You have been sailing along the Slovenian coast since your childhood. How did you begin sailing? What are the qualities that a sportsman like you must have?
Like most of the children living at the coast my first experience with sailing was in the sailing school. I first got on board a sailboat aged 7 in the sailing class Optimist in the Burja Izola sailing club. Most children at the coast, and the same thing is still happening nowadays, take up sailing at school in the 2nd and 4th grade. I believe that the qualities are very similar in all sports: perseverance, discipline, desire to succeed, being calm and having a good team! Sailing is a very complex sport that demands a lot of patience because you depend on the nature. Regattas last for 6 days where you spend all the timeat sea constantly adapting to weather conditions. Sailing is a combination of both stamina and the skill to control the sailboat.

What are your observations – is there more or less vessel traffic on the Slovenian sea nowadays?
Certainly the vessel traffic has increased considerably in the last period but this is mainly during the summer. In winter time we are alone on the sea. During the winter there is an increase in visitors only on weekends but it gets crowded on the sea in the summer – our sea dwindles.

What about the summer, do you think that the number of Slovenian tourist vessels, namely sailboats and motorboats is bigger compared to when you started sailing? Are Slovenians a maritime nation that spends their leisure time on the water?
Since I began sailing there was always a lot of vessels on the sea. The only difference is their size. There used to be only smaller vessels on the sea but nowadays you can see vessels of 30 metres and more. Slovenians are a maritime nation in all respects and are also among the most respectful and diligent sailors. Moreover, Slovenians are a maritime nation not only with regard to sailing but also because we manufacture and design sailboats. The company Iskratel is one of the leading manufacturers of the electrical motors for winches. Otherwise I also believe that there is not one Slovenian who does not wish to go to the sea – swimming or sailing. Let us not forget of the Slovenian seamen – Jure Šterk who sailed around the Atlantic Ocean eight times, the Indian Ocean two times and the Pacific one time. He once sailed around the world in a 6-metre sailboat that he built himself.

What is the interest shown for the sailing sport by the public and youth?
It is very different in individual countries. You can find extremes where sailing is a part of life for example for people living in New Zealand or Australia. But considering that we have a very short coast line, the interest of public and youth is relatively high. Of course, the situation could be better but still more than 300 children visit our sailing club's courses every year. Out of those, 4 to 5 children take up training seriously every year. Unfortunately we have limited capacities. For sake of safety only 6-12 children can train together weekly. Mostly it is the children from coastal towns – Koper, Izola and Piran that take up sailing. However, we would like to include more children from other parts of Slovenia but because this is a sport that is practised on a daily basis it makes it hard to accomplish this logistically.

Last year you took part in America's Cup as a skipper. Do you believe that a competition on such a level could be organized along the Slovenian cost?
Yes, absolutely. Currently I am also discussing the possibility that one of the America's cup regatta qualification legs would take place in one of the Slovenian coastal towns. Because of its proximity, the Slovenian coast would be interesting for people from Switzerland, Italy and Germany although we would naturally need financial resources for the realisation. Otherwise the America's Cup is a competition where the cup winner competes with a challenger. Each competition has a date, course area, required number of wins and the length of competition set according to the agreement between the defender and the challenger. The America's Cup is one of the most prestigious and oldest international sport competitions.

The catamarans with which you competed in the America's Cup are very fast vessels. Can you give an estimate of how quickly would you sail the Slovenian coast by moderate South wind or bora?
In less than 30 minutes. With good bora winds and by 40 knots you would need even less than half an hour.

What are your goals this year?
The main goal is the September World Championship in Santander (Spain) where the first entries for participating at the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro will be given. This year's Finn European Championship will take place in May in the French town of La Rochelle, which will be an important test for me before the September World Championship in Santander in Spain.

You won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Athens; and in Beijing you won a silver medal in the laser category. Then you moved to the finn category. How are preparations for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro coming along?
The preparations are underway. At the moment I am preparing for the fulfilment of norms required for participation at the Olympic Games. Sailing is a complex sport that is practised from dawn to dusk. Besides training at sea, good physical training is also important. It is a difficult sport that takes whole day - besides physical fitness one also has to have knowledge of sailboat control (sails and masts).

How do you otherwise spend you holidays (do you perhaps go sailing in private time)? Do you practice other sports?
It has been almost 5 years since I had a real vacation. Although this may sound strange considering the fact that I spend days on the sea but I like to go on vacation with my sailboat. I believe it is one of the most beautiful ways of spending leisure time because you are closely connected with nature and not so much with the everyday life on the coast. It is the best form of relaxation. There is no mobile phone signal and you feel no burdens. Otherwise I am also cycling and rowing but it is all part of the training.

Anja Polajnar, SINFO