Sailor Profile - Balazs Hajdu (HUN)

Before he became IFA President in August 2005, FINNFARE ran a profile of Balazs Hajdu

Name: Balazs Hajdu.

Age: My age is 28 years.     

What is your home town?: My hometown is Budapest, Hungary.

When did you start sailing?: I started sailing at the age of five with my mother sailing with me in an Optimist.

Summary of sailing career: 5 years Optimist, 4 years Laser, the 1998 Junior Europeans in Star, 10 year now in the Finn.

Why did you take up sailing?: My parents were both regatta sailors back in the 60s and 70s with my father winning 3 national titles in single-handed classes and my mother spending 15 years competing in the Pirate class. So, there was a natural tendency in the family to spend most of our time close to Lake Balaton, the main sailing venue in the country.

What was your first boat?: It was a 60+ kilos heavy Optimist.

What was your favourite boat and why?: My first Finn which I bought from Hans Spitzauer. We agreed on the deal sailing back downwind to the club from one of the races in Anzio in 1995.

What class did you first race in?: My first race class was the Optimist and my first regatta the Szobi Szorp Cup sponsored by a fruit juice producing company. The regatta and the free drinks were so popular that the average size of the fleet racing the regatta used to be 160+ boats each year.

How much time do you spend on the water each week?:   After the Sydney Olympics I graduated and started to work as a lawyer. As a consequence of that my sailing efforts were restricted to maybe 4-5 local weekend regattas per year. I started my campaign for Athens 2004 early January this year with a 7 week training camp and racing in Rio. I plan to sail at least 15 hours a week training up until the Games.

Who are your sailing heroes and why?: I do not really have sailing heroes. There are many people I have learnt a lot from, but I believe that everybody has to find his/her own way to become as good a sailor as possible.

Why did you take up the Finn?: As an 18 year old I got fed up with the cold when sailing the Laser wearing swimming shorts (only) in late October regattas. Apart from allowing for some more clothing to put on, I very much liked the complexity of the Finn. Without the Finn I could not have been racing in any Olympic dinghy class. As a teenager I did not want to sail Stars against my father's generation.

How long have you sailed the Finn?: It has been 10 years now of which 4 were quite intense.

What is your favourite venue?: My favourite venue is of course Lake Balaton. The lake teaches you a lot about balancing conservative tactics with extreme sailing to corners when needed.

What is your least favourite venue?: Anywhere where the air is warmer than the water.

When was your first major win?: My first 'major' win was the youth national championship title won as a 16 year old sailing against 19 year olds in the Laser in 1991.

What is your best ever result?: It is difficult to match results in different regattas. It was maybe my 15th place in the Sydney Olympics (scoring a 3rd an a 5th on the same day). The last time when a Hungarian sailor finished better than 15th in the Olympics reaches back to the 1980 Moscow Games.

What are your strengths in sailing?: The love for the sport.

What are your weaknesses in sailing?: There must be quite a few, as I have never really managed to get into the top 20 in the world for a long period of time. I'd really like to change this.

What result gave you the most satisfaction?:    When I won a bronze medal at one of the Optimist regattas I first attended.

What is the single most important piece of sailing advice you could give to a young sailor?: Train with as much intensity and determination as when racing and have fun during that.

What is the Finn classes greatest asset?: The sailors (young and master) and the superb boat.

What are its disadvantages? Hard to learn and follow the technological side without professional coach support.

Are there any changes you like see happen to the Olympic classes sailing circuit?: To have less on-water judging.

What class would you like to move into after the Finn?: I would move to the Star

Do you think the spread of Olympic classes should be changed and how?:  I think the current situation represents the world of sailing quite well, except for the fact that there is no keelboat with spinnaker in the Olympics while the vast majority of sailors sail in such classes.

What's the funniest thing you've ever witnessed at a regatta?:    At an around Lake Balaton single-handed yachting event I saw a boat returning after a few hours sailing to the starting line with its helmsman sleeping calmly at the rudder.

Other hobbies and interests?: Non-sailing travelling with Edina, my girlfriend having a chance to see other things than marinas and water only. I love spending my time with friends and reading.

What job would you be doing if you were not sailing?: After the Sydney Games I graduated and work currently as a lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. (My colleagues start to hate me coming back  to work sunburnt a week or two subsequent to a few weeks of sailing. The situation after Rio has even worsened.)

Where would you like to see the Gold Cup sailed in the future?: I would love to race a Gold Cup at Lake Balaton or alternatively in the Carribics (Mustique would be a fine place).

Photo: Taken at the 2005 Finn Gold Cup in Moscow. www.finngoldcup2005.ru

Reproduced from FINNFARE April 2004