Ireland’s Eve McMahon jumped to the leading pack of contenders on the second day of the European Championships for the ILCA 6 women’s one-person dinghy in Sweden after a solid day of racing.
Her start to the series saw her disqualified from the opening race on Monday that incurred a maximum points penalty.
However, once three races were sailed on day two, the single event discard allowed her to drop that score.
A 10th place followed by a second, delivered a nice bounce in the standings up to fifth place overall.
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The Howth sailor made Irish sailing history in May when she won bronze at the world championships in China and is looking to close out her 2025 season on a similar high.
Meanwhile, her older brother Ewan has also had a strong start to his ILCA 7 men’s event though slipped slightly in the standings to sixth overall after day two in Marstrand when he scored second and 10th places.
Any top 10 place by the end of the qualification round that ends on Wednesday would be a commendable score and a solid attacking base for the three days of Gold fleet racing that follows before the championship outcome is decided on Saturday.
For Ewan McMahon, his current standing sees him ahead of double Olympian team-mate Finn Lynch who is currently 12th European in 15th overall.
Notably, McMahon is only two points off first overall while Lynch is only eight points behind his team-mate.
The entire 153-boat men’s fleet is split into three flights to manage the qualification round but all the top boats will race together from Thursday in the final series.
The picturesque Marstrand venue north of Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast is proving highly tricky as a strong swell with light winds is making spotting windshifts difficult.
After a breezy start to the championships on Monday, the forecast for the remainder of the week is for continued light conditions that raise the risk of deep results so the sailors will maintain conservative strategies to avoid high scores.
