Eve McMahon leads at halfway stage of U21 Worlds in Morocco
Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) is now leading the U21 ILCA World Championships (Tangier, Morocco) at the halfway point and is working on keeping her scores consistent to hold her podium prospects.
Yesterday's conditions (Thursday 19th) were extremely tricky as the wind picked up to speeds of 25-28knots for 181 competitors
“Very, very tough racing today, it was around 20 – 25 knots and the wind was coming from the land so there was some extreme shifts and lulls, making it a very physically tough race," said McMahon. "So I’m very happy to come away with a win. I’ve worked a lot on my fitness and I’ve been using that to get my speed a level above everyone else’s, so I’ve just got to keep working on that.”
All Irish sailors adapted well to the conditions taking the heavy winds under their wing and focusing on the race day ahead. They returned ashore with big smiles after battling the challenging conditions.
Meanwhile, Fiachra McDonnell (Royal St. George YC) and Tom Coulter (East Antrim YC & Portrush YC) who have only just moved into the senior men’s ILCA7’s from the ILCA 6 (youth men and senior women’s size boat) are taking this regatta as a major learning experience as their first event in the class.
A high scoring event like this, with 12 races scheduled and only one discard allowed, has both McDonnell and Coulter focused on making as few mistakes as possible.
Three days of competition remain and it's all to play for Ireland's sailors.