Eve McMahon's debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics hit the right note in race one on Thursday when the Irish sailor scored an eighth in her 43-boat Women’s Dinghy fleet.
The Howth Yacht Club ace finished a place behind Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom from Denmark.
A second race was originally planned, but it was subsequently postponed due to a lack of wind.
"It feels good, it feels nice to finally be able to start," said McMahon after returning to shore. "We were supposed to be out training but because of the 49er racing they weren't letting us sail. So, there’s been a lot of hanging around whilst being eager to go, like a lion in a cage!"
While light winds dominated the fifth day of racing at the regatta, winds are due to freshen from Friday afternoon with the famed Mistral expected to bring up to Force 7 gusts, something that McMahon is also relishing.
"I just had a really good windy weather camp, I had my Under 21's (World Championships) in Portugal just two or three weeks ago, and that was also a solid block of breeze with some really nice conditions."
The host nation's Louise Cervera enjoyed a stellar first day of racing at Paris 2024 with a valuable win.
The French sailor impressed in the opening race of the ILCA 6 class, handling the wind shifts well.
China’s Min Gu also rose to the occasion early, finishing a close second behind Cervera to lay an early marker of intent for the rest of the regatta.
Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani then followed in third, once again managing to handle the challenging winds in Marseille.
Louise Cervera: “It’s nice to start with a victory. My plan was to give it my all. I had good speed and I started on the right side, so I took advantage of it to stay in front.
“It’s a good start, I had dreamed of it! The tactic today was to carefully observe the different wind strengths, not to make too many turns and to go for speed.
“Taking the first yellow jersey at my first Olympic Games gives me confidence and reassures me a little, because before starting you don’t know how to position yourself in relation to the others.
“What’s also incredible is the supporters at the exit of the port. It gives you shivers and extra energy, it makes you want to push harder, to go for it with your heart.”
Benini Floriani said: “The wind wasn’t as light as I feared; it got a bit tight. I had fun even though I wasn’t in the leading positions at the windward mark, but I made a good recovery afterward.
“It was a long day, but fortunately they had us wait onshore. We watched the tracking of the men, which definitely helped us read the field well.”
Explainer:
Medals for the Women’s Dinghy (ILCA 6) will be decided by the cumulative results of the 40-strong fleet over 10 races. The boat with the lowest total will rank first.
Athletes will be able to discard their worst finishing position after they’ve completed three races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten boats in the fleet will qualify for the Medal Race, which is worth double points. The score in the Medal Race cannot be discarded. The sailor with the smallest overall points total will win gold.
Results are here