Team Announced for ILCA World Championships
Irish Sailing has announced the team selected to represent Ireland at the 2026 ILCA World Championships, which will be hosted on Dublin Bay later this summer.
Unveiled at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire on Sunday 21 June, the team features Paris 2024 Olympian Eve McMahon in the ILCA 6 class alongside Ewan McMahon and two-time Olympian Finn Lynch in the ILCA 7 fleet.
The ILCA World Championships will take place on the waters of Dublin Bay, hosted by the National Yacht Club and the Royal St George Yacht Club. The ILCA 7 Men's World Championship will run from 23–30 August, followed by the ILCA 6 Women's World Championship from 5–12 September.
The announcement followed the conclusion of the Coaches Invitational Regatta, a three-day international training and racing event hosted in Dún Laoghaire that welcomed elite ILCA sailors and coaching teams from eight nations: Ireland, New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, Croatia, Cyprus, the United States and Hungary.
The event provided an early indication of the form of the Irish squad ahead of the World Championships. In the Women's ILCA 6 fleet, Eve McMahon relished the conditions on her home waters, fighting back to overturn Charlotte Rose (USA) who had finished ahead of her to claim gold at the French Sailing Grand Slam earlier this season.
In the Men's ILCA 7 fleet, Team GB's Eliot Hanson took the title ahead of current world number one Pavlos Kontides (CYP). Finn Lynch narrowly missed out on a podium place, finishing level on points with Croatia's two-time Olympic silver medallist Tonči Stipanović.
With the World Championships fast approaching, Dublin Bay has become a hub of international preparation, attracting many of the world's leading national teams for training and competition.
Irish Sailing Performance Director James O'Callaghan praised the calibre of the team selected to represent Ireland. "Eve, Ewan and Finn have each demonstrated the consistency and performance levels required to compete at the highest level of our sport," he said. "Selection for a World Championship is earned through sustained commitment and results, and this team has shown exactly that, with nine international medals between them across the 2025 and 2026 seasons, including a World Championship bronze medal for Eve. We look forward to seeing them take on the world's best."
Before turning their attention to the World Championships, the Irish team will complete a final training block in Dún Laoghaire before travelling to Los Angeles for the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta. The Sailing Grand Slam event will be contested on the same waters that will host the sailing competition at the LA 2028 Olympic Games, providing another valuable opportunity to sharpen preparations before returning home for the season's major championship.