It was a challenging, very windy two days at Ballyholme on Belfast Lough for the ILCA Ulster Championships last weekend.

The big fleet in three divisions, ILCA 4, 6 and 7, attracted 47 competitors from as far away as Glandore in Co. Cork, Dublin Bay, Tralee, Cork, Wexford and Wicklow, and they joined the northern contingent for what proved to be an energetic weekend of Laser competition.

Busy Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club was the ILCA7 Ulster Championships winner is pictured with Commodore Rob Milligan. Prior to the Ulsters event, McMahon competed at a windless Moth Worlds in the UK and the 1720 Euros at Kinsale. His big target this season is the first Olympic qualification opportunity for Paris 2024 at the World Sailing Championships in The Netherlands in August Photo: Jess Mackey

Between them, brother and sister Eve and Ewan McMahon took home two trophies to Howth Yacht Club, both proving invincible, counting a clean sheet each, Eve in the 19-strong ILCA 6 fleet and Ewan first of 20 in the ILCA 7.

ILCA 4 runner up Eolann Miles from Glandore Harbour Photo: Tim McCarthy

In the ILCA 4, Viktor Samoilovs (Malahide YC) counted three seconds and a first to finish clear ahead of the far-travelled runner up Eolann Miles of Glandore Harbour. Third was Eve McCarthy of Royal Cork who along with Miles, managed to discard an NSC in the first race but, despite having to count an OCS, totalled three good results of two firsts and a third.

ILCA 4 Winner Viktor Samoilovs of Malahide YC with Commodore Rob Milligan Photo: Jess Mackey

The Ballyholme YC team for the Ulster ILCA championships staged in Belfast Lough

The best local result in ILCA 6 came from Bobby Driscoll from Royal North of Ireland YC, just six miles west of Ballyholme. He discarded a DNF but counted otherwise three seconds and a third to claim runner-up. In third was Patrick Hamilton from East Down YC on Strangford Lough.

Bobby Driscoll from Royal North of Ireland YC runner up in the ILCA6 Photo: Jess Mackey

And in ILCA 7, the best host club performance came from runner-up Colin Leonard, who proving consistency pays, put together a string of seconds to finish in runner-up slot. Conor Byrne from Royal St George was fortunate to be able to discard a UFD for a premature start in the first race to count three thirds and a fourth.

An ILCA 7 nearly airborne - James Murphy from Wexford Harbour finished eighth overall Photo: Rob Milligan

The next big event for Ballyholme is the Irish Topper Championships’ nine-race three-day event starting 7th July.

Commodore Rob Milligan was delighted that racing was so good; “Despite very challenging conditions over the weekend, the racing went well without incident. The volunteers worked hard to keep the sailors safe on the water and the onshore team proved a well-practised group”.

Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club lies in 27th place in the ILCA 6 class going into the final round of Mallorca’s showcase 52nd Trofeo Princesa Sofia thanks to a 21st, 14th and ninth for the day.

The local Embat sea breeze came in on cue at 12-13kts allowing Mallorca’s showcase 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofia to complete the qualifying series for all classes, and tomorrow’s Finals to be contested on schedule to decide who will compete in Saturday’s titles decider.

The ILCA 6 leader is USA’s Charlotte Rose, with three times Olympic medallist Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands poised in third. Denmark’s Tokyo gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom, winner here in 2019 ahead of Bouwmeester, goes into the Finals in 15th place.

“The first race I didn’t manage to where I wanted to and it cost me but the second race was better and I nailed it. We dream about the conditions we had today, 15kts and full hiking. And the fleet is tougher than ever with a lot new younger girls coming up.” reported the Danish sailor.

The Finals Series for the dinghy classes run Friday with all of the medal deciding races due on Saturday.

Results are here

Eve McMahon rounded off her regatta in the ILCA 6 Women's European Championship in 16th position in Andora, Italy, today.

The 19-year-old is in her first full season at senior level and making steady progress after her triple Gold medal season in 2022.

Good breeze of around 10 knots and a good swell allowed three more races at the Circolo Nautico Andora in Italy.

McMahon, a Paris 2024 prospect, will work on her boat speed for the Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma, Mallorca, at the start of April.

Final Results – ILCA 6 Women

1. Marit Bouwmeester NED 32 pt
2. Vasileia Karachaliou POR 50 pt
3. Maria Erdi HUN 50pt
4. Maxime Jonker NED 57 pt
5. Anne Marie Rindom DEN 71 pt
6. Agata Barwinska POL
7. Chiara Benini Floriani ITA
8. Emma Plasschaert BEL
9. Pernelle Michon FRA
10. Josefin Olsson SWE

This story was updated to reflect the final finishing positions

Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon, Ireland's sole female Paris 2024 sailing campaigner, lies 18th overall in her 56-boat ILCA 6 Women's European Championships in Andora, Italy.

Shifty light to medium winds and good swell marked the fifth day. 

The Gold fleet has a new leader: the seven times Senior European medalist Marit Bouwmeester NED (1-48) with 24 points.

Emma Plasschaert BEL (9-14) is second, just two points behind.

Third place is for the overnight first Vasileia Karachaliou POR (17-39), tied in 29 points with fourth Anne Marie Rindom DEN (26-1).

The racing concludes on Friday.

Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon completed a solid day at the ILCA 6 Women's Europeans in Andora, Italy improving from 19th to 15th overall thanks to sixth and third places as well as a 12th as her event moves into Gold fleet finals racing from Thursday.

Winds of 18-25 knots and big waves brightened up today’s racing.

Vasileia Karachaliou POR leads the Women’s championships with eight points after scoring a 1-2-2 today. The second place is for the seven times Senior European medalist Marit Bouwmeester NED (2-4-1) with 11. Third place for Emma Plasschaert BEL (5-3-1) with 12.

Chiara Benini ITA is fourth with 15. Fifth place for the reigning Senior European champion Agata Barwisnka POL with 17 points.

Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon recovered from a port-starboard incident shortly after the start of the first race of the day at the ILCA 6 Womens' European Championship but recovered well to place 14th and then ninth in the second race of the day in Andora, Italy.

Vasileia Karachaliou POR is leading with 7 points after scoring a 2-1-4 on Tuesday. Top places are very tight, with Emma Plasschaert BEL and Anne Marie Rindom DEN following her with 8 and 9.

Polish sailors Agata Barwisnka POL and Wiktoria Golebiowska POL are also close with 13.

The Irish Youth World champion from Howth Yacht Club, Ireland's sole ILCA 6 campaigner for Paris 2024, lies 19th in a fleet of 112.

Medium air conditions were quite shifty, with the breeze up and down on the Riviera delle Palme.

With just three races sailed in the qualification round, Wednesday will see three more races before deciding the finals line-up to be sailed over the remaining two days of the event.

The first warning signal is at 09:00. Coaches meeting at 07:00.

Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club finished a promising 12th in fickle conditions in her first race in the yellow flight of the  ILCA 6 European Championships in Andora, Italy.

Both ILCA 6 Women’s groups were also able to complete a race, but Red’s was finally cancelled by Jury decision due to a problem with a GPS mark, so it will need to be resailed tomorrow.

The Irish youth world champion, the only Irish female campaigning for Paris 2024, regained ground after a poor start and, over the first lap of the course, worked into the top ten boats of her flight.

On the second upwind leg, she slipped to 12th, a good start to the regatta in her 116-boat event.

McDonnell second in men's ILCA 6

Also on the same course area, the Men's ILCA 6 class had their first series race that saw both Irish sailors in the top five.

Dubliners Fiachra McDonnell (Royal St. George Yacht Club) was second while Rocco Wright (Howth YC) had a fifth.

No ILCA 7 racing in Andora

The senior men's ILCA 7 class had no wind on their course to allow a second race so Tuesday will again be a waiting game to see if the weather delivers enough wind for a planned three-race day across all fleets.

Ireland's Finn Lynch (National YC) had a fifth place on Sunday while Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) placed 20th in their single qualification round race sailed to date.

Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon goes into action for the second time in 2023 when she races at the – unusually early – 2023 ILCA Senior European Championships in Andora, Italy.

The Howth world and European ILCA 6 youth champion is joined on the Iberian Peninsula by Olympic sailing teammate, 2021 world silver medallist Finn Lynch (National YC) in the men's ILCA 7.

Both were among four Irish sailors to be awarded funding under the Sports Council funding earlier this month. 

Last summer, Lynch was placed second in the world in the World Sailing rankings, thanks to a consistent string of results that included a silver medal at the ILCA7 World Championship in Barcelona in November 2021 and his sixth place at the 2022 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship in Mexico in May 2022.

Lynch, however, suffered a blip at the back end of 2022 when he posted 25th overall at the 2022 Europeans in France. He suffered in the lighter winds at the crucial later stage in the competition, meaning the hoped-for top-ten finish on the Bay of Hyères was out of reach for the 2021 World silver medalist. 

Lynch appears in good form this season, posting a second overall in a 50-boat fleet at the second round of the Portugal Grand Prix in Vilamoura a month ago.

Andora will be Eve McMahon’s third senior-level European championship but her first not competing as a Youth. She had an incredibly successful summer in 2022, winning a hat-trick of gold medals at the ILCA 6 Youth European Championships in Greece, the World Sailing Youth World Championships in the Netherlands, the ILCA 6 Youth World Championships in Texas, and finishing with silver at the U21 ILCA Youth World Championships in Portugal in August. The stand-out performance earned her a second Irish Sailor of the Year title.

Like Lynch, McMahon had her first races in 2023 Vilamoura in February, an event won by Olympic Gold medalist Marit Boumeester. The Irish ace posted 15th, counting a black flag disqualification in her scoresheet in a 79-boat fleet.

Also competing in Andora is McMahon's older brother Ewan who is Lynch's main competition for the single ILCA 7 berth in Paris 2024, and youths Rocco Wright and Fiachra McDonnell in the men's ILCA 6. 

In the men’s ILCA 7 fleet, there are 195 sailors representing 42 countries, including the reigning Senior European champion Pavlos Kontydes, the reigning World champion Jean Baptiste Bernaz (France) and the reigning Olympic Gold medallist Matthew Wearn (Australia).

The ILCA 6 women’s fleet sees 117 sailors representing 40 countries, including the reigning Senior European champion Agata Barwinska of Poland, and the reigning World champion and Olympic Gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark.

The Irish sailors benefit from coach Vasilij Zbogar, a three-time Olympic medallist from Slovenia and Sport Ireland backroom support.

Racing begins on Sunday, 12th March and concludes with the medal races on Friday, 17th.

Irish Sailor of the Year 2022 Eve McMahon is back on the water this week when she leads an Irish youth sailing squad into round two of the Vilamoura Grand Prix in Portugal.

Racing begins at noon today for an 11-strong ILCA 6 Irish team (including five sailors from Northern Ireland) in a fleet of 81 entries for the year's first outing.

As well as McMahon, now under 21, the Irish lineup includes her clubmate, also a world youth gold medalist from last summer, Rocco Wright, who continues at u17.

The Irish pack includes: Luke Turvey, Howth YC u19; Bobby Driscoll, RNIYC / BYC u17; Tom Coulter, EABC/PYC u19; Zoe Whitford, EABC u17; Charlotte Eadie, Ballyholme Yacht Club u19; Fiachra McDonnell, Royal St George Yacht Club u19;  Lewis Thompson, Ballyholme YC, u17; Sienna Wright, Howth Yacht Club u17 and Daniel Palmer, Ballyholme Yacht Club, u17.

Rocco Wright of Howth Yacht Club Photo: World Sailing

The ILCA 6 entries will be divided into two fleets and will sail a qualifying series (three days) followed by a final series (one day) with no Medal Race. 

Ireland's top hope for Paris 2024, Finn Lynch, is an entry in the 52-boat ILCA 7 fleet.

Vilamoura also sees an Irish entry in the 49erFX fleet, with Newcastle Yacht Club and Royal St George Yacht Club combination Erin Mcilwaine and Ellie Cunnane making the first steps in their campaign for LA 2028.

More here

Eve McMahon is “Irish Sailor of the Year 2022”, making it into the top national position for the second successive year after the ILCA 6 sailor’s international performance was of such a standard that she even managed to better her exceptional showing in 2021.

For although 2021 had its special challenges as the limited international programme worked its way around the changing patterns and restrictions of the global pandemic, 2022 brought the fresh vigour and reinforced competition of emerging action.

Yet despite this, the now 18-year-old Howth sailor’s tally brought home no less than three Gold Medals from majors on both sides of Europe, and from both sides of the Atlantic. So although she first took the “Sailor of the Month” title in April 2022 by marking the beginning of her exit process from the Junior scene with a domination of the ILCA 6 class in the breezy Youth Nationals at Ballyholme, it was entirely within the month of July that she amassed the three Golds on the international stage.

Portrait of the Gold Medallist ready to party

During the two-and-a-half months between those peaks of achievement, she had to focus on the demands of the Leaving Cert. Keeping a level head in such demanding circumstances would challenge even the most academically-inclined, yet at the beginning of July she reappeared in top-level athletic sailing with joyful enthusiasm, and took herself off to Greece for the European Youth ILCA 6 Championship, which she won going away by a clear 36 points.

School’s Out! – celebrating the 36 point victory in Greece only days after finishing her Leaving Cert. Photo: Thom Tow

The stakes were then raised for the Allianz Youth Worlds at The Hague in The Netherlands in mid-July. Yet she led the ferociously-challenging 55-strong ILCA 6 fleet from the get-go, and her worst result – a very discardable sixth – didn’t occur until the final day with its flukey winds, by which time the Gold Medal was right in the frame.

There was barely a pause for breath before the focus shifted across the Atlantic and the opulent setting of the Houston Yacht Club in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico for the ILCA 6 Youth Worlds. All this was still being done within the timeframe of July, with the added challenges of extended transoceanic lines of communication in a pandemic-emergent situation, and the fierce heat and super-bright sunshine of Texas in high summer, coupled with the fact that the impressive host club would naturally have been hoping for a home win.

A perfect start for IRL 216111 at Houston. Eve is comfortably clear of the boat to lee and is already lee-bowing 204624 on her weather quarter, while the apparently well-placed two boats at the other end of the start are being lifted in a new line of wind which will further improve the position of Eve’s group when they reach it within half a minute.

But as Eve has shown in previous majors on the sometimes slightly partisan location of Lake Garda, she is well able to face the added challenge of “alien” status, and coming into the final race on Saturday, July 31st, she clinched the Gold with two bullets.

Going well at Houston, with an impressive array of boats astern

Occuring as it did around midnight in Ireland, people wondered if they were dreaming, with the more pessimistic saying that if something sounds too good to be true, then that’s the way it is. But it was soon doubly proven to be true when Ireland’s latest sailing Gold Medal with its holder returned with the small but extremely effective Irish squad to Dublin airport and a rapturous welcome.

Once a sailor gets to this level, he or she is at the heart of an intense little industry, and it’s a supportive family background and comprehensive back-up structure that enables Eve McMahon’s formidable natural sailing talent, impressive personality and focused intelligence to make the leap from being a schoolgirl to becoming an acknowledged international sailing star, on the cusp of adult competition.

“It’s for real….” Eve McMahon welcomed back home through Dublin Airport from Texas by her parents Vicky and Jim

She is into an entirely new chapter in her sailing career and lifepath. But for now, the fact that an 18-year-old can achieve that one glorious month of unrivalled across-the-board success on two continents makes her “Sailor of the Year 2022” at every level.