Ireland's Eve McMahon has won the bronze medal at the Los Angeles Sailing Grand Slam, delivering another podium finish on the waters that will host the sailing competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The Howth Yacht Club sailor produced a composed performance in Friday's Final Series in San Pedro, California, to finish third overall after a week of racing against many of the world's leading Olympic sailors. The result provides another boost ahead of the ILCA World Championships in Dún Laoghaire next month.
Racing inside San Pedro Bay took place in 10 to 13 knots of breeze, with both McMahon and fellow Irish sailor Finn Lynch qualifying for the regatta's new-look Final Series.
McMahon started the day level on points for third overall and strengthened her medal challenge by finishing third in the opening Final Series race.
She followed that with fourth place in the deciding race to secure bronze, finishing just two points behind American Charlotte Rose in silver and four points behind Britain's Hannah Snellgrove, who claimed gold.
Irish Sailing ILCA 6 coach Vasilij Zbogar praised McMahon's performance throughout the Finals.
"Eve sailed a very strong Final Series. In the first race she finished third, which kept the pressure on the leaders and gave us a comfortable gap back to fourth overall," he said.
"She executed the second race well too. She had a good start and made the right strategic decisions, but the conditions inside the bay were very shifty and difficult to read. She still sailed an excellent race to finish fourth. Unfortunately, the sailors in first and second also finished ahead of her, so there was no opportunity to move up. Eve did everything she could this week and we're very happy to come away with the bronze medal."
Looking ahead, Zbogar said preparations would now switch to the home World Championships.
"We'll take a short break now before getting straight back to work preparing for the World Championships in Ireland in September. There's still plenty to improve, but that's where our focus is now. Racing for a world title on home waters is a huge opportunity and we'll do everything we can to be ready."
ILCA 7
In the men's ILCA 7 event, Finn Lynch started the Final Series in fourth place but became entangled with two boats at a mark in the opening race, finishing tenth and ending his medal hopes.
He recovered with eighth place in the final race to finish seventh overall, underlining his growing consistency against the world's best fleet.
Australia's Paris 2024 Olympic champion Matt Wearn won gold ahead of Cyprus' Pavlos Kontides, with Great Britain's Michael Beckett taking bronze.
Attention now turns to Dublin Bay, where Ireland will host the ILCA World Championships for the first time since 2001. The ILCA 7 World Championship runs from 23 to 30 August, followed by the ILCA 6 World Championship from 5 to 12 September.
More than 250 sailors from 46 nations are expected to compete in Dún Laoghaire. Several international teams have already trained on Dublin Bay, while June's Coaches Invitational Regatta provided an early test event, with McMahon winning the ILCA 6 fleet and Britain's Elliot Hanson taking the ILCA 7 title.
