Irish sailors to the fore on day 2 at ILCA European Championships in Italy

ILCA European Championships day 2 © Thom Touw Photography / EurILCA

Although light winds again played havoc with the racing schedule at the ILCA 7 European Championships (Andora, Italy 13/3/23) all three Irish boats racing today delivered solid performances in their opening race of the series.

In the senior ILCA 6 women's event, Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) recovered from a poor start to the race and over the first lap of the course worked into the top ten boats of her flight. On the second upwind leg, she slipped back a little and placed 12th which is still a good start to the event in her 116-boat event.

"It was another fickle day. There was breeze to start with but it faded away," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing's Head Coach, speaking of the Irish Youth World Champion. "There was plenty of learning for the day for such a young sailor."

Also on the same course area, the Men's ILCA 6 class had their first race of the series that saw both Irish sailors place in the top five.

Fiachra McDonnell (Royal St. George Yacht Club) placed second while Rocco Wright (Howth YC) had a fifth.

"Fiachra and Rocco executed their plans well, so a solid start to their series," said Fitzpatrick. "A couple of other guys went for the race win strategy a little harder than they did but it's still a solid start to the series for them."

The senior men's ILCA 7 class had no wind on their course to allow a second race so Tuesday will again be a waiting game to see if the weather delivers enough wind for a planned three-race day across all fleets.

Ireland's Finn Lynch (National YC) had a fifth place on Sunday while Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) placed 20th in their single qualification round race sailed to date.

To follow the competition and results please visit 2023-senior.eurilca-europeans.org