Hot on the heels of the ILCA 6 World Championship held earlier this month (where Howth's Eve McMahon qualified for Paris 2024) comes the battle for the ILCA 7 world title and the first Irish Olympic sailing trial of this triennial.
The ILCA 7 World Championship begins in Adelaide, Australia this week from January 26 until January 31.
Formerly known as the Laser and one of the most sailed dinghies on the planet, the ILCA 7 is among the most hotly contested classes in the Olympics.
This regatta promises to be no different, with 153 entries from 53 countries vying for the title.
From an Irish perspective, the World Championships represents the first Olympic selection trial between Finn Lynch (27), who qualified the country last August and 'independent campaigner' Ewan McMahon of Howth Yacht Club.
The Adelaide Worlds is the first of three performance-based trial events to determine which of the two eligible candidates will represent Ireland in the sole spot in the ILCA 7 class in Marseille in just six months' time.
The trials series includes two other championship-grade regattas over the coming three months, with the better sailor on the combined results of all three earning the nomination to the Olympic Federation of Ireland before the Summer.
Points awarded for each event are structured, say the selectors, to allow both athletes to focus solely on achieving their best results in each event rather than contesting one another solely to achieve selection.
Despite achieving the necessary published criteria at a 2023 World Cup, McMahon claims that his application for Sport Ireland funding for 2024 was "disallowed following a decision by Irish Sailing (IS) to invalidate the event’s qualification status". As a result, Ewan, (the older brother of Paris qualified Eve) took the initiative to self-manage, fund, and organise his own campaign, and he has been training alongside other top-ranked international sailors for the chance to win the Olympic berth.
Lynch's participation in the upcoming competition is greatly anticipated, given his background as an Irish representative at the 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as his achievement of securing a country qualification for Paris and winning a silver medal in the class's 2021 World Championships.
Outside of the Irish fight, there will also be an intense focus on Irish Sea sailor Micky Beckett, currently third in the world rankings, who was selected to be Britain’s sole representative in the class for Paris 2024 last October.
Beckett from Solva, Pembrokeshire, has been one of the most consistent performers on the circuit this cycle and scooped silvers at the Paris 2024 test event and 2023 World Championship. However, having had gold stolen on both occasions by nemesis and reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn, Beckett will be looking to best his rival on home waters with only six months to go until Paris 2024.
The official website featuring results and the full entry list is here.