Team Black Tidey 49er FX
Staying In the Loop- March 2022
Where has the time gone!
Two years since we were last in Palma Mallorca due to COVID 19. It is one of our favourite venues with rich turquoise blue water and varied wind strengths. For Saskia this will be her 10th Princess Sofia regatta and for Freya this will be her Palma debut.
New venue & new goals:
- Communication- It is important to us to nail down the early stages of how we communicate effectively as a team. How, when & why we say what we say is vital to be accountable for our actions onboard. We have focused the majority of our communication debrief’s around the start whilst also flagging any confusion or uncertainty around the course.
IN our daily debrief we have highlighted some phrases or words we both clearly feel aligned on using to describe actions & feelings whilst sailing the 49er FX out at sea. More importantly we have cleared out excess words and descriptions that do not transfer into helping the other persons role.
- Starting procedure on a race course –
Recently we completed at a smaller local regatta to Introduce us back to the venue. It was invaluable to compete at the Arenal regatta to expose our sailing to the relentless lane holds to the left in 6-9 knots. Our main goal was to start where we believed was correct and to fight for our space on the line to trigger. Both we felt we did well on the whole with some clear areas to work on. The slow boat handling from Lanzarote was powerful in creating and protecting space & the trigger mechanics were there. Starting as a skill will be an important feature on our race course at this venue.
Important to do’s training before Palma regatta :
- Settle into the correct technique after the start line.
- Prioritising training pre regatta in Palma onshore light wind races.
- Review communication in debriefs
Our Local Regatta highlight was wining day 2 overall in very windy & lumpy onshore conditions. It was a difficult day for everyone testing our wave technique skills upwind and boat handling downwind. It was very motivating for both of us to make the gear changes required throughout the day independently of coach support to stay fast and in range to control the boat. We saw huge improvement from Lanzarote training.
What’s next?
After our first Palma camp ( 6th March – 18th March) we returned to the UK for the first week in a while to put the tools down. In this period we are mainly focussing on rest & mobility before heading back to Palma on the 29th March to prepare for Princess Sofia Regatta.
It was brilliant to catch up with the majority of the team in Palma for a great two days talking big picture. We both came out of the camp feeling clear on where we can add to the greater team in Marseille and where we may need to lean on the support of the team until next year.
April will be a race heavy month for us. Palma Princess Sofia Regatta will run from the 5th – 9th of April from there we will travel to Hyeres France for a World Cup regatta 26th– 30th April.
Stay tuned for next moths update after we hope some fun and successful racing!
Yours in Sailing,
Freya & Saskia
