Eve McMahon has moved into second place ahead of the final series at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Mallorca. The Howth Yacht Club sailor delivered a strong performance on the final day of Gold Fleet racing.
She opened with two consistent races to briefly take the overall lead. A 19th-place finish in the final race saw her slip to second after discard rules were applied.
Match racing broke out early, some might say prematurely, at the top of the fleet where McMahon and Collingridge locked horns on the last race, resulting in discards for both. Collingridge now leads into Saturday, admitting, “I did a bit of match racing with Evie, which was a bit strange but we’re training partners. I’m not sure how she feels about it but I hope she’ll forgive me!”
Ireland’s McMahon responded, “It was a game of speed and a game of inches out there. I’m happy with my racing. There was a little bit of match racing towards the end between myself and Daisy [Collingridge}, but I guess that’s the start of the battle, so I'm looking forward to it. Obviously, I train with her and I know all of her strengths and weaknesses and vice versa, so it’s going to be a good battle. I’m a little bit surprised [that Daisy match raced me], just because she allowed everyone else from behind to condense their points up, so I don't really know what her thinking was there. I got out of the match race pretty well, so I think she'll have to try harder next time.
Irish Sailing ILCA 6 coach Vasilij Zbogar said conditions were favourable. “We had excellent conditions today and delivered strong performances in the opening two races,” he said. “Everything remains wide open with plenty still to play for.”
The top ten boats now advance to a two-race final series. Scores will be compressed, and no discards will apply, increasing the pressure on final results.
Sienna Wright finished 36th overall after a consistent regatta in the Gold Fleet. The 18-year-old delivered a notable performance at her first senior-level Sailing Grand Slam event.
In the men’s dinghy, Ewan McMahon narrowly missed out on the final series. He placed 19th, 20th, and 9th in the final races, finishing just seven points outside qualification. “Laser sailing is all about the fine margins,” he said. “I feel I now know what I need to improve on to get back into medal contention.”
Ewan McMahon powers through the swell during Gold Fleet racing in Mallorca. Photo: Andrew Conan
Finn Lynch withdrew earlier in the week due to illness and is expected to return later this month.
In the Silver Fleet, Fiachra McDonnell recorded strong results, including a seventh-place finish.
Australia’s double Olympic ILCA 7 champion Matt Wearn looks very like he might halt Micky Becket’s run of Palma wins at four. After time out since winning in Marseille, Perth WA’s Wearn got back in the boat for the Antipodean summer and has worn the fleet leader’s yellow bib since the start. “I had reasonably low expectations, so it was just a matter of getting back in the fleet and enjoying that side of things. Obviously, I haven't touched base with the fleet for near on two years, so it's just to see how everything’s going. It’s been a difficult week, so experience really helped me in that sense, but it’s nice to still be at the pointy end. I think that probably comes down to the fact that I have no expectations. I sort of came here just enjoying my sailing and just going out there to race and have some fun.”
Having earned a lead of 13 points over Brit Beckett, which the new format summarily cuts to nine to keep it tight, Wearn is staying open minded, “It’s different, for sure, but I think it could be a reasonably good change. It changes things, but I think at the end of the day, it sort of helps that consistency as well. You still have to go and perform in both races, so I'll just be looking to go out and finish off strong. Obviously it’s always great racing against Micky [Beckett]. In the last campaign, we had some tight battles over the various regattas, so it’s obviously standard operating procedure for us at the top of the fleet. It’s good fun and just nice to be back racing the ILCA.”
In the women’s skiff, Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour finished 37th overall in their first senior event. Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain placed 61st in the men’s skiff Silver Fleet.
Final series racing in the ILCA 6 class is scheduled for Saturday morning, subject to conditions.
