Eve McMahon, the 19-year-old sailor from Dublin's Howth Yacht Club, made a striking comeback at the ILCA6 world championships in Argentina on Saturday. After a weather-curtailed first day of racing, McMahon climbed from 37th to 20th place overall after delivering two fourth places and a 19th in the second day of racing.
The 102-boat fleet was split into two groups, and the Irish Sailor of the Year's performance in the next two races will be crucial in her bid to secure one of seven nation qualification places for Paris 2024.
Currently, there are barely ten points between McMahon's overnight position and the top ten.
Last year, McMahon won the Under 21 world championship, and this year her priority is to secure a place for the women's single-handed event at Paris 2024 Olympics.
After Saturday's three races, the top half of the fleet will sail as the Gold fleet, with the top ten boats overall competing in a short medal race final. The final day of the qualification round is scheduled for Sunday, and it promises to be an exciting day of racing to determine the seven nation qualification places for Paris 2024.
The new championship leader emerged as Danish sailor Anne Marie Rindom, who won two out of the three races today and secured sixth place in the fourth race. Rindom is the reigning Olympic champion and holds three ILCA 6 world titles.
In second place, with only two points behind Rindon, is the Swedish sailor Josefin Olsson, the Olympic runner-up at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The United States sailor Charlotte Rose, who won the silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games, rounds out the top three finishers.