DAY 5
Ireland's Eve McMahon secures Paris 2024 Olympic qualification in Argentina
With a race to spare, Ireland's Eve McMahon has secured a nation place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing regatta (Mar del Plata, Argentina - Tuesday 9th January 2024) for the women's single-handed event.
Seven nation places are being decided at the ILCA6 World Championship's with official confirmation expected after the event concludes on Wednesday evening (Irish time)
As the sole Irish contender in the class at senior level, McMahon's name will be submitted by Irish Sailing to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for inclusion in the Olympic team for Paris 2024.
The result by the 19 year old Dublin sailor (Howth Yacht Club) brings to three the number of disciplines that Ireland has qualified for.
In August of 2023, Rio 2016 veteran Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) was the first senior athlete to secure nation qualification for the men's single-handed event. In November, Robert Dickson (Howth YC) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) qualified Ireland for the men's skiff event.
Both events will face a trials series to decide on nominations to the OFI at a series of regattas in the Spring.
McMahon's result this week means all three events in Irish Sailing's senior team will be represented in Marseilles for the Olympic regatta.
Qualification by McMahon marks the latest accomplishment in her debut year at senior level following her Under 21 world championship title win in the ILCA6 class in October.
In 2022, at the conclusion of her youth career, the Howth sailor delivered three Gold medals at a series of world championship events in the same class that Annalise Murphy, her one of her coaches won Silver in at the Rio Games.
The world championships that conclude today in Argentina were the second qualification opportunity for seven nations to win places. Currently lying second of these nations going into the final day, the worst she can score in sixth qualifying nation.
"Eve is definitely capable of better performance in terms of the world championships but to secure qualification she's had to start races very conservatively just to give herself an advantage," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing Head Coach. "With one more race to go, she's going to keep it simple and get around the track fast."
The event is following a new format in that the top ten boats will sail their medal race as normal but the remainder of the Gold fleet will also race in their own fleet for higher points. This leaves McMahon mathematically unbeatable for Olympic qualification.
DAY 4
Gear damage for McMahon but holds at 20th in world championships in Argentina
A broken steering tiller at the start of the opening Gold fleet race yesterday was an unexpected setback for Ireland's Eve McMahon hunting one of seven places at the Paris Olympics this Summer.
The fitting was immediately replaced with a spare but it meant missing the race.
The 19 year old Dublin sailor (Howth Yacht Club) held her nerve for the second race of the day after a long gap waiting for the wind to settle and she scored an 18th in the 52-boat fleet, keeping her in contention in 20th place overall with two days remaining.
Given the unreliable weather patterns of recent days, organisers will attempt to stage three races on Tuesday.
"Eve's tiller-extension joint sheared right on the start line so she was unable to complete the race," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing Head Coach. "It was an unusual one but these things happen. We're prepared for a regatta that doesn't go according to plan and she bounced back from it well by putting in a decent second race."
A good but conservative start was followed with strong boatspeed and tactics to pull up the fleet where she has a strong opportunity of achieving Olympic qualification.
DAY 3
Gold fleet for McMahon at thunderstruck world championships in Argentina
As thunderstorm activity over Buenos Aires again affected the racing at the ILCA6 world championships today Ireland's Eve McMahon secured a crucial place in the Gold fleet finals series that begins on Monday afternoon (Irish time).
Just one race in light winds was possible on day three and the 19 year old Dublin sailor (Howth Yacht Club) didn't have the best start as she missed getting exactly on the front row in her 51-boat division.
However, over the following two laps of the course she was able to pick off places before finishing 14th in race five.
With reports of thunderstorms again building over the city, safety officials advised against further racing the and all boats were sent ashore.
As at least four races have been sailed in the qualifying round, the Gold and Silver fleet splits have been decided and three days of racing will decide the championship - and the next seven nation places for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the women's single-handed dinghy event.
Just a light sea breeze for the day It was a tough race for Eve - she didn't get off the start-line and had to dig her way back but she did very well and was passing boats on each leg," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing Head Coach. "She had good boatspeed and found some nice spaces on the different legs, went well downwind and managed to catch-up to get a solid out of it."