A black flag for Eve McMahon (19) in race five of the Paris 2024 Olympic Test event in Marseille has been a setback for the Howth sailor, who lies in the top one-third of her ILCA 6 38-boat fleet.
McMahon is 12th after six races from ten and counts 4, 16, 12, 15, (39)BFD, and 13 to be on the same points as the 11th-placed Finn, Monika Mikkola and one point off the top ten.
Two victories saw Belgium’s Emma Plasschaert surge into ILCA 6 contention as she bounced back from disqualification on Monday to climb to fourth.
“It’s a nice feeling; sailing bullets is always fun,” said the two-time world champion. “I got the strategy right, and it’s nice when everything falls into place.
“It’s important to trust the process and believe one DSQ doesn’t have to affect everything that follows.
“It was tough, I didn’t have the best night’s sleep, but I just focused on the job at hand and tried to gain every point I could.”
Also enjoying an upturn in fortunes was Hannah Snellgrove (GBR), who recorded finishes of fourth and eighth to move into eighth overall.
Snellgrove turned 33 on the opening day of competition and was pleased to have a more successful day to celebrate.
“The birthday didn’t go according to plan, so we are doing a belated birthday two days later,” she said.
“Day one was a bit rough, a yellow flag and one not so good result, so it has been good to put in a few top-10s ever since. I had some good starts today and that made life a bit easier.”
Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Maud Jayet (SUI) are the joint-leaders on 24 points, three ahead of Chiara Benini Floriani (ITA) with Plasschaert a point further back.
Reigning world and Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom remains very much in the mix in fifth.
Results are here