A race win on the final day of the European Championships for Howth’s Eve McMahon for a time appeared to herald the comeback she needed to rescue a strong finish in her ILCA 6 women’s event but sadly was not to be.
The pressure of earlier disqualifications and penalties was too much to bear in the following two races that completed the six-day series as small mistakes were magnified by the need to score higher.
In the end, she ended as 11th European with the under-23 bronze medal that will sit alongside her senior world championship bronze from May this year.
Her elder sibling Ewan McMahon had a personal best in the men’s event finishing ninth European after his best Gold fleet series of his career.
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His teammate and rival in the ILCA 7 event didn’t fare so well as Finn Lynch placed 16th European.
“I’m disappointed, it wasn’t my best week. I tried my best but it wasn’t clicking,” said Lynch after the series ended. “[The venue] was really difficult. Each day the wind was really unpredictable but in the end, the guys who were just starting well and going fast did well.”
However, all three Irish sailors have been invited to compete in next month’s Sailing Grand Slam final in The Netherlands. Attendance is restricted to the world’s top 10 athletes in each discipline.
As the racing will only have 10 boats, the format will replicate the Olympic medal race final format and will be used as training preparation for LA2028.
