With a world ranking of #10 Wakako Tabata/Ai Kondo have competed in the 470 Women's event for quite a few years and are a team to watch here in Perth.

470 sailing in Japan is hugely popular as a collegiate sport and through that broad platform there is plenty of opportunity to compete nationally and make the move to the international stage. Japan's Kondo/Tabata partnership are hoping to give sailing a major boost in their home nation with some top results here in Perth and at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

“We don’t have a super hero in sailing in Japan just yet,” Kondo said. “I don’t know if I can be that super hero, but if I do well in competitions and can be competitive in the world, then of course I want to tell the younger generation that if you set your mind to it, you can do it.”

Competing with crew Wakako Tabata at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, Kondo is hoping a good result and Olympic qualification will make people in Japan take notice of the sport she loves.

“I want to give the message that you don’t need to be a very special person to achieve anything, if you put your heart and soul into something you can do it,” the 31-year-old said.

Once rival skippers vying for Olympic team selection, Kondo and Tabata joined forces almost three years ago.

After Kondo’s crew mate retired following their 13th place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Tabata decided to switch roles in the boat and crew for Kondo.

“One of the hardest parts of converting to crew from skipper was the physical side,” Tabata said. “I had to put on a lot more weight.

“As crew you also have to use a lot of different muscles, so I had to train those muscles.”

In addition to the extra training and extra kilograms – Tabata has put on almost 15kg since making the switch – the 28-year-old has had to get used to no longer being the one in control.

“I guess when I was a skipper I was holding the helm so I used to move the boat with my own timing,” she said. “Now being crew I know the timing but it’s not my timing when we tack or jibe or move the boat.

“Getting used to that took me a little bit of time. At first it was almost scary because I wasn’t in control.”

While having two skippers in one boat could have been problematic, mutual respect and teamwork have played an important role in the Japanese duo’s success.

“We value team work as the most important thing when we sail together,” Kondo said while Tabata added: “It’s a two person boat so of course teamwork is the most important thing.”

Kondo is also happy to utilise the experience her new teammate has when it comes choosing a course.

“She is very knowledgeable strategy wise,” Kondo said. “She also knows a lot about sailing and when we’re out on the water together I can rely on her in a lot of ways.

“Wakako does the course strategy for the first up wind mark and I just concentrate on sailing the boat, so our team work is probably the most important thing.”

After winning the Olympic test event at Weymouth and Portland, and finishing second at Sail Melbourne in November, the two go into Perth 2011 ranked 10th in the world.

Despite the many hours they spend together on the water, Kondo and Tabata also believe the key to their success is the time they spend apart once they get on land.

“We have very different personalities,” Tabata said. “I don’t know about other teams but for us it works well when we do our own things when we’re on shore.

“Without being in each other’s faces we actually get good rhythm in our sailing.”

Source: Perth2011 media

© Kaoru Soehata
 

12/12/2011 06:16