RMYC's Ajay Rau -New Zealand Championhips 2009

Ajay Rau Finished 24th and 18th (Men) in the 2009 New Zealand Laser Championships at Newplymouth. He failed to Impress after a good showing in Perth at the Asia Pacific Regatta where he finished 4th.He failed to predict the wind shifts and play the Game as he would have liked to! On the first day after 2 races he was placed 38 out of 44 boats. "It was an uphill task from then on to try and Improve my Overall Position.In Sailing a one off poor result might not necessarily be bad!" Says the young Champion. He has taken all the positives from this Championship to help him prepare for the Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland Regatta.This is New Zealand's top Multi Class International Event.

Ajay Rau finishes fourth overall

Sport - Sailing CHENNAI: RMYC's Ajay Rau finished fourth overall in the laser radial event in the ISAF Grade I Asia-Pacific regatta held in Perth. Taking the finishes of men sailors alone, Ajay had been placed third.Ajay had come fourth in the last two races in the 11-race event. This overall placing is the best achieved by the Indian so far in an international regatta. He and Mark Langford of Australia have been given wild card entries by the International Laser Class Association into the men's laser radial worlds to be held in Japan later this year.

Ajay Rau placed fifth

Sport - Sailing Ajay Rau placed fifth CHENNAI: RMYC's Ajay Rau is placed fifth overall after nine races out of the 11 scheduled in the laser radial class in the Asia Pacific sailing championship being held in Perth.Ajay was placed second in the ninth race and normally that could have boosted his chances of entering the medal's bracket but a mishap in the sixth race on Wednesday when he was penalised led to his slipping from a position of advantage.

Ajay in second spot

Sport - Sailing Ajay in second spot CHENNAI: Laser Class sailor Ajay Rau was in the second position after five races on the second day of the Asia Pacific sailing championships at Perth on Tuesday. Mark Langford of Australia is in the top spot.

Bright start by Ajay Rau

Hindu Sport - Sailing Bright start by Ajay Rau CHENNAI: Promising sailor in the Laser class, Ajay Rau began his campaign in the Asia Pacific Championship in Perth on a bright note, finishing overall third after two races in the Laser radial event held on Monday.The Chennai lad Ajay finished fifth in the first race but bounced back to finish first in the next. There are eight more races to go in this event. Ajay is placed behind Mark Langford and Gabriella King (both from Australia). Overall this has been his best performance till date. — Special Correspond

Good Showing by Ajay Rau in the Down Under '09 Series

6th January 2009 Perth (Fremantle)RMYC's sailor Ajay Rau followed a consistent performance to Finish 14th Overall out of 80 Sailors at the just concluded Australian Championships. Ajay qualified to race in the Gold fleet for the first time in his sailing career. - a major step for this young sailor. The competition offered a range of conditions with wind speeds ranging between 3 to 30 + knots.The Championship was held at the state of the art venue off Fremantle (Perth) which will be staging the 2011 ISAF World Championships which will be one of the two Olympic Qualifiers for the 2012 Games.This good performance by Ajay at the venue against sailors form Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, Canada, Singapore and Japan will give India a much needed boost, as Ajay prepares and aims to attempt to qualify India for the Olympics for the first time in the Laser Class. The Laser Class is the most popular single handed dinghy and most competitive class in world sailing. The Down Under series has been impressive against some top nations. His next event is the ISAF Grade 1 Asia Pacific (Perth) which starts on the 12th of January..Down under series 2009 World Cup Series – Leg 1, Sail Melbourne - 13th out of 40Australian Championships,Perth-14th out of 80Australian Championships results.Laser Radial Qualifying 17th RAU, Ajay IND 8 9 7 (12) 7 10 Laser Radial Gold Fleet 14 RAU, Ajay IND 7 13 (18) 8 18 Winners 1 BOTT, Richard AUS 2 CHENG, Colin SIN 3 HAUSCHILDT, Klade AUS

final report Australian Championships 09

I raced in the Gold fleet as planned and ended up finishing 14th overall out of 80 at the Australian Championships.

14

RAU, Ajay

194964

450

IND

41

7

13

(18)

8

18

105

87

I was very Consistent at these Championships,which was a huge positive.One of the onlookers remarked to me that if the race was just one leg,I would have won the regatta.it obviously felt bad as i was leading many a time and was in the top 3 in 8 races out of the 11,but in the end of the day I am happy and making gradual progress towards my goal."perfection'! this is my goal and it takes many years of hard work to achieve.my worst positions were a 12th and two 18th positions.I had two discards in the regatta.the rest of the races is within the top 10.This is a sign my big fleet racing is improving.i was most impressed with the races where i was in a bad situation because i didn't give up and just focused to get back into the race. there was one race which I was leading "again" but capsized twice on the trot with a little less the 15 seconds separating the capsizes.I did well to finish 18th.one of my best races i have sailed for a long time was the last race of the event where i was placed second last in the gold fleet after mark one,as i had to 720 turns as i had a collision with the eventual winner of the regatta at a very crucial part of the first leg.this race i managed to finish 18th again beating 22 boats in 6 legs which i thought was fantastic.I am really enjoying my sailing and my confidence is improving every day.these last 5 races saw a mix of extreme conditions between 5 to 30 knots,there were sighting of shark warning helicopters...twice!.......................... on the whole a consistent performance in both the light and heavy stuff.A Worthy mention, I thank the Castles family who took me away from my small hotel room to let me stay in their house.the event was fantastic...my next event is in a weeks time where i will be sailing on the river off Perth,the Asia Pacific isaf grade 1 regatta.I am really enjoying my experience at these regattas.the weather and venue has been fantastic.the Organisers have been very helpful.I turned 21 years on Jan 5th but racing makes me feel like i am 16 with a strong desire to Win!!!!!

Australian Championships- Half way report

The Australian Championships this year is being sailed from the 2011 World Championship and 2012 Olympic Qualifier venue.These championships apart from being very prestigious in the world of laser sailing, is the number 1 laser event for every Australian making it a very though event as Australia is the ISAF number 1 ranked Country in world Olympic sailing. the venue is perfect with enormous sea breezes ( called the Fremantle doctor as the big winds cools down the hot land) creating some very though and exciting racing.It is the peak of Summer in western Australia with temperatures reaching 35+.the past 3 years I have been racing in Australia's Southern Ocean but this is the first time I am racing on the Indian Ocean off the Coast of Australia and feel very much at home. Australian Championships started on 27th Dec 08 and finish on 5th Jan 09.A total of 12 long races with 2 races a day are planned for the event.There has been plenty of Action on the waters of Perth (Fremantle).Only a very few days before the event started there was a man killed by a big great white shark, since then the waters have been on high alert .On the first day of racing there had been another sighting of a great white "on our Race course!!!!!" we were warned by rescue personal on the water just before starting Race No1 ........so it was all happening here with minimum winds of 14 knots and a max of 24 knots so far during the 6 races.For Locals this is calm so with 3 days left ..I am not sure what is in store!!! Although this is Only Half way through this has been one of my best big International fleet regattas.I have been very consistent so far in the first 6 races although there is still a long way to go,I am very confident I will be racing in the gold fleet for the first time.In the Radials There are 80 entries from Singapore,Japan,Hongkong,New Zealand,Great Britain,France,Canada and majority entries from all over Australia. Results after 6 races

17th Overall

RAU, Ajay

IND

8

9

7

(12)

7

10