6 July 2022
McMahon goes overboard after winning European sailing championship in Greece
Howth sailor Eve McMahon has won the ILCA6 European Youth championship at Thessaloniki today (Wednesday 6th July 2022) rounding off an impressive series winning both races on the final day.
Race 6 Finish Line
The latest title for the 17-year old Howth Yacht Club sailor is added to her 2021 Youth World Championship win Lake Garda, Italy last August.
McMahon celebrated in the traditional manner by jumping overboard and was congratulated back on her dinghy by her close competitor Roos Wind from The Netherlands.
The ILCA6 is the women's single-handed event for the Olympic Games and was previously known as the Laser Radial. Annalise Murphy won silver for Ireland at Rio 2016 after narrowly missing the podium at the London Games four years earlier.
"Originally, I was using this regatta as a warm-up event as I hadn't sailed for a long time while sitting my Leaving Cert," said McMahon shortly after coming ashore. "I was really pleased with my final day, I finished with two bullets so you couldn't really get better than that."
The Howth sailor now heads to The Netherlands for the Sailing Youth World Championships next week followed by Texas for the defence of her class world title.
"I'm just focussing on my processes and on my own sailing and not at results too much - but obviously a win would be great," she said.
You might enjoy watching Eve's amazing performance in the last two races on the trackers -
Meanwhile, at the 49er European Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Wednesday after a breezy day both Irish boats lie just outside the top third of the 92-boat fleet with three more qualification races remaining.
Tokyo 2020 veterans Robert Dickson (Howth YC) with Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) looked to overcome a shaky start to the series on Tuesday when they were disqualified from the first race for early starting. The pair had a second and fifth place during but a jammed sail control in the opening race of the day meant they lost 15 minutes from the race and again incurred maximum points.
One place ahead, team-mates Seafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan from the Royal Cork YC had a 17th and two 18th places for the day, one of which is discarded under the rules for the 17 race series.
"Rob and Sean were sailing really consistently and it was a shame about the problem the first race," commented Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing's 49er coach. "Seafra and Johnny were doing quite well early on in their races but seemed to get overtaken on the final legs which was unfortunate."
Three more races in the qualification series are planned for Thursday to decide the top 25 boats for the finals with the remaining boats split between Silver and Bronze groups.
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5 July 2022
Busy day for Irish sailors at European championships in Greece and Denmark
Irish sailors are in action at two European championships this week as qualification for Paris 2024 comes into sight in the coming year.
Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) is competing in Greece at the Youth ILCA6 Europeans where she hopes to add this event to her world title with just one day of racing remaining.
The Howth sailor leads the 100-boat event overall with a six-point advantage going into Wednesday's final day at Thessalonki.
Her clubmate Luke Turvey slipped from tenth to 14th place in the Boys event but could still regain places in the final two races.
Meanwhile, the 49er skiff Europeans Championships got underway in Aarhus, Denmark on Tuesday with the opening races in the qualification series at the start of the six-day event.
Both Irish boats led their opening races in their respective flights.
However, while Seafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan (Royal Cork YC) went on to win the first race of the championship, Tokyo 2020 veterans Robert Dickson (Howth YC) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) found themselves disqualified for early starting.
"It was very tough racing, a real game of snakes and ladders. One minute you look at them and they're top five and the next time they're 15th, then up and down five every time you look" said Matt McGovern, Irish Sailing 49er coach. "A couple of people are being consistent and everyone else are going to have quite big scores at the end of the day."
Two further days of qualification racing will decide the split for Gold fleet racing that begins on Friday ahead of a medal race on Sunday afternoon for the best ten crews.
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4 July 2022
Irish sailing crews are in action across Europe this week as Olympic classes stage their continental championships
Tokyo 2020 veterans Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) with Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) are expected to be among the leading contenders in the 49er skiff Europeans racing in Aarhus, Denmark when racing gets underway there on Tuesday (5th July 2022).
Three days of qualification racing is scheduled that will decide the Gold fleet standings for the final round starting on Friday. A medal race for the top ten boats in the class will be sailed on Sunday afternoon.
Almost 100 crews from 28 nations will contest the six-day series that is building towards next year’s first opportunity for Olympic qualification at Paris 2024.
The North Dublin pair won Silver at the Hempel World Cup Allianz Regatta in The Netherlands last month and a podium result this week would confirm their growing standing within the class.
Along with Seafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan from the Royal Cork YC, training in Denmark lasted just one hour on Monday before rain and light winds took over.
Meanwhile, Howth's Eve McMahon has moved into second overall at the ILCA6 Youth European Championships in Greece. The Youth world champion had a race win and fourth place on Monday and has two days of finals racing remaining in the series.
Also racing in Thessaloniki, in the Boys event, clubmate Luke Turvey is in tenth overall as the rankings tighten in their 70-boat field.
Photo credit: Peter Brøgger