Montenegro’s Milivoj Dukic is well on track to qualify his nation for the Laser at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition after a string of consistent results at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
Dukic currently sits in 62nd place in the Laser fleet and is the 29th ranked nation within the fleet. Only 35 nations can qualify their country for London 2012 at Perth 2011 in the Laser fleet. And with two races remaining Dukic is 16 points clear of Norway’s Kristian Ruth who sits outside of the nation’s rankings.
After discarding his 48th place in Race 7 he bounced back with an eighth place in Race 8 and two more results of that calibre he will qualify Montenegro for London 2012.
What’s impressive about the Montenegrin is that he is the first sailor from his nation to compete at an ISAF Worlds and at 18-years-old, he is a relative newcomer to Olympic Class sailing having only competed at two ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas.
Dukic said, "It is the first ISAF Worlds for me and also my first Laser Standard worlds. I’ve got two more years in the youth age group and I am trying to qualify for the Olympic Games.
"I think I am in good shape to do it. We have two more races to go, I am in a good position and anything can happen so we will see."
The Montenegrin became a ranked sailor on 4 May 2011 and in eight months he has moved up to World #267. Dukic finished 104th at Semaine Olympique Francaise in April, followed by 77th at the Delta Lloyd Regatta and 57th at the Open Europeans in Helsinki. His rise has been steady and he is on course for an impressive result in the 147-boat fleet as he currently sits 62nd in Perth.
For Dukic it has been all about reading the situation and reacting at Perth 2011 following light winds, "Everybody expected it would be a windy regatta with the Fremantle Doctor so everybody prepared for 15-20 knots. But it’s been very tough with tricky and tactical conditions. We’ve had to use a lot of brain."
Behind Dukic is a cluster of five nations who are vying for Olympic Qualification, Finland’s Fredrik Westman, Mustafa Cak (TUR), James Espey (IRL), U.S. Virgin Islands’ Cy Thompson and Singapore’s Scott Sydney take up positions 64-68 and in 71st place is Wannes van Laer (BEL) who takes up the final nations spot.
Norway’s Ruth is just three points behind van Laer and will look to apply some pressure when the Lasers resume racing on Saturday 17 December.
Thirty five Laser places for London 2012 are available at Perth 2011 and after 24 were taken yesterday it is do or die for the remaining nations looking to qualify. The final 12 spots, of the 48 that will be on the start line at London 2012, are available at the 2012 World Laser Standard Seniors Championship at Boltenhagen, Germany from 4-10 May 2012.
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