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 3rdposition 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 18th 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 26th -30th 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 15th 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
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