Ireland’s ILCA sailors head into the important Trofeo Princesa Sofía with momentum after Eve McMahon took ILCA 6 silver and Fiachra McDonnell claimed a breakthrough ILCA 7 silver at the Mallorca Sailing Centre Regatta in Palma Bay.
The final day’s racing was cancelled due to strong winds, leaving the standings from the opening two days to decide the regatta.
In the ILCA 6 fleet, the official overall results show Hungary’s Maria Erdi winning on seven net points, with McMahon second on eight and Spain’s Nikko Palou Espinar third on ten. The organiser’s press release had initially stated that McMahon won the class, but the published results (downloadable below as a PDF) place the Howth Yacht Club sailor in second.
McDonnell’s result in the ILCA 7 class was one of the strongest Irish performances of the regatta. He finished second behind Italy’s Dimitri Peroni, marking an important early-season podium in the men’s dinghy fleet.
Silver Breakthrough — Ireland’s Fiachra McDonnell secured second place in the ILCA 7 fleet at the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta in Palma, a strong result before the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Photo: Bernardí Bibiloni
The Palma regatta drew more than 300 boats from 41 nations and served as a key warm-up event before the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca, which runs from 27 March to 4 April.
That event is the first major Olympic test of 2026 and will bring together the world’s leading sailors across all ten Olympic classes. For Ireland, McMahon and McDonnell now go forward in the women’s and men’s dinghy classes with solid early form.
As Afloat reported earlier, the two Irish sailors were part of an eight-person Irish team with sights set on LA 2028.
Racing in Palma was cut short on the final day when strong winds kept the fleet ashore, meaning the regatta concluded on the basis of results already posted.
