49ers pin hopes on Croatia races

Sebastian Ripard and Benji Borg stand a good chance to achieve their dream and participate in next year’s Olympic Games according to their coach Kolja Volkers.

Volkers has just monitored the Maltese 49er duo in a two-week training camp before returning to Germany and reckons Ripard and Borg have now established a solid build-up and done enough training to challenge seriously for a berth in London 2012 where 21 teams will vie for the gold medal in their category.

“Benji and Seb have a very good chance of qualifying for the Games,” Volkers told a news conference yesterday.

“Their progress these past 12 months has been impressive.

“In June, they competed in Weymouth, the same venue where the Olympic races will be held next year. The best sailors were present and Benji and Seb placed 19th from 40 countries which is an encouraging result.

“Had it been an Olympic qualifying race they would have secured their place in London.

“That result also shows that they are well on course to reaching their objective and the positive thing is that there are still almost six months before the final qualifying race. So, they still have time to improve.

“In my view, they can make it... I’m confident about that.”

With Great Britain already qualified as hosts, 20 other berths are still up for grabs in 49er events. The slots will be determined in two qualifying races scheduled for Australia in December and Croatia next May.

Unfortunately, a knee injury to Borg has forced the Maltese 49ers to skip next month’s test in Perth, where 15 quotas will be at stake.

They are now dedicating all their energy to reach the Croatia races in May in top shape.

“It’s a huge let-down to miss the races in Australia. However, we think it’s useless making the long trip to Perth if we cannot perform at 100 per cent,” Borg said.

“My injury is healing nicely and hopefully by the start of 2012 I will be back on the water. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of physical training to keep in shape.

“It’s a blow not to compete in next month’s qualifiers but we are still confident that we can attain our goal in Croatia.”

In the coming weeks, other 49er teams from abroad will be here to conduct training.

“Lately, we were contacted by some teams who showed keen interest in coming here for training,” Ripard said.

“Obviously, for us it would be a great boost as it gives us the opportunity to enhance our skills in the build-up to our next race in Palma de Mallorca early next year.

“Apart from that it will also be a good advert for our country as an ideal destination for sailing teams to conduct their training here during winter.”