We are Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey, full time sailors campaigning to represent Ireland and achieve our Olympic ambition of winning a medal in the 49erFX class at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

We are members of the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) Olympic Development Squad and are recognised as Ireland’s most promising 49erFX pairing for Olympic qualification.

Meet the girls : ANDREA BREWSTER Position onboard : Helm Age : 31 Hometown : Headley Down, UK Nationality : Dual Irish/British Citizen – Formerly represented GBR in 2003, 2006 & 2010 as a member of the GB Pre-Olympic Team. – Member of GBR Laser Radial Olympic Squad from 2004-2011. – Previously ranked in the top 20 in the World from 2005-2012 in the Laser Radial Class. – Highest World ranking of 5th (Laser Radial). – Numerous top 10 finishes at International Olympic class World Cup competitions. – 5th at 2006 Laser Radial European Championships. – 8th at 2007 & 2008 Laser Radial European Championships. – 3rd at 2008 Laser Radial World Championships. – Represented Ireland at 2013 49erFX European and World Championships. – Current member of the Irish Sailing Association Olympic Development Squad.

SASKIA TIDEY Position onboard : Crew Age : 20 Hometown : Glenageary, Co Dublin Deferred a degree in UCD to commit to a full time Olympic sailing campaign.Other sporting Achievements : Represented Ireland on the Irish Netball Team 2008-2010. Sailing Achievements to date : – Won the sole place to represent Ireland at the 2009 ISAF Youth World championships in Buzios Brazil. – Youth National Champion 2009 & 2010 in the Laser Radial class. – Represented Ireland on the Irish Sailing Association Academy 2009-2011. – Represented Ireland at the Laser Radial World and European championships 2009 – 2011 – Last year I was given the opportunity to be part of the first all female 18ft Skiff team in Sydney, Australia for the season of 2012-2013. This was the first time that an all female crew competed at the 18ft Skiff World championships, making history. – Represented Ireland in the 49er FX european and World championships 2013 – Currently Representing Ireland on the ISA Olympic Development Squad.

Our boat, the 49erFX is fast and very challenging to handle. 49erFX sailors need to be athletic, strong, agile and have extremely good balance. A typical weeks training would consist of 20+hrs on the water and 10+hrs of aerobic and strength and conditioning training. This is a full time job, where we are not only at battle with the opposition but with the elements

As the helm, Andrea steers the boat and does the majority of the race tactics, making decisions in high pressure and rapidly changing situations. Saskia’s role as crew is to keep the boat sailing as fast as possible at all times by controlling the trim of the sails and the balance of the boat. Both jobs are equally demanding both physically and mentally. Our partnership began in August 2013 and at our first event the 2013 49erFX World championships, we had a number of top 5 race finishes, one of them being a convincing win.

Our team Facebook page is called Brewster/Tidey IRL 49erFX Sailing. We post daily updates about our campaign and have over 1,435 subscribers and reach over 20,000 page interactions a week. We have made a serious commitment to raise the profile of sailing and the involvement of women in sport. Through social media we hope by sharing our Olympic experience we will encourage others, especially women to pursue a level of sport where they can get as much enjoyment as we do with sailing.

To date our campaign has been largely self funded by our families. Some of our biggest expenses include : – Funding a full time coaching programme – Training and event logistics. Sailing events take us world wide with our equipment. – Replenishing equipment. New and good equipment it essential to be able to compete on a level with the other nations. We are asking for financial support through Pledge Sports to help us pursue and afford our goal of representing Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games. We are looking to raise enough funding to purchase new equipment for our Olympic qualification event and raise funds towards our coaching expenses for the World Championships this September.

We want to try raise €12,500, this won t nearly cover our costs but it will make a massive difference!  Every little helps to give us the best possible chance to succeed. With out financial assistance the quality of our sailing campaign will slowly deteriorate. By contributing you will be part of our support team in our ‘ Race to Rio’. We are looking forward to sharing our campaigning experiences with you.

Yours in Sailing, AB & Sas

Photo Credit : Brian Carlin Images