“Ajay Rau” first Indian to race The Rolex Sydney Hobart

“Ajay Rau” first Indian to race The Rolex Sydney Hobart

Sydney: December 26, 2009, will be a historic day for Indian Yachting as Ajay Rau becomes the first Indian to crew in one of Yachting world’s most prestigious Ocean Races. The Rolex Sydney Hobart.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart 628 mile course is often described as the most grueling long ocean race in the world. There is always a high element of risk involved when sailing this race. In the 65 year race history there have been numerous casualties from boat damage to death. The lineup has always been impressive with world class sailors taking part from the Volvo Ocean Race to the America's Cup crews. It is encouraging to see an Indian among the legends of the sport. A fleet of 100 yachts will compete in this year's race, which starts at 13:00 AEDT, 26 December 26, 2009.

Team Merit

Ajay Rau is crewing for team “Merit”, a Volvo 60 ( 2001 Volvo Ocean Race Yacht). The Team is skippered by Leo Rodriguez (Aus). The 18 member Squad is dominated by sailors from Australia. However there are a few sailors from Great Britain and one sailor each from New Zealand, India, Holland, Finland and the USA. . The team has retained most of its victorious crew from last year’s race where it won the PHS division.

Earlier this month Ajay trained on the Merit; sailing 386 nautical miles (50 hours) from Southport to Sydney. The team has been making constant changes to the boat and training hard in Sydney in preparation for the big race. For the Start Ajay has been assigned the job as the head sail (Jib) trimmer and grinder.

“ I would like to thank my family, well wishers and Sponsors, without whom none of this would have been possible. I am also very fortunate that Leo Rodriguez has given me this opportunity to be part of the team, despite my inexperience in this kind of racing.”- says an elated Ajay.

Media Information

Rigorous Preparation, Single minded determination, Superlative timing. Welcome to the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.The Rolex Sydney Hobart has become an icon of Australia’s summer sport, ranking in public interest with such Australian events as the Melbourne Cup horse race, the Davis Cup tennis and the cricket tests between Australia and England. With spectator numbers on Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Harbour foreshore expected to reach around 500,000 people, together with Seven Network’s Australia wide television audience of 500,000 viewers, and the addition of Yahoo !7’s national and international audience reach (for more info visit http://au.sports.yahoo.com/) it is predicted that the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be one of the most viewed sporting events in the world in the month of December.

YouTube - Interview with Ajay Rau, the first Native of India Participating in a Rolex Sydney Hobart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwMQCWUy__M

You can watch India’s Ajay Rau and his team live in this incredible race through the following feeds:

Log onto www.svsvideo.tv and view live coverage of the race. This is one of the rare opportunities where viewers will be able to communicate with the team during the race, making the experience very personal. Additionally fans will be able to keep track of all the boats by accessing the Yacht tracker program and receiving mobile updates. (For more information visit http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/ )

Merit has been declared race ready.

Sydney: Merit has been given the nod by Race organizers to go ahead with race preparations. The former Volvo ocean race going yacht passed the mandatory safety requirements.

India’s Ajay Rau started his training with team “Merit” (Volvo 60), sailing 386 nautical miles (50 hours) from Southport to Sydney.

The official 18 member squad headed by Leo Rodriguez is now training hard from CYCA (Cruising Yacht Club Australia). The team has retained most of the victorious crew from last year’s race where it won the PHS division.

The team will be practicing every possible maneuver at the Sydney Harbour before the race starts. The Rolex Sydney Hobart 628 mile course is often described as the most grueling long ocean race in the world. This is the first time an Indian is taking part in this land mark event.

The race starts on the 26th of December from Sydney Harbour.

Ajay Rau Impresses during Sail Sydney

Ajay shocked the international star studded fleet by rounding the top mark in first place during race number 8 at the 2009Sail Sydney International regatta. He started on the left hand side of the line and executed his plan to perfection. The wind worked in his favor and the spot light was on the young Indian. He managed to finish 10^th in what was a very long and challenging race.

“ It still cannot believe I was ahead of these world class sailors.(World number 3,5,7,10,15 ) Javier (ESP),Matias (CHI), Thomas (AUS), Mike (CAN) and Daniel (CRO) to just name a few. I would have been really pleased if I finished the race in 4^th or 5^th position, but the race was to long.”

There were at least 10 sailors who competed at the 2008 Olympic Games and a large amount of very high ranked laser sailors in the 42 odd fleet during the regatta. This is a good boost for Ajay's confidence as it is a stage in his Olympic campaign where he needs to get the self belief that he can beat these world class sailors. He ended the regatta finishing in 34^th place.

This class of boat is as competitive as Soccer. India has never qualified for the laser class during the Olympic Games. Since 2006 he is hoping to become the first Indian to do so.

Rolex Sydney Hobart preparations begin

Ajay joins a special club as he starts preparing for one of the toughest races in the world. To compete in this high octane ocean race is every sailors dream. Ajay is

flying to the Gold Coast early today morning to join Leo Rodriguez and team Merit aboard the Volvo 60. The crew will be sailing 386 nautical mile’s from Southport

to Sydney. They are expected to reach Sydney by 12^th December.” I cant wait to get to the Gold Coast. This is going to be an experience of a life time, I hope I will be able to gel and make an impression in the team”. says Ajay .

Ajay sets his sights on 2012 Olympic Qualification: “Yachting”

World ranked 15 Radial sailor has been forced this season to shift back into the Olympic Class after a gap of over a year. Tomorrow he will be racing in an ISAF Grade 1 – Sail Sydney. He last raced a Grade 1 in the July 2008 European Championships in Belgium

Ajay faced rig and sail damage at Sail Brisbane

He is back racing this class due to rig and sail damage he secured on the first day of racing during Sail Brisbane. He was lying in 3^rdposition when his mast snapped in half which later damaged his sail. He had to sit out for two races and raced in the Olympic Class, only completed 7 races of the 9 races sailed. He finished a respectable 18^th position out of a 28 boat fleet in the ISAF Grade 2 event. It has been tough going for him as he has had a disadvantage of having less body weight and power compared to his rivals.

Ajay now has his sights on putting on a good show in Sydney. It’s going to be really hard to get the results he is used to getting over the past year, as this is the clash of the Olympians. This is like the formula one in Sailing. Ajay is confident that making a come back in the laser standard will make him physically and mentally more prepared for the upcoming Asian Games. He is training to be flexible to race both the Laser and Radial class of boat.

A Whooping 222 entries for Sail Sydney

The Organizers of sail Sydney have received 222 applications for one of the only two ISAF Grade 1 events in the southern hemisphereand a strong level of commitment has come from the Olympic classes, especially the Laser and Laser Radial single-handed dinghies, which is not surprising considering the next summer Olympic Games is less than three years away. The Indian sailor is aiming to be an all round sailor, “I have been campaigning for the Olympics since 2006 and I am committed to making the Olympics come 2012 and hopefully a medal in 2016” -says Ajay. The commitment shown by the 21 year old to make it to the top in one of the toughest Olympic classes in the world, is proof that Indians are not afraid of challenges, sure he is an under dog but with hard work, determination and hopefully future sponsorship anything is possible.

Sail Sydney Profile

International representation is exceptionally strong three years out from the London 2012 Games, with competitors making their way to Australia from Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, the USA, Chile, Spain, Singapore, Greece, Canada, Japan, Finland, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway, India, Korea, Norway, Croatia, Poland and Italy.

The Laser class is headed by two-time world champion and Beijing Olympian Tom Slingsby (AUS) who has put in some strong performances since returning home from China.Slingsby will face some of those he competed against in Beijing inclusive of Matias Del Solar (CHI), Michael Leigh (CAN), Javier Hernandez (ESP), Jeemin Ha (KOR) and Andrew Murdoch (NZL), the best placed of the six with a fifth place finish in Qingdao. A second Kiwi competitor and Youth sailor, Josh Junior, could give the seniors some trouble. Robert Godwin, one of Britain’s many standout Laser sailors will also provide good racing, as will third place-getter here last year, Daniel Mihelic from Croatia. “We’re all ramping up for the Olympics again,” says Slingsby continuing, “It’s good to have such a good group at Sail Sydney. We’re all here to get ready for our next European season.”

YAI Selection trials in December to clash with Sydney Hobart Race

In an interesting development, The Yachting Association Of India only last week called for a selection of the Indian team during 26^th -30^th of December. Ajay during this time will be the first Indian to sail one of the hardest short Ocean racing classics in the World - the Rolex Sydney Hobart. He has been the only man from the Indian team who has been regularly taking part and performing at International events. He has been a standout performer for the country securing a bronze in the men’s radial in Australian waters and also India’s best place ever finishing 15^th in the 2009 world Championship held at Japan. He is hoping that the Yachting Federation will include him in the national federation team despite not being able to make the selection trials. It will be a shame if one of the most deserving Indian sailors will not be able to receive funding from the central government. Ajay has the rare chance of being based in Sydney because of his education and having exposure of training/ racing along side the best sailors in the sport

India's Ajay Rau to race 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart & 2009 Down Under Series

India’s Ajay Rau confirmed his participation in the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart and Down Under series.

Ajay Rau is scheduled to compete in the 2009 Sail Brisbane and Sail Sydney. He will be missing the last event of the Down Under Series (Sail Melbourne- ISAF World Cup event) as he will be joining Leo Rodriguez and his crew sailing “Merit” in preparation for the prestigious 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

The world number 15 is just aiming to get in some good racing and is not under pressure during the 2009 Down Under Series, as his main focus towards the end of the year is the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

Event Schedule 2009

Sail Brisbane (ISAF Grade 2) - November 26 -29, 2009

Sail Sydney (ISAF Grade 1) - December 5 – 8. 2009

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race- December 26, 2009 to January 1, 2010

Ajay is supported by:

Mittal Champions Trust

AMM Foundation

UNSW Elite Athlete Support Program

Sea Gear

SDAT