Green Rebel sailor Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club has secured a career-best finish at the French edition of the Sailing Grand Slam 2025 in Hyères. McMahon scored a top ten overall finish in the ILCA 7 Class and will now go ahead for the Medal Race on Saturday.
It was a week of consistent results for the Howth sailor in some challenging conditions, including two thirds as well as a sixth and a fourth place yesterday when the notorious Mistral winds played havoc with the fleets.
“It means a lot for Ewan to be in the medal race tomorrow”, commented Milan Vujasinovic, Irish Sailing ILCA Coach. “He’s had a good week with some excellent comebacks, particularly downwind and should now feel much more confident for the season ahead.”
As Afloat reported earlier, Ewan’s younger sister, Olympian Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) in the ILCA 6 Class, had a varied week recording some excellent results, including a third and a sixth on day one; however ultimately suffered a number of early series’ disqualifications. She finished the week with a fifth place and, with only one race possible for the ILCA 6 class as the wind dropped, this left her in 13th place overall, a solid result, but means she won’t be competing in the Medal Race tomorrow.
The siblings were the only Irish sailors to take part in this regatta, which is part of the Sailing Grand Slam 2025 - a new series introduced for the LA cycle aimed at providing top-class competitions for Olympic classes and sailors.
The Irish ILCA sailors, including LA2028 rival Finn Lynch, will now turn their sights on the World Championships in China next month. Lynch’s recent Bronze will bolster the team’s confidence in the Princess Sofia Trophy, Eve’s solid early season form and Ewan’s strongest performance to date.
The regatta concludes tomorrow with the Medal Race at 11am local time, Saturday 26 April.
