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Sailing their way to glory
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Ajay Rau did his sister Rohini Rau proud by faring well at the Hutch National Laser Coastal Sailing Championship
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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).
However, that did not mean the civilians 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 as younger sailors fared 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 victories if he wishes to move out of his sister's shadow. In the recent championship, Rohini Rau (RMYC) came first in the radial women's fleet category and finished seventh in the overall positions, ahead of a few men sailors.
"I am planning to take a one-year break from studies so that I can concentrate on my sailing," says Ajay who is just out of school. 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. "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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