Ireland's Ewan McMahon Third as ILCA European Championships in Sweden Get Underway
Irish sailors were to the fore on the opening day of the ILCA European Championships today (Monday 11th August 2025) in Marstrand, Sweden, where all three sailors delivered strong results.
Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) is lying third overall European overnight thanks to a second and sixth place for the day in the ILCA 7 men's event.
His team-mate Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) had a third and an eleventh to finish the day as eighth European in an overall fleet of 153 boats.
Racing had been delayed two hours to allow difficult sea conditions to settle but a tricky current remained which many competitors fell foul of, including Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) who had a disqualification in her first race for early starting along with eight other contenders in the ILCA 6 women's one-person dinghy.
However, she bounced back in the second race by leading the fleet around the course until the breeze eventually faded and she placed second. McMahon is chasing a strong end to her 2025 season with this final peak event to follow her historic bronze medal win at the ILCA world championships in China just over two months ago.
Reflecting on the opening day's results, Irish Sailing coach Vasilij Zbogar said: "Unfortunately, Eve made a mistake at the first start of the first race and was black-flagged. But she sailed really well in the second one - she was actually leading all the race but then the wind died - a good come back though."
"It was a challenging day having started with a two-hour delay due to strong winds then the breeze dying until we had less than five knots at the end."
Forecasts for remainder of the event suggest light to moderate breeze and the prospect of a high-scoring event as the fleets contend with the conditions at this untested venue for the class.
Qualification racing continues on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide the Gold fleet cut-offs for the final round that start on Thursday culminating in the medal race finals to decide the podium on Saturday evening.