McMahon Strikes U23 Gold as Ireland Secures Two Top-Five Finishes at Europeans
Eve McMahon claimed U23 gold and finished fourth overall at the ILCA European Championships in Croatia while Finn Lynch secured a top-five finish in the men’s fleet after a week of racing affected by challenging weather conditions.
Three races were sailed today in the women’s dinghy fleet and two in the men’s dinghy to complete the final series and decide the championship podium places.
McMahon began the final day in sixth place after racing was cancelled on Thursday due to storm conditions. Strong finishes of seventh and second in her opening two races moved her firmly into overall medal contention heading into the final race. A 26th-place finish in the last race, which was then discarded as her worst result of the week, left her fourth overall.
Irish Sailing ILCA 6 Coach Vasilij Žbogar said: “Conditions were very different today, with a change in wind direction making racing quite unpredictable. Eve put together a really strong performance and placed herself exactly where she needed to be after the first two races. She also sailed well in the final race, but unfortunately the wind shifts did not fall her way.”
Reflecting on the regatta overall, he added: “Fourth place is always difficult, but winning gold in the under-23 category is a very strong result. Eve is still a young sailor and continues to improve, so this is another valuable learning experience for her. We will now debrief and take those learnings into the next event in Los Angeles before turning our focus to the World Championships in Dublin, which is the event we really want to peak for.”
The U23 Championship was introduced to the competition last year where Eve McMahon won Bronze. The Championship was won overall by 2023 World Champion Maria Erdi of Hungary, the 28-year-old showed impressive composure throughout the week recording four race wins.
In the Men’s Dinghy / ILCA 7 fleet, Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) delivered a strong performance throughout the championship, recording race finishes of first and fourth during the regatta. Two races were sailed on the final day, with Lynch posting results of 13th and eighth to secure fifth overall at the European Championships.
Irish Sailing ILCA 7 Coach Ben Walkemeyer said: “Finn did everything he could today. Conditions were extremely shifty, but he managed to stay very consistent throughout the racing. It wasn’t quite enough for a podium place, but a top-five finish at a European Championship is still a very strong result.”
Also competing in the Gold Fleet was Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club), who started the day in 14th overall. However, after receiving a disqualification for an early start in his opening race, he dropped to 26th overall. McMahon nevertheless produced several strong performances across the week, including two fourth-place finishes in challenging conditions.
Reflecting on McMahon’s regatta, Walkemeyer added: “Ewan was just a little early at the start of his first race and was penalised for it. He had a great start in the second race as well, but lost some ground on the opening upwind leg. He’s definitely hungry for more and we now have some very clear areas to focus on ahead of the World Championships in Dun Laoghaire.”
Development sailor Fiachra McDonnell (Royal Irish Yacht Club) having narrowly missed out on Gold Fleet sailing gained invaluable experience at this event and finished a very respectable 18th overall in Silver Fleet.
The team will now take a short break before travelling to the United States for the LA Sailing Grand Slam, which will be held on the waters set to host the sailing events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Attention will then turn to Dun Laoghaire, as Ireland prepares to host the 2026 ILCA World Championships in August and September. It will mark the first time since 2001 that Ireland has staged a World Championship for an Olympic sailing class, offering a major opportunity, and a potential home advantage, for the Irish sailors.