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Displaying items by tag: Eve McMahon

The transition from ultra-successful international junior sailing to youth and adult competition can be a tricky one, but ILCA-racing Gold Medal-winning multiple junior champion Eve McMahon of Howth found the perfect stepping-stone with the ILCA6 U21 Worlds at a breezy Tangiers in October.

Going into the final race in one of the strongest winds of all, her 18 points overall lead did not make her totally unassailable. But all seemed secure as she approached the finish in third, only to capsize almost at the line.

Her resilience showed through, however, as she calmly but very quickly righted the boat and finished eighth, enough to give her the Gold Medal by a clear 14 points. If, as Ernest Hemingway observed, “Courage Is Grace Under Pressure”, then Eve McMahon has an abundance of courage to augment her great sailing talent.

Published in Sailor of the Month
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Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) has won the World U21 ILCA 6 championship title in Tangiers, Morocco, this afternoon.

As Afloat reported previously, after six days of racing, the Paris 2024 campaigner delivered an impressive result, coming in 14 points lower than her closest competitor.

Eve McMahon in action on the final day of the World U21 ILCA 6 championship title in Tangiers, Morocco. The Howth ace sailed a consistent race by race championships to win by a large marginEve McMahon in action on the final day of the World U21 ILCA 6 championship title in Tangiers, Morocco. The Howth ace sailed a consistent championships to win by a large margin Photo: Osgar

On a windy final day of the event, in stark contrast to yesterday's drifting conditions, she started in the middle of the fleet and worked her way up into third place shortly before the finish.

But a capsize threatened to ruin her hopes, but she still managed to recover and finish the race in eighth, more than enough to secure the title.

McMahon, who sailed a consistent series and was never out of the top two overall, wrapped up the championships on 54 points after 11 races sailed.  Switzerland's Anja Von Allmen was second on 68, with bronze taken by Carlotta Rizzardi of Italy on 81.

Eve McMahon U21 World Champion Photo: OsgarEve McMahon - U21 ILCA 6 World Champion Photo: Osgar

Results below.

Published in Eve McMahon
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Although Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon discarded a 35th scored in light winds, the Irish Sailor of the Year has a commanding 18-point lead going into the final day of racing at the ILCA6 U21 World Championships in Morocco on Sunday.

Day five began off with sunshine, warm temperatures and a light south breeze signalling that all the storms were over and the stable weather was back. Although some scattered clouds and a lower sun angle hinted at the arrival of autumn. The plan for the day was to sail two races; however, at 11:00 am, the AP flag was hoisted as the breeze was too light to sail.

At 12:30, AP was removed and sailors made their way to the race course with a light breeze of 7 knots. As the afternoon progressed the gentle breeze died down to 2-3 knots making racing impossible. However, at 2:30 pm the first warning signal was hoisted as the northwest breeze increased to 7 knots for some tricky sailing.

In the first race of the ILCA 6 fleet the Italian, Emma Mattivi came in first with a good advantage over the second Ginevra Caracciolo also from Italy. However, McMahon is still in first position, closing the day with 46 points, a good advantage over the second and third positions, which are very close. Overall, second-placed Italian Carlotta Rizzardi has 64 points, very closely followed by the Swiss Anja Von Allmen with 65 points.

Published in Laser
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Howth's Eve McMahon continues to lead the ILCA 6 Women's fleet at the Under 21 ILCA 6 World Championships at Tangier, Morocco.

After eight races sailed, McMahon holds a six-point advantage over Italy's Carlotta Rizzardi who won Friday's final two races in the 66-boat fleet.

After the passing of a storm, the weather in Tangier continues to be unstable, with rain showers and a strong westerly breeze on the race course.

The Paris 2024 campaigner is one of five Irish sailors competing. 

Two more racing days remain and the current podium looks as follows:

ILCA 6 under 21 women’s fleet top three

1. Eve McMahon IRL 216111 with 29 points
2. Carlotta Rizzardi ITA 221459 with 35 points
3. Anja von Allmen SUI 220286 with 41 points

Results below.

Published in Laser
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Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon is lying second overall after four races sailed at the 2023 ILCA U21 World Championships in Tangier, Morocco.

The Paris 2024 campaigner is one of five Irish sailors competing. 

Wednesday started cloudy, with rain showers coming and going over the racecourse and the city of Tangier.

The sea conditions were slightly different today as there was a swell from the northwest and the wind from the southwest. The wind conditions were quite unstable across the racecourse, as the wind at the start line was more substantial than at mark 1, which was significantly weaker. The wind intensity ranged from 6 knots at the top marks and up to 12 knots at the start line, with gusts up to 15 knots.

In the first race of the day, the ILCA 6 fleet had three starting procedures, starting with a general recall, followed by a cancelled start due to a wind shift, and a final good start under a black flag. The ILCA 6 first race was the outer course, with Josephine Heegaard from Denmark arriving first to mark one. The race was very close until the last moment when the race was won by Italian Emma Mattivi. In the second race, the winner was again Emma Mattivi; nonetheless, with one discard after four races, the top female sailor was Josephine Heegaard.

In the male ILCA 7 yellow fleet, the racing was tight, and each sailor demonstrated their skill and expertise in the very technical swell and shifty conditions. In race one, the first place went to Italian Attilio Borio, and in race 2 Haruto Kuroda from Japan took the top spot. In the blue fleet, Finley Dickinson of United Kingdom won both races of the day. The top Irish sailor is Royal St. George's Ficachra McDonnell in 66th.

Results are here

Published in Laser
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Due to light winds and strong tide at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, today's cut-short ILCA 6 qualification series has denied Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club the chance to recover from a Black Flag penalty and earn herself a Gold fleet place. The Howth youth sailing star will now compete in the Silver division for the remainder of the series.

As Afloat reported earlier, McMahon had dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed on Monday and faced a difficult comeback.

While Olympic nation qualification in The Hague represented the best possible preparation for Paris 2024 and the best indicator that Ireland is in the medal hunt, McMahon has two remaining opportunities to make the Marseille startline next July. These are the ILCA 6 2024 Continental Championships and a final qualification regatta just weeks before the Games itself.

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Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed class at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands on Monday.

With two races left to decide the Gold fleet split for the final round later this week, the Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit in Tuesday's schedule if she is to keep Ireland's Olympic nation qualification chances alive in The Hague.

As Afloat reported, her regatta started badly on Sunday with a black flag disqualification in race two.

"The Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit"

Hungary’s Maria Erdi pulled clear at the top of the standings thanks to a third-place finish in the day’s opening yellow fleet race on a day of mixed results for the top contenders.
 
Erdi leads Carolina Albano by a point after the Italian finished fourth and 22nd in the two blue fleet races, with Marilena Makri (CYP) and Maud Jayet (SUI) taking victory.
 
The yellow fleet races were won by Patricia Reino Cacho (SPA) and Marie Barrue (FRA), with Olympic gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) rising to third thanks to finishes of eighth and third in the yellow fleet.
 
Home favourite Marit Bouwmeester (NED) sits sixth after a mixed day that saw her finish seventh and 11th, while Emma Plasschaert (BEL) responded from a 30th-place finish in the day’s opening race to grab a second-place finish in the blue fleet’s second race.

ILCA 7

McMahon was the only Irish sailor to race yesterday as racing for ILCA7 Men's single-handers, where Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon are competing, was cancelled due to light winds and strong tides on the race course. Lynch (National Yacht Club) is eighth overall in his 138-boat event thanks to a 12th and fourth place from Sunday's opening races. 

49er

Tuesday sees the opening races of the finals round for the 49er, where Ireland's Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) have qualified for Gold fleet and lie sixth overall after their nine-race qualification round.

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Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club took eleventh in her ILCA6 opening race at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague before suffering a Black Flag disqualification in race two.

Hungarian Maria Erdi and Italian Carolina Albano sit level at the top of the ILCA 6 standings ahead of British sailor Daisy Collingridge.

Erdi bounced back from a fifth-place finish in the opening race to record a bullet in the second and sit level on points with Albano at the top of the ILCA 6 standings.
 
Home favourite Marit Bouwmeester triumphed in the first blue fleet race of the day but was unable to emulate those exploits in the second as Erdi toppled Australian Mara Stransky.
 
And in the yellow fleet, Albano similarly improved on her fourth-place finish in the opening race to trail Romanian Ebru Bolat in the second and lie level with Erdi on six points.
 
Beckett’s compatriot Collingridge currently occupies the bronze medal spot after an eighth and fourth on an eventful opening day, six points adrift of Erdi and Albano and just one ahead of chasing trio Lucia Falasca (ARG), Charlotte Rose (USA) and Julia Busselberg (GER).

Results are here
 
 

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After the elation of a race win in race eight, Eve McMahon managed 21st in races nine and ten today as the ILCA 6 class wrapped up the places for the final medal race at the Paris 2024 Test Event. 

The Howth Yacht Club teen has finished a creditable 11th at her first opportunity but unfortunately misses out on Saturday's top ten medal race participation in Marseilles.

Meanwhile, Marit Bouwmeester’s dominance in the ILCA 6, means that she has already secured gold before the medal race.

Even with double points available on Saturday, the Dutch star cannot be caught, thanks to a bullet in the final race on Friday.

That win, combined with a 19th place for nearest challenger Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), meant that Bouwmeester leads by 21 points heading into the medal race, an unassailable advantage.

A year out from the Olympics in the same venue, it was the dream week for the 2012 Olympic champion.

She said: “I was happy with my results. It's never easy in Marseille. If I'm winning, it's not entirely up to myself, I think my competitors made a few more mistakes, but I'm happy with the week. We had such a variety of conditions, and I think it gave a good insight into what we can expect for next year.

“It's constantly changing and always difficult, but we learned a lot about the bay. It's nice that we got a proper event in.”

Results here

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Ireland’s rising star Eve McMahon caught the eye on the Olympic Stage in Marseille today with a win in mistral conditions in the Paris 2024 ILCA 6 Test Event.  

The appearance of the mistral had a big impact at the Test Event in the Marseille Marina as the ILCA 6s close in on medal race line-ups.

As regular Afloat readers know, Howth Yacht Club's McMahon, the reigning Irish Sailor of the Year  and recently crowned Ulster Champion, has won everything there is to win at junior level and showed she is just as comfortable on the global stage with victory in the final race of the day in the ILCA 6. 

That was enough to jump up to tenth after eight of the ten races for the Irish teenager, who beat a host of decorated sailors along the way.

Chief among them is Marit Bouwmeester (NED), a four-time world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist, who finished second and fourth in the day’s two races to cement her place at the top of the leaderboard.

Bouwmeester sits on 30 points, with reigning world champion Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), six points back after a pair of third-place finishes.

Results here

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Ireland's offshore islands

Around 30 of Ireland's offshore islands are inhabited and hold a wealth of cultural heritage.

A central Government objective is to ensure that sustainable vibrant communities continue to live on the islands.

Irish offshore islands FAQs

Technically, it is Ireland itself, as the third largest island in Europe.

Ireland is surrounded by approximately 80 islands of significant size, of which only about 20 are inhabited.

Achill island is the largest of the Irish isles with a coastline of almost 80 miles and has a population of 2,569.

The smallest inhabited offshore island is Inishfree, off Donegal.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Starting with west Cork, and giving voting register numbers as of 2020, here you go - Bere island (177), Cape Clear island (131),Dursey island (6), Hare island (29), Whiddy island (26), Long island, Schull (16), Sherkin island (95). The Galway islands are Inis Mór (675), Inis Meáin (148), Inis Oírr (210), Inishbofin (183). The Donegal islands are Arranmore (513), Gola (30), Inishboffin (63), Inishfree (4), Tory (140). The Mayo islands, apart from Achill which is connected by a bridge, are Clare island (116), Inishbiggle (25) and Inishturk (52).

No, the Gaeltacht islands are the Donegal islands, three of the four Galway islands (Inishbofin, like Clifden, is English-speaking primarily), and Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire in west Cork.

Lack of a pier was one of the main factors in the evacuation of a number of islands, the best known being the Blasket islands off Kerry, which were evacuated in November 1953. There are now three cottages available to rent on the Great Blasket island.

In the early 20th century, scholars visited the Great Blasket to learn Irish and to collect folklore and they encouraged the islanders to record their life stories in their native tongue. The three best known island books are An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers, and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. Former taoiseach Charles J Haughey also kept a residence on his island, Inishvickillaune, which is one of the smaller and less accessible Blasket islands.

Charles J Haughey, as above, or late Beatle musician, John Lennon. Lennon bought Dorinish island in Clew Bay, south Mayo, in 1967 for a reported £1,700 sterling. Vendor was Westport Harbour Board which had used it for marine pilots. Lennon reportedly planned to spend his retirement there, and The Guardian newspaper quoted local estate agent Andrew Crowley as saying he was "besotted with the place by all accounts". He did lodge a planning application for a house, but never built on the 19 acres. He offered it to Sid Rawle, founder of the Digger Action Movement and known as the "King of the Hippies". Rawle and 30 others lived there until 1972 when their tents were burned by an oil lamp. Lennon and Yoko Ono visited it once more before his death in 1980. Ono sold the island for £30,000 in 1984, and it is widely reported that she donated the proceeds of the sale to an Irish orphanage

 

Yes, Rathlin island, off Co Antrim's Causeway Coast, is Ireland's most northerly inhabited island. As a special area of conservation, it is home to tens of thousands of sea birds, including puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots. It is known for its Rathlin golden hare. It is almost famous for the fact that Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, retreated after being defeated by the English at Perth and hid in a sea cave where he was so inspired by a spider's tenacity that he returned to defeat his enemy.

No. The Aran islands have a regular ferry and plane service, with ferries from Ros-a-Mhíl, south Connemara all year round and from Doolin, Co Clare in the tourist season. The plane service flies from Indreabhán to all three islands. Inishbofin is connected by ferry from Cleggan, Co Galway, while Clare island and Inishturk are connected from Roonagh pier, outside Louisburgh. The Donegal islands of Arranmore and Tory island also have ferry services, as has Bere island, Cape Clear and Sherkin off Cork. How are the island transport services financed? The Government subsidises transport services to and from the islands. The Irish Coast Guard carries out medical evacuations, as to the RNLI lifeboats. Former Fianna Fáíl minister Éamon Ó Cuív is widely credited with improving transport services to and from offshore islands, earning his department the nickname "Craggy island".

Craggy Island is an bleak, isolated community located of the west coast, inhabited by Irish, a Chinese community and one Maori. Three priests and housekeeper Mrs Doyle live in a parochial house There is a pub, a very small golf course, a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a Chinatown... Actually, that is all fiction. Craggy island is a figment of the imagination of the Father Ted series writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, for the highly successful Channel 4 television series, and the Georgian style parochial house on the "island" is actually Glenquin House in Co Clare.

Yes, that is of the Plassey, a freighter which was washed up on Inis Oírr in bad weather in 1960.

There are some small privately owned islands,and islands like Inishlyre in Co Mayo with only a small number of residents providing their own transport. Several Connemara islands such as Turbot and Inishturk South have a growing summer population, with some residents extending their stay during Covid-19. Turbot island off Eyrephort is one such example – the island, which was first spotted by Alcock and Brown as they approached Ireland during their epic transatlantic flight in 1919, was evacuated in 1978, four years after three of its fishermen drowned on the way home from watching an All Ireland final in Clifden. However, it is slowly being repopulated

Responsibility for the islands was taking over by the Department of Rural and Community Development . It was previously with the Gaeltacht section in the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

It is a periodic bone of contention, as Ireland does not have the same approach to its islands as Norway, which believes in right of access. However, many improvements were made during Fianna Fáíl Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív's time as minister. The Irish Island Federation, Comdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, represents island issues at national and international level.

The 12 offshore islands with registered voters have long argued that having to cast their vote early puts them at a disadvantage – especially as improved transport links mean that ballot boxes can be transported to the mainland in most weather conditions, bar the winter months. Legislation allowing them to vote on the same day as the rest of the State wasn't passed in time for the February 2020 general election.

Yes, but check tide tables ! Omey island off north Connemara is accessible at low tide and also runs a summer race meeting on the strand. In Sligo, 14 pillars mark the way to Coney island – one of several islands bearing this name off the Irish coast.

Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire is the country's most southerly inhabited island, eight miles off the west Cork coast, and within sight of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, also known as the "teardrop of Ireland".
Skellig Michael off the Kerry coast, which has a monastic site dating from the 6th century. It is accessible by boat – prebooking essential – from Portmagee, Co Kerry. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was not open to visitors in 2020.
All islands have bird life, but puffins and gannets and kittiwakes are synonymous with Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. Rathlin island off Antrim and Cape Clear off west Cork have bird observatories. The Saltee islands off the Wexford coast are privately owned by the O'Neill family, but day visitors are permitted access to the Great Saltee during certain hours. The Saltees have gannets, gulls, puffins and Manx shearwaters.
Vikings used Dublin as a European slaving capital, and one of their bases was on Dalkey island, which can be viewed from Killiney's Vico road. Boat trips available from Coliemore harbour in Dalkey. Birdwatch Ireland has set up nestboxes here for roseate terns. Keep an eye out also for feral goats.
Plenty! There are regular boat trips in summer to Inchagoill island on Lough Corrib, while the best known Irish inshore island might be the lake isle of Innisfree on Sligo's Lough Gill, immortalised by WB Yeats in his poem of the same name. Roscommon's Lough Key has several islands, the most prominent being the privately-owned Castle Island. Trinity island is more accessible to the public - it was once occupied by Cistercian monks from Boyle Abbey.

©Afloat 2020