Staying in the loop – March

Less than 500 days to go to PARIS 2024!

This month saw the 500 day mark to Paris, time flies when your working hard! A little added motivation for this month to keep pushing towards our goal.

We arrived in Arenal, Palma with snow on the mountains and the locals saying it was the first snow they have had in 10 years! With a few more layers on than expected, we had some solid training days getting used to the conditions. Palma is a venue for pretty much any wind conditions but you can guarantee chop and short waves for sea state. This feels really different to our training in Lanzarote so its good to get an early chance to get used to the technique needed.

We finished our camp with the Arenal Regatta as a warm event for Princess Sofia. A solid event for us finishing 5th with a few unlucky moments and new work ons costing us some points.

We flew home for a week of rest and Freya got the opportunity to sail an ETF with the Athena Pathway in hopes to be apart of the Youth Americas Cup Team

Back out to Palma for a 5 day training block with our USA training partners focusing on speed and boathandling. Absolutely glamour conditions for our last training camp before event season starts!

We are now into our final preparation for Princess Sofia with racing starting on the 4th April. It’s a renowned event with 60 teams from 24 different nations and we are really excited to get on the race course. We will fly home for a short week after the event before heading out to our next event, Hyères Olympic week starting on the 25th April.

Two important events for us in quick prosecution so we will be heads down for the month of April. Wish us luck!

Yours in sailing,
Freya and Saskia

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Staying in the loop – February

We flew out at the beginning of Feb for a short lead into the Lanzarote International Regatta. This regatta provided great racing with all the top teams attending and the opportunity to improve our racing skills before heading to Palma. We went into the regatta with the mindset to try to win each race and to try to put a great series together. Here’s a quick day by day review of the event:

Day 1
We launched into light airs with huge swell for day 1, even so that both of us were falling over in the boat! Technique on these waves was definitely important in these conditions. We sailed the first race really well and banked a race win to start off the regatta. We had a bad start to race 2 but we managed to sail the rest of course well and picked off places, pulling the race back to a 12th which was a great counter. Overall we were going into the second day in the bronze bibs.

Day 2
Wow what a day. “The biggest waves” Sas has ever seen in her life! With also an average of 20knts, day 2 was going to be a big test day to see how well the FX fleet could get around the course. We have been working a lot on boat handling this winter so we were buzzing about our performance with no capsizes. We finished the day with a 2,4,1 moving us up to the gold bibs!

Unfortunately the wind waves and calima (dust storm from Africa) caused us not to race on day 3 as the conditions were too dangerous.

Medal race
The medal race is the final race of the event with only the top 10 teams involved. It is a double point race so the pressure is on as the leaderboard can change easily. We went into the medal race with a small lead over the Italians and Americans. We had a clear plan going into it and we executed it well, finishing the race in 4th and securing our GOLD MEDAL! It felt amazing to win our first international regatta together and we are so pleased that we can see our hard work paying off. We couldn’t have achieved so much this winter without the team around us, our coach and the British Sailing Team and of course our main sponsor, GRP Boat Repairs. A great result and hopefully the first of many!

The rest of the camp

After two days off, we were back into training to focus in on some specific skills. It was a good end to the camp and by the end we were both exhausted and ready to Lanzarote.

We have packed up our kit to get on the ferries to Palma, Majorca where we will be based for March and April, leading up to two important events for us: Princess Sofia and Hyeres regatta.

Yours in sailing,

Freya and Saskia

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Staying in the Loop- November 2022

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Not only is it the 1^st of December but more importantly it is the 1 year anniversary for Team Freya Black & Saskia Tidey joining forces with the wonderful team at GRP Boat Repairs. Where has the time gone…

365 days ago we were presented with an opportunity to sit with Julian and his team at the GRP headquarters where we shared our vision and goal, to represent Great Britain at Paris 2024. We were welcomed into the office at Universal Marina with open arms and shared our story as a fresh new pairing ready to take on the world. We soon learned we shared similar values and quickly aligned on how we could support each other on this journey. Team work, togetherness and thriving under pressure are some of many values we share with with Julian and his team. It was important to us to start our journey with like minded people. Driven, detailed and embrace a challenge!

We set a goal for our 2022 World Championships, Top 15.  We knew we were limited on time to tackle all areas of our performance and with a new kit change in the 49er FX class

( Redesign of sails ) there were a lot of jobs to tackle in a short space of time. This was going to require fresh equipment to tune up fast and gruelling hours out on the water developing skills to handle the boat around the race course in varied conditions.

Thanks to Julian and the team at GRP we acquired ‘Ginny’ our race boat which was built In New Zealand and shipped all the way to the UK to be branded up with a slick GRP Boat repairs logo on our deck! Just in time for the World Championships in Canada.

After a marathon of a week battling it out at our first World Championships together we came away smashing our Top 15 goal with a 9^th overall in the World. We had also had some promising performances throughout the season but it was important to execute at the Worlds Championships when it mattered.

It has been a honour to represent GRP Boat Repairs on International waters this season. We are thrilled to announce that we will team up again for the 2023 race season where we will need to qualify the nation for the Olympic Games. This winter will be packed full of practice racing and refining skills to smooth out our manoeuvres around the race course. We are excited to continue to share our ups and downs as we drive towards 2024 with our epic support team. Stay Tuned!

Freya & Saskia

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Staying in the Loop- November 2022

The winter wetsuits are out!

We have been in complete denial that autumn has turned to winter! As it does every November the weather windows for sailing in the UK get smaller and smaller. With shorter days and the occasional day under 20 knots we have to be very patient and ready to take any opportunity we can to get out training. In saying that, we have been filling our days with plenty of other performance gains!

Off the water…

The winter months give us the opportunity to review
and plan before packing up and heading south to
Portugal & Lanzarote. We check in on the goals we set
this time last year and review against them to give us a
honest report. Boat handling is an ongoing topic in the 49er class. A subject which is never ending and always needs work. Off season is a perfect time to strip boat handling back to basics and generate some fun and fitness intense sessions for when we are on the water.

Fitness and conditioning is another area we have continued to work on beyond the Autumn. With some big training blocks ahead in Dec & Jan it is vital for us to be robust to endure hours on the water in big wave sea state. Freya has been working on her endurance and Sas has been targeting explosive power in the gym… There has been a lot of sweat!

We have an exciting opportunity with British Sailing Team media team and GRP Boat Repairs over the next few weeks! We will be shooting some fresh new content of behind the scenes with Freya and Sas on our campaign towards Paris 2024. Watch out on our Instagram accounts @saskiatidey @freya.blackk for sneak peak previews and the real deal! You heard it here first!

Boats Boats Boats!

Slowly but surely we are getting comfy with the new 49er FX kit for this Olympic Games cycle. Trimming these new North 3Di sails which are subtly different and at times more difficult then previous kit has been a main focus. It has been fun to learn new skills and problem solve how to sail the boat at new top speeds. We have had some snazzy new big and bold GRP graphics made for our mainsail thanks to @Generationgraphics.
Our GRP Boat Repairs racing hull built in New Zealand has been tucked up away for the winter until next season. We spent solid hours on her (Ginny) in Marseille, France where the games will be held in 2024.
This winter we will spend most of our time tuning with other nations and figuring out best to sail the boat super fast! Stay tuned!

GRP Boat Repairs & Black Tidey Racing 2023!

We felt so proud coming home from the World Championships with a top 10 finish as a new team to share with our GRP Boat Repairs family. Thanks to Julian and his superstar team we were able to prepare for the World Championships exactly how we wanted to and add the marginal gains needed to execute this season.

We are very pleased to announce that GRP Boat Repairs will continue to support us in 2023. Next year is a major year for us on the International circuit. Not only do we need to qualify Great Britain for the Olympic Games at the World championships in Den Hague Netherlands in July ( Top 10 ) but we will battle it out to be selected for Team GB in the 49er FX class.

This week the RYA British Sailing team unveiled the Paris 2024 Selection Policy:

“The RYA has released its selection policy for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.As Britain’s national governing body (NGB) for sailing, the RYA works with the British Olympic Association (BOA) to determine the athletes who will represent Team GB at the Olympics.The selection policy sets out the criteria for athletes aspiring to compete for Team GB in the Paris 2024 sailing competition.The policy is confidential, and as such can only be accessed through a secure online portal. It will only be made available to those who are eligible to compete for Team GB.” – Royal Yachting Association.

https://britishsailingteam.rya.org.uk/news/posts/rya-unveils-paris-2024-selection-policy/

With a phenomenal support team in place ahead of next season we look forward to pushing it had this winter training and put some scores on board when racing kicks off again in March 2023.

Stay up to date with us on Instagram or check back in next month to hear what we have been up to in Vilamoura Portugal which will be our first training camp abroad this winter!

Yours in sailing, Freya Black & Saskia Tidey

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Staying In the Loop – July-September 2022

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Staying In the Loop – May-June 2022

Time at home!

Since we got back from Hyeres, we have based ourselves in the UK. 8 weeks has flown by with some pretty long days of hard work for us, getting two race boats ready, fitness block and sailing on the new kit.

Two new race boats- welcome to the team Ginny and Kate!

With our hard hats and high vis jackets, we unloaded our new boat from New Zealand! The boat went straight to ZEST Racing Boatyard to have the GRP logo sprayed on which turned out incredible! We then had to get it ready to sail… sounds a lot easier than it is! Many hours were spent ticking off multiple to do lists. It was vital we sent her to Europe already knowing the systems and fittings worked before racing.

We were also presented the opportunity to buy the 49er Gold medal winning boat from Tokyo Olympics (Kate) which was a no brainer. The boat felt electric under our feet on our first sail on it.

Not only did we have to get these two boats ready to race but we also had to pack and load Kate into a container to Canada and then pack Ginny to go to Europe for our European circuit.

We just about kept to schedule with getting these boats ready and we are finally set for the summer!

Sailing on the new kit

We have tried to get out on the water for around 4 days a week. The process of working out the new style sails and masts has been pretty slick and we have learnt a lot. Having another British team to bounce off and try ideas has made the last month really productive. We now have to see if the hard work has payed off when we line up against the international fleet.

We have also made sure not to let our boat handling practice slip in this tuning phase.

Sponsorship -GRP, Mainbrace Rum and Craftinsure

We had the most glorious weather for our photoshoot with Mainbrace Rum, 10knts and full sunshine. We officially announced our partnership on social media with some amazing photos. Please use our discount codes “FREYA” and “SASKIA” for 10% off some yummy rum and gin, we can definitely recommend!

Last Friday we had our boat launch with GRP for Ginny. We had a great turnout and our boat was christened with Mainbrace Gin (hence the name Ginny!). It was an amazing day and we are so grateful for the support from GRP, without them this boat wouldn’t have been possible.

We would also pleased to announce that Craftinsure has come onboard to sponsor the insurance of our two boats! Hopefully we don’t crash them just yet, touch wood!

Resetting goals for summer events

Our plan is to go to Kieler Woche, Germany (22^nd-26^th June) as a warm up regatta for the 2022 Europeans which will be in Aarhus Denmark. For us these two events offer a strong fleet to check in on our speed and to practice our accuracy around the course.

Marseille France Olympic Venue

At the End of July we plan to be in Marseille for a British Sailing Team Camp which will be our first time practicing and absorbing the venue for the Games in 2024. During this camp we will be trying to race as much as possible with other nations to get to know the racecourses better.

It has been a busy two months of multitasking and we are really looking forward to a few weeks of getting to purely focus on sailing and racing.

Yours in sailing,

Freya Black & Saskia Tidey

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Staying In the Loop- April 2022

2 International regattas this month and our first sail on the new rigs – a pretty full on month with a ton of learning!

PALMA REGATTA

We headed back out to Palma for a lead into our first international event together. After a few days of training on our goals (especially some windy gybing that came in very handy for the event!) we were very excited to get racing, with of course a few nerves added in.
Our goals for the event/ focuses on to debrief:

• Starting: Holding station under pressure, Triggers, Settle success
• Comms around the racecourse. Anything to flag of uncertainty

A little summary of the event:
Day 1 brought us some breeze! 15-20knts off-shore shifty and gusty definitely made for some interesting racing! 3 solid results and keeping the mast in the sky made for an amazing start to the regatta.
A complete change of conditions for day 2- 6-8knts offshore, slight chop. To put a 2^nd of the scorecard in a 6-8ish day was really cool. After little training in light winds, we were really pleased to score a 2^nd. It gave us confidence in ourselves for our feel and problem solving in this condition. It then picked up to 15knts for the second race of the day. Unfortunately, we had a swim in this race and finished 20^th.  Next up, gold fleet racing!
The washing machine had been turned on for day 3 with 15-17knts. 4 races planned, it was going to be a big day out. We scored a 4,3,13,8 with plenty of points left out on the water due to our boat handling not being quite there yet for the correct racing winning decisions. A great day on the water.
A challenging day 4 for us. Late to the racecourse after a postponement saw us lacking information and not being confident on our boat set up. A 15^th and a 5^th put us in 8^th overall making the medal race. Unfortunately, due to a protest after a port ww mark approach, we were disqualified from the last race, dropping us to 11^th overall and missing out on the medal race.
A disappointing end to the week after some great racing but we learnt a lot and we were very happy with our progress throughout.

HOME FOR 10 DAYS

We were luckily enough to come home to a forecast of light winds and not freezing temperatures to get out on the new kit for two days with Adam and Sid. It was great to see the kit and start the learning. Two very productive days.

HYERES REGATTA

We flew out for a short lead into Hyeres for the French Olympic week.
Day 1 brought us two races in 15-20knts, another breezy start to a event. A 12^th and a 3^rd was a solid start to the regatta. Day 2 was a challenging day for us. After rounding the ww marks in pretty much top 5 every race, we struggled downwind and lost a lot of points. The new style kit was definitely quicker downwind making decisions pretty hard. It was a hard day to swallow after so many promising moments as a team. Oh day 3! Most of the day was spent in the protest room then on the water! Two races with bad starts ended with average results and one final good race saw us just sneak into gold fleet. Unfortunately two incidences, one from lacking boat handling (for which we did spins) and one of a judgement call, caught us up in two protests. Silver fleet racing for us but still with lots of learning to be had. After a solid reset, we came out fighting with two bullets on day 4. No more racing for the week due to no wind. A difficult event for us but these events have been all about the learning.
WHATS NEXT?
We are home for two very busy months. Tuning on the new kit, back to the gym for a fitness block and getting our new boat ready to send to the worlds (thank you to GRP!) are all on the cards. It is great to have the support of Adam and the SSsM team around us and we really appreciate it to make these months very productive.
Last but not least, we would like to announce a new sponsor coming on board- Mainbrace Rum. We are really excited about this opportunity and if anyone wants to try some, please let us know for a discount code

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