Lynch and McMahon climb to second in Los Angeles
Carlow sailor Finn Lynch, along with his partner Eve McMahon, sit second overall at the Sailing Grand Slam in Los Angeles, on the very waters that will host the sailing competition at the 2028 Olympics. Photo: INPHO/Andrew Conan
Irish sailors Finn Lynch, from Carlow, and Eve McMahon, from Dublin sit second overall after two days of racing at the Sailing Grand Slam in Los Angeles, where the world's best Olympic sailors are competing on the waters that will host the sailing competition at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
Ireland is represented by McMahon in the Women’s Dinghy / ILCA 6 alongside Finn Lynch and Ewan McMahon in the Men’s Dinghy / ILCA 7. Following the opening two qualifying days, both McMahon and Lynch have steadily worked their way up the leaderboard to put themselves firmly in contention ahead of the three-day Elimination Series.
A classic Los Angeles sea breeze of 12–18 knots, combined with a three-foot Pacific swell, has provided physically demanding racing and an early taste of the conditions expected at the Olympic venue in 2028.
Fresh from winning the North American Championship, Eve McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) has continued her impressive form. The reigning San Pedro OCR champion opened with a fifth-place finish before discarding a mid-fleet result and ending the second day with a race victory to move into second overall.
The Dublin sailor is competing against the world's top-ranked athletes, with World No. 1 Charlotte Rose (USA) sitting third on equal points with McMahon, while Denmark's Anna Munch leads the fleet.
In the ILCA 7, Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) also produced an impressive climb through the standings. After beginning the regatta in ninth, the two-time Olympian recorded two third-place finishes and a second on Monday to move into second overall, just one point behind Britain's Michael Beckett.
Irish Sailing Performance Director James O'Callaghan is in LA with the team and said: "It's brilliant for the team to have the opportunity to race on the Olympic waters ahead of LA 2028. Every day we spend here now will stand to us as we build towards the Games.
"We're arriving in good shape too. Eve comes into the regatta on the back of winning the North American Championship, while Finn has also shown his class here before and is now sitting second overall.
"We've always received a fantastic welcome in the United States. The Irish diaspora really get behind our athletes and it makes a huge difference when you're competing so far from home. We're looking forward to seeing plenty of green around the venue."
The ILCA fleets now move into the three-day Elimination Series, with only the top ten sailors progressing to Friday's Medal Races, where the final podium places will be decided.
San Pedro OCR is one of only two major Olympic-class regattas held annually in the United States. Nearly 200 sailors from 34 nations are competing across the six-day event, including 35 Olympians and six Olympic gold medallists, providing one of the strongest fleets outside of a World Championship.
