Ireland’s Olympic sailing hopefuls are on the cusp of a great week at the Princess Sofia regatta in Mallorca this evening.
Carlow’s Finn Lynch has qualified in the top 10 of his 187-strong Laser class and will compete in the medal race final tomorrow with the possibility of a silver or bronze medal.
In the same event, Howth’s Ewan McMahon ended in 29th place overall in his first ever appearance at Gold fleet senior level. He was the top sailor aged under 21 in the Laser competition by some distance.
Both results are Irish records.
Lynch and McMahon have both sailed a gruelling 10-race schedule since Monday in a full range of conditions.
A third Irish Laser sailor, Liam Glynn from Belfast Lough, won the final two races to win the Bronze fleet but was disappointed not to feature higher in the overall standings.
At 19, Lynch was the youngest competitor in his class when he made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016.
The annual Princess Sofia regatta for Olympic classes is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has attracted a bigger than usual with more than 800 boats and 1,300-plus athletes taking part across all ten Olympic disciplines.
This year it is also serving as a selection trial event to see who will represent Ireland at the Olympic test event in August.
