Sailing: Half way through Laser European tour 08 Report Kiel (Germany): The Month of June has been busy for Ajay Rau. He placed 42nd at the Italian Olympic Championship (Venice) and at the Denmark Europa cup (Aabenraa) placed 25th.He managed to secure his best Indvidual placing in a race in Europe narrowly missing the Podium finishing 4th.It was a Positive result being an Olympic year and competing with World class sailors (few Olympic sailors 08 and hopefuls) from UAE,Turkey,Germany,Denmark,Sweden,Norway,Finland,Italy,Slovenia,France,Great Britan and Ireland . Ajay Rau is at Kiel (GER) for the Kieler Woche 2008 the Biggest Regatta for Olympic classes. It is an ISAF grade 1 and a World Cup event. It has attracted over 60 Countries and Most of the sailors who are taking part at the Olympic Games. With fewer than 50 days left to the Olympics allot is at stake as it is one of the last major events before the Olympics. The entry list in the Laser class has 160-180 entries. The competition will kick start on Tuesday with Official registration and measurement followed by the Qualifying races starting on the Wednesday. This will be Ajay's third time at this Historic venue, He is the Only Indian confirmed at the grade 1 event. Ajay has been a Full time sailor for two years with his limited experience he took part in the 2008 World championships in Sydney (Qualifier 2008 Olympics) and is Campaigning for the 2012 Olympics. He has had invaluable support from the Royal Madras Yacht Club, currently sponsored by the AMM foundation, Sports Development Authority Of Tamil Nadu and the Mittal Champions Trust

Training report at Keil 2008

At Kiel It has been Very Windy all week except for today for most part of the day it was finally a relief to get in some medium wind training 2 days before the Olympic Invited classes Kiel Woche Regatta 2008 starts. the weather is warmer than Denmark...in fact sometimes it can get very hot.In Kiel the weather can change in seconds from a lovely day to a very dark and cold day, in fact just now we had a huge shower , That almost brought down the Registration Office tent down and now it has transformed into a beautiful summers day. I have Been Training with allot of good sailors. today there were at least 60 lasers on the water training at the same time. This event is going to be the biggest ISAF grade 1 event in 2008 and just with 50 days to the Olympic games to start ,most sailors who are not at the Olympic sailing village in china at the moment are here getting mentally prepared for the games. This is a great opportunity for me to be in such a high level regatta and I have only been sailing professionally for 2 years , I am here with no pressure,have nothing to loose this is my third Kiel woche and there are about 160 registered sailors at this event , most of the best laser sailors across the globe. There are about 60 to 70 Nations at this event. At the moment,I am the only Indian representative at this event. I was glad to Hear that Hussian won the gold In an International optimist regatta held in Bahrain, he is Hamza's Brother (My team mate in the 420s back in the day).the whole family are very close friends and we are all extremely happy for Hussain. I will be training tomorrow and will be preparing for the event which starts on Wednesday.I have been very busy and there is no Internet connection at home .........will do my best to keep you updated.

Training at Keil for KeilWoche 2008

Sorry, I haven't been on the Internet for a while.Had a short Journey from Aabenraa to Keil. Rested for 2 days , I have resumed my training on the water. I am training at keil The venue of the Keil woche 2008. The Sail Coach Team for this KeilWoche 2008 Is Ryan seaton (IRL), Ajay Rau (IND) and Sunny (LTU) will be the coach. We will Be training our boat handling Skills and practicing with some of the worlds best sailors across the globe. My friend Adil (UAE) was awarded a wild card to the 2008 Olympics. It Is a great moment for him. Trevor (IRL) at the moment is at China (Qingdao) coaching the rest of the sailcoach team. 2004 Bronze Medalist Zobagar (SLO) , Allen Julie (SEY) and Adil (UAE). More Updates will be posted soon ........

Results after eight Races

Aabenraa Europa cup came to a close today with all eight races sailed in the past four days.the conditions on the race course was amazing with heavy winds every day,in spite of the wind shifting constantly the race committee still managed to host all the eight races without any major hiccups! Here are my results from races 4 to 8 . {4 ,22, 28 and 28}. I finished 25th overall. The winner of the Denmark Europa cup was jesper from Sweden and the winner of the Radial was John from Great Britain . Tomorrow I start my journey back to Germany , we will be going to Keil to take part in one of the best Annual regattas in Europe The Olympic class Keil Woche 2008. This event was my first International event back in 2006,This will be the third time I have come to do this regatta

Results after four races

the wind still continues to come from the shore,very unpredictable winds ,always shifting in big angles . It is similar to a lake , the wind speed is also always unsteady but mostly the past two days have been a mix of light ,but majority of the time very windy.At this point Jasper from Sweden is coming first overall.I am now in 28th overall out of 32 boats . my results so far in the four races in order: 30 29 20 23

Aabenraa Europa Cup is open for Registration

Today the Weather again was unsuitable for sailing,The Aabenraa Europa Cup of Denmark has started today at 1700 hrs with the Regatta Office Open for Registration till 1030 tomorrow morning,the event is a four day series with 2 to 3 races a day.Hopefully the conditions will be good for sailing starting tomorrow.I will be entered for the Men/U21 titles. Sailors form Norway and Sweden were seen at the boat part anxious to get into the water.to follow the event just click this message and it will direct you to the Europa cup website

Training at Aabenraa Host of Denmark Europa cup 2008

After our long journey from Italy we have finally managed to find permanent accommodation and got everything sorted here in Aabenraa (Denmark).We started training on Monday,launching from the club which will be hosting the Europa cup. So far we have had two good sessions on the water. At the moment our third session has been put back to a later time as there is allot of wind at the moment. The weather is very nice when the sun is out but in a day the weather can change to being quite cool (whether it is shine or not everyone sails with a hot top) and this is peak summer time for this side of the world. The conditions out at the bay is very similar to sailing on a lake, at the moment the direction of the wind is coming from land. we have had a healthy combination of light and medium heavy winds.....we have come to a decision and decided it is to windy for a sail (Mast and back breaking conditions)with allot of gusts and shifts in just two sessions. The Sail Coach team for this Regatta is Ben(IRL),Michele(ITA),Adil(UAE) and Ajay(IND) , Trevor is our Coach.Tomorrow the registration process will be complete and the following day our first race of the Europa cup will start.

Finally reached Denmark and my visit to Århus host of the ISAF Youth Worlds

Finally after 3 days of traveling we have reached Denmark (Aabeneraa). From Venice we have driven across Italy, Austria, Germany and finally Denmark. Aabeneraa is this year’s home to Denmark’s ISAF Europa cup. There is a lot of Excitement around Europe as Austria and Switzerland are Co hosting this years UEAFA European Championship (Football). It is warm and Beautiful a lot of sporting activities around Europe and a lot of sailing as well. In Denmark sailing is popular with many harbors and sailing clubs across the seashore. It is home to world famous sailing legend Paul ELVSTROM. Denmark has a great record and a legacy with the Olympic sailing competition. Yesterday I had the chance to visit Århus. The 38th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship is being hosted by Århus, Denmark in the Bay of Århus. The event will be organized by Sailing Aarhus in close cooperation with the Danish Sailing Association, ISAF and the City of Århus, represented by Sport Århus Events The Only Youth sailing world championship I have done was back in 2006 which were hosted by the Weymouth Portland Sailing Academy, United Kingdom (venue of the 2012 Olympic sailing competition). It wasn’t only my third International regatta but it played a huge part towards my attempt to Qualify for the 2012 Olympic sailing competition. India has one entry in the girls laser radial, my team mate and few friends have been selected to represent their countries and more later……………... For now I am staying with Trevor and Michele. The place is expensive but there is lovely warm weather .We are going to start training tomorrow to prepare for the Europa cup of Denmark

Sailor ahoy!

Check out the online edition of this Article on me from the nxg http://www.go-nxg.com/?p=1020

CICO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS VENIZE (ITALY)

Sorry I have not been updating for a while, I have not had internet access… I left Chennai on the 27th of May to resume my campaign towards the 2012 Olympic Games. I have planned to do Regattas in Italy, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and France. There are various events like, International events (ISAF), Europa cups and European Championships (also U21) etc I am joining the sail coach team for a 2 month stint in Europe. Racing at these regattas will help me grow in experience being an Olympic year; all the sailors going for the 2008 Olympic Games will be in top form making it an Ideal platform for me to build on once I get through this experience towards my future campaigns. In Chennai I was working out under the instruction of Ramji Srinavas. I was working out along with my Friend and Training partner Arman and sometimes with the boys from the MRF Pace Foundation. We worked out outdoors and at the gym (Fitness One). Every day was a different kind of work out. I raced the Italian Olympic National Championship at Venice (Italy). There many national Olympic nationals in different kinds of boats ( laser M/F,Rsx M/F,470 M/F, Finn,Tornado,49r,Star )It was held from the 31st May to 3rd June . The location of the regatta was of a beautiful Sandy Beach of Venice city. The Temperature was shocking; it was hot and humid almost like a day in Mumbai all through. This had resulted in the championship being held in Light winds through out (7 knots and below) .It was an Ideal light wind regatta, competition was of a good standard as the results were never really constant for most sailors except the top contenders. Italy had a surprise new National Champion , Cerni and Romero was unofficially given the right to represent Italy at the Olympic Games. There were 65 lasers on the water. The regatta was a good warm up for the rest of the European season.Only seven out of eight races could be held with one discard . Michele (ITA) , My Team mate finished his best position in an Italian National Championship in 24th place .Here are the results 1 ITA 190335 CERNI PIETRO 2 4 1 4 11 1 5 17 2 ITA 189107 ROMERO PASCHETTA DIEGO 6 7 15 2 3 2 4 24 3 ITA 192582 BOTTOLI GIACOMO 4 6 3 8 2 3 6 24 42 IND 193079 RAU AJAY 32 47* 40 32 DNF 50 23 230 At the moment I am leaving Venice tomorrow morning for a long journey to Denmark for the Europa cup