Ian Stuart Warren, the chief National sailing coach, in a chat on Thursday here, said Indian sailing needs a long-term vision. He said India has a large talent pool yet to be fully tapped. “It’s surprising to see a lot of people sailing in India. It’s a lot more than people outside India probably imagine. I don’t think that potential is being tapped enough,” he said.
“We need to make sure that the skills and what we’re trying to teach the top sailors is also filtering down to the sailors at the grassroots level.
“And we’ve got to be working with sailors for the future. Not the immediate future — say, just for the upcoming Asian Games. Rather than focusing on one or two events for short periods beforehand, there has to be an overall strategic plan for, say, 12 or 16 years,” he added.
Also in the conversation, was Jyrke Jarvi of Finland, the 2000 Olympics gold-medallist in the 49er class, who’s been brought in to assist Warren with an ongoing preparatory camp here for the selection trials of the Asian sailing championships to be held in Jakarta in June.
The trials are to held here from April 17 to 22. Warren said the top two teams in each category will qualify, from which the best teams will qualify for the Asian Games in August, also to be held in Jakarta.
“We’re now working on specialising more in the classes we know we have good winning chances. There are a few classes, like the 49er, 49erFX, Laser, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7, in which we have good chances,” said Warren.
Jyrke said his help is more focused on the 49er and the 49erFX classes.
On how the wind and the sea state is expected to be in Jakarta, Warren said, “We think there’s gonna be stronger winds there. The sea state may be a little flatter there. ‘Cause the waves here can be quite big. So, we’re trying to intensify the training. That’s why Jyrke is here.”
He said the highly-rated pair, K.C. Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar, of the TNSA (Tamil Nadu Sailing Association) is a good medal prospect in the 49er class. He said Ganapathy had recently undergone surgery for a shoulder injury in Mumbai, and quickly assured that the sailor is in good shape now.
On the striking changes since his competing days in the sport now, Jyrke said, “Now, more sailors are doing it (are in the sport). There are 10 Olympic classes. Races are more intense. Race courses are shorter. There are more races.
“Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the race courses were longer and we had lesser races in the regattas. The thing with shorter courses is that the racing becomes more intense that one has to make quicker decisions. I think shorter courses are to make the sport more spectator-friendly.”
