Tuesday was the final opportunity for the Irish sailors to make a move at the Mapfre EuroMed Cup in Malta and what moves they made. Emily Conan and Jessica Riordan finished first & second Female Sailors in the ILCA 4, having come 8th and 10th overall. The Royal St George Sailors sandwiched Howth Yacht Club’s Charlie Keating, who had his best result of 2nd place in the last race.

Light winds were the order of the day, and unfortunately for the large Optimist Fleet, there was no racing at all. This means that Carolina Carra of the Royal St George remains the best-placed Irish sailor in 60th place.

Also representing the Royal St George was Daniel O’Connor in the ILCA 6 fleet. Lying fourth going into the final day, Daniel needed to make up three points on Irene De Tomas Perello in third and six points on Mathew Flores in Second. Regatta leader Dmytro Karabadshak had a comfortable lead and was seemingly uncatchable.

Royal St George sailor Emily Conan (IRL 211260) approaches a mark in an ILCA 6 race at the Euromed Cup in Malta Photo: Alex Turnbull

The race officer could only get one race in, however, due to a lack of wind which Dmytro won to secure the title. Daniel tried hard and came third in the race ahead of Irene in fourth and Mathew in seventh. So, despite closing the gap, it wasn’t enough for a podium finish, and he’ll overall be very happy with his performance and fourth place.

Full results here:

ILCA 6

ILCA 4

Optimist

Day one of the Mapfre Euromed Cup in Malta yielded interesting results for the Irish competitors.

In the 138-boat Optimist Fleet, Carolina Carra of the Royal St George Yacht Club managed the best of the Irish boys and girls, earning a very credible 18th place in the third and final race of the day and is lying in 59th place overnight.

In the ILCA 4 fleet, Lucy Ives, sailing under the Carlingford Sailing Club burgee, started the day well with a 7th and a 6th in races 1 and 2 but slipped to 18th in the day's final race, leaving her in 9th overall at this stage.

Close behind her is the Royal St George pair of Emily Conan and Jessica Riordan in 12th and 13th, respectively, with Howth’s Charlie Keating in 14th.

New to the fleet is Ella Fitzgerald of the National Yacht Club, whose best position today was 28th. She will be looking to improve in tomorrow’s slightly lighter forecasted wind.

At the top of the fleet in the ILCA 6 is Malta’s Shaun Aquilina, closely followed by ILCA 4 2022 European Champion Irene De Tomas Perello from Spain. Daniel O’Connor is Ireland’s beast-placed boy in 9th overall. The Royal St George Sailor will look for more results like his third place in today’s final race when racing resumes tomorrow.

Full results here:

ILCA 6

ILCA 4

Optimist