Eve McMahon strikes U-23 gold as Ireland secures two top-five finishes at Europeans

Eve McMahon won the U-23 gold medal and placed fourth overall at the ILCA European Championships in Croatia. Racing on the final day followed storm-related cancellation the previous day. She started the day in sixth place, then improved with a seventh and a second in her first two races to enter medal contention. A 26th-place result in the last race was discarded as her worst score, but it still left her fourth overall. Vasilij Zbogar attributed the outcome to changing wind direction that made racing unpredictable. Finn Lynch achieved a top-five finish in the men’s fleet after five races affected by challenging weather conditions.

"McMahon began the final day in sixth place after racing was cancelled yesterday 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."

""Conditions were very different today, with a change in wind direction making racing quite unpredictable," said Irish Sailing ILCA 6 coach Vasilij Zbogar. "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.""

""Fourth place is always difficult, but winning gold in the U-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 U-23 championship was introduced to the competition last year where McMahon won bronze. The championship was won overall by 2023 world champion Maria Erdi of Hungary, the 28-year-old showing impressive composure throughout the week as she recorded four race wins."

Read at Irish Independent