The conditions for the KBC Laser Radial Worlds in Dublin Bay could be tough. Not because the weather was severe, but because the wind kept taking off just when everyone hoped they’d settled into some good racing. Frustration takes it toll on competitors and Race Officers alike, and when it was reckoned that the only way to make a real series out of it was to start getting the fleet afloat at 0800 hrs on the final Saturday and put in three races while conditions suited, the pressure was stepped up even further.
In such situations, some get fussed, some stay cool, and some actually seem to thrive. Ewan MacMahon (17) of Howth fitted in somewhere between the latter two categories. While American Henry Marshall seemed assured of the Youth Gold, MacMahon was going so well that his most enthusiastic supporters felt he might sail straight up through the Silver and on into Gold.
That was expecting a bit much, but his winning of the Silver Medal was done in real style to emphatically confirm Ewan MacMahon as “Sailor of the Month (Racing)” for July.
