The transition from ultra-successful international junior sailing to youth and adult competition can be a tricky one, but ILCA-racing Gold Medal-winning multiple junior champion Eve McMahon of Howth found the perfect stepping-stone with the ILCA6 U21 Worlds at a breezy Tangiers in October.

Going into the final race in one of the strongest winds of all, her 18 points overall lead did not make her totally unassailable. But all seemed secure as she approached the finish in third, only to capsize almost at the line.

Her resilience showed through, however, as she calmly but very quickly righted the boat and finished eighth, enough to give her the Gold Medal by a clear 14 points. If, as Ernest Hemingway observed, “Courage Is Grace Under Pressure”, then Eve McMahon has an abundance of courage to augment her great sailing talent.

Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) has won the World U21 ILCA 6 championship title in Tangiers, Morocco, this afternoon.

As Afloat reported previously, after six days of racing, the Paris 2024 campaigner delivered an impressive result, coming in 14 points lower than her closest competitor.

Eve McMahon in action on the final day of the World U21 ILCA 6 championship title in Tangiers, Morocco. The Howth ace sailed a consistent championships to win by a large margin Photo: Osgar

On a windy final day of the event, in stark contrast to yesterday's drifting conditions, she started in the middle of the fleet and worked her way up into third place shortly before the finish.

But a capsize threatened to ruin her hopes, but she still managed to recover and finish the race in eighth, more than enough to secure the title.

McMahon, who sailed a consistent series and was never out of the top two overall, wrapped up the championships on 54 points after 11 races sailed.  Switzerland's Anja Von Allmen was second on 68, with bronze taken by Carlotta Rizzardi of Italy on 81.

Eve McMahon - U21 ILCA 6 World Champion Photo: Osgar

Results below.

Although Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon discarded a 35th scored in light winds, the Irish Sailor of the Year has a commanding 18-point lead going into the final day of racing at the ILCA6 U21 World Championships in Morocco on Sunday.

Day five began off with sunshine, warm temperatures and a light south breeze signalling that all the storms were over and the stable weather was back. Although some scattered clouds and a lower sun angle hinted at the arrival of autumn. The plan for the day was to sail two races; however, at 11:00 am, the AP flag was hoisted as the breeze was too light to sail.

At 12:30, AP was removed and sailors made their way to the race course with a light breeze of 7 knots. As the afternoon progressed the gentle breeze died down to 2-3 knots making racing impossible. However, at 2:30 pm the first warning signal was hoisted as the northwest breeze increased to 7 knots for some tricky sailing.

In the first race of the ILCA 6 fleet the Italian, Emma Mattivi came in first with a good advantage over the second Ginevra Caracciolo also from Italy. However, McMahon is still in first position, closing the day with 46 points, a good advantage over the second and third positions, which are very close. Overall, second-placed Italian Carlotta Rizzardi has 64 points, very closely followed by the Swiss Anja Von Allmen with 65 points.

Howth's Eve McMahon continues to lead the ILCA 6 Women's fleet at the Under 21 ILCA 6 World Championships at Tangier, Morocco.

After eight races sailed, McMahon holds a six-point advantage over Italy's Carlotta Rizzardi who won Friday's final two races in the 66-boat fleet.

After the passing of a storm, the weather in Tangier continues to be unstable, with rain showers and a strong westerly breeze on the race course.

The Paris 2024 campaigner is one of five Irish sailors competing. 

Two more racing days remain and the current podium looks as follows:

ILCA 6 under 21 women’s fleet top three

1. Eve McMahon IRL 216111 with 29 points
2. Carlotta Rizzardi ITA 221459 with 35 points
3. Anja von Allmen SUI 220286 with 41 points

Results below.

Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon is lying second overall after four races sailed at the 2023 ILCA U21 World Championships in Tangier, Morocco.

The Paris 2024 campaigner is one of five Irish sailors competing. 

Wednesday started cloudy, with rain showers coming and going over the racecourse and the city of Tangier.

The sea conditions were slightly different today as there was a swell from the northwest and the wind from the southwest. The wind conditions were quite unstable across the racecourse, as the wind at the start line was more substantial than at mark 1, which was significantly weaker. The wind intensity ranged from 6 knots at the top marks and up to 12 knots at the start line, with gusts up to 15 knots.

In the first race of the day, the ILCA 6 fleet had three starting procedures, starting with a general recall, followed by a cancelled start due to a wind shift, and a final good start under a black flag. The ILCA 6 first race was the outer course, with Josephine Heegaard from Denmark arriving first to mark one. The race was very close until the last moment when the race was won by Italian Emma Mattivi. In the second race, the winner was again Emma Mattivi; nonetheless, with one discard after four races, the top female sailor was Josephine Heegaard.

In the male ILCA 7 yellow fleet, the racing was tight, and each sailor demonstrated their skill and expertise in the very technical swell and shifty conditions. In race one, the first place went to Italian Attilio Borio, and in race 2 Haruto Kuroda from Japan took the top spot. In the blue fleet, Finley Dickinson of United Kingdom won both races of the day. The top Irish sailor is Royal St. George's Ficachra McDonnell in 66th.

Results are here

Due to light winds and strong tide at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, today's cut-short ILCA 6 qualification series has denied Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club the chance to recover from a Black Flag penalty and earn herself a Gold fleet place. The Howth youth sailing star will now compete in the Silver division for the remainder of the series.

As Afloat reported earlier, McMahon had dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed on Monday and faced a difficult comeback.

While Olympic nation qualification in The Hague represented the best possible preparation for Paris 2024 and the best indicator that Ireland is in the medal hunt, McMahon has two remaining opportunities to make the Marseille startline next July. These are the ILCA 6 2024 Continental Championships and a final qualification regatta just weeks before the Games itself.

Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club dropped to 81st overall in her 110-strong ILCA6 women's single-handed class at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands on Monday.

With two races left to decide the Gold fleet split for the final round later this week, the Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit in Tuesday's schedule if she is to keep Ireland's Olympic nation qualification chances alive in The Hague.

As Afloat reported, her regatta started badly on Sunday with a black flag disqualification in race two.

"The Irish Sailor of the Year must overcome a 20-point deficit"

Hungary’s Maria Erdi pulled clear at the top of the standings thanks to a third-place finish in the day’s opening yellow fleet race on a day of mixed results for the top contenders.
 
Erdi leads Carolina Albano by a point after the Italian finished fourth and 22nd in the two blue fleet races, with Marilena Makri (CYP) and Maud Jayet (SUI) taking victory.
 
The yellow fleet races were won by Patricia Reino Cacho (SPA) and Marie Barrue (FRA), with Olympic gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) rising to third thanks to finishes of eighth and third in the yellow fleet.
 
Home favourite Marit Bouwmeester (NED) sits sixth after a mixed day that saw her finish seventh and 11th, while Emma Plasschaert (BEL) responded from a 30th-place finish in the day’s opening race to grab a second-place finish in the blue fleet’s second race.

ILCA 7

McMahon was the only Irish sailor to race yesterday as racing for ILCA7 Men's single-handers, where Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon are competing, was cancelled due to light winds and strong tides on the race course. Lynch (National Yacht Club) is eighth overall in his 138-boat event thanks to a 12th and fourth place from Sunday's opening races. 

49er

Tuesday sees the opening races of the finals round for the 49er, where Ireland's Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) have qualified for Gold fleet and lie sixth overall after their nine-race qualification round.

Ireland's Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club took eleventh in her ILCA6 opening race at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague before suffering a Black Flag disqualification in race two.

Hungarian Maria Erdi and Italian Carolina Albano sit level at the top of the ILCA 6 standings ahead of British sailor Daisy Collingridge.

Erdi bounced back from a fifth-place finish in the opening race to record a bullet in the second and sit level on points with Albano at the top of the ILCA 6 standings.
 
Home favourite Marit Bouwmeester triumphed in the first blue fleet race of the day but was unable to emulate those exploits in the second as Erdi toppled Australian Mara Stransky.
 
And in the yellow fleet, Albano similarly improved on her fourth-place finish in the opening race to trail Romanian Ebru Bolat in the second and lie level with Erdi on six points.
 
Beckett’s compatriot Collingridge currently occupies the bronze medal spot after an eighth and fourth on an eventful opening day, six points adrift of Erdi and Albano and just one ahead of chasing trio Lucia Falasca (ARG), Charlotte Rose (USA) and Julia Busselberg (GER).

Results are here
 
 

After the elation of a race win in race eight, Eve McMahon managed 21st in races nine and ten today as the ILCA 6 class wrapped up the places for the final medal race at the Paris 2024 Test Event. 

The Howth Yacht Club teen has finished a creditable 11th at her first opportunity but unfortunately misses out on Saturday's top ten medal race participation in Marseilles.

Meanwhile, Marit Bouwmeester’s dominance in the ILCA 6, means that she has already secured gold before the medal race.

Even with double points available on Saturday, the Dutch star cannot be caught, thanks to a bullet in the final race on Friday.

That win, combined with a 19th place for nearest challenger Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), meant that Bouwmeester leads by 21 points heading into the medal race, an unassailable advantage.

A year out from the Olympics in the same venue, it was the dream week for the 2012 Olympic champion.

She said: “I was happy with my results. It's never easy in Marseille. If I'm winning, it's not entirely up to myself, I think my competitors made a few more mistakes, but I'm happy with the week. We had such a variety of conditions, and I think it gave a good insight into what we can expect for next year.

“It's constantly changing and always difficult, but we learned a lot about the bay. It's nice that we got a proper event in.”

Results here

Ireland’s rising star Eve McMahon caught the eye on the Olympic Stage in Marseille today with a win in mistral conditions in the Paris 2024 ILCA 6 Test Event.  

The appearance of the mistral had a big impact at the Test Event in the Marseille Marina as the ILCA 6s close in on medal race line-ups.

As regular Afloat readers know, Howth Yacht Club's McMahon, the reigning Irish Sailor of the Year  and recently crowned Ulster Champion, has won everything there is to win at junior level and showed she is just as comfortable on the global stage with victory in the final race of the day in the ILCA 6. 

That was enough to jump up to tenth after eight of the ten races for the Irish teenager, who beat a host of decorated sailors along the way.

Chief among them is Marit Bouwmeester (NED), a four-time world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist, who finished second and fourth in the day’s two races to cement her place at the top of the leaderboard.

Bouwmeester sits on 30 points, with reigning world champion Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), six points back after a pair of third-place finishes.

Results here