Finn Lynch secured the bronze medal at the Princess Sofia Trophy following a closely fought contest at the end of six days of racing in Mallorca.
The double Olympian went into the medal race final in the silver position but had to defend against other challengers and a British sailor slipped ahead to win the race leaving the Carlow native to cover an Italian rival at the back of the 10-boat final.
Nevertheless, Lynch's bronze shows his intentions as the result marks the start of his LA 2028 campaign.
The series in Mallorca comprised ten races to qualify for the medal race final and Lynch won one and had two second places over the week.
Team-mate, Ewan McMahon from Howth and potential rival for the single place at the Olympics also showed a jump in form with some significant individual race results including winning the last fleet race of the week.
But some back of fleet results weighed down his score and he missed a place in the top ten for the medal race final that decided the podium for the original 174 boats that started the event.
Both sailors now turn their attention towards preparing for the World and European Championships in China and Sweden later this summer as their peak events for the year.
