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Sailing to victory

Ajay Rau did his sister Rohini Rau proud by faring well at the Hutch National Laser Coastal Sailing Championship

THE WINNING SIBLINGS Ajay and Rohini Rau PHOTO: SHAJU JOHN

The Hutch National Laser Coastal Sailing Championship, held recently at the Chennai Harbour, gave fresh evidence of the Army's dominance over this water sport. It was once again rich harvest for the Army Yachting Node (AYN), with its sailors living up to expectations in the radial and standard fleet categories.

However, AYN's exemplary performance did not mean the civilian section received a trouncing. The two city-based sailing clubs, Royal Madras Yacht Club and the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, especially had reasons to be happy because its younger sailors fared very well. Mrinalini Santhanam (TNSA) took the first position in the 4.7 laser fleet (girls) and Abimanyu Nityanand (TNSA) was almost there, finishing a close second in the 4.7 laser fleet (boys). Ajay Rau (RMYC) won the laser youth championship title.

"I don't want to be known as Rohini's brother any more," says Ajay. But he will have to pull off more spectacular victories if he wishes to move out of his illustrious sister's shadow. Even during the recent championship, Rohini Rau (RMYC) shone brighter — she came first in the radial women's fleet category and finished seventh in the overall positions, ahead of a few men sailors.

Ajay is just out of school and does not seem interested in filling out college application forms — at least for one year. "I am planning to take a one-year break from studies so that I can concentrate on my sailing. My father could not believe it when I announced my decision. However, my mother successfully pleaded my cause with him," says the young sailor.

Even friends' advice that he can afford to go easy on himself — "as you have enough time ahead of you and don't you know sailors peak only at 30" — has fallen on uninterested ears. He thinks he should have already made a mark at the senior level. "There is some truth in what they say, but there are also sailors like Ben Ainslie who won the silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when he was barely 19 (he had earlier won the gold in the 1993 Laser Radial World Championship). There might be people who would say that the Olympics is out of my league. But I have already begun training for the 2012 mega sports event."

In November 2005, Ajay Rau went to SailCoach, Les Embriez France, a coaching camp for sailors from around the world. Some of the participants were Olympic medallists. Training with these men has been an eye-opening experience for Ajay.

"These are hard-bitten professionals who'll spare no effort to improve themselves. They are all equally good and their standard is so high that the man who finishes first in one race will finish last in another. I have learnt from them that when a sailor is competing at the top level he must aim at consistency. Brazilian sailor Robert Scheidt did not always finish first, but he was consistent. For a long time, he was the only man who was there all the time."

PRINCE FREDERICK

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