Journey to Los Angeles Olympics Begins
Irish sailors were to the fore on the opening day of the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, Mallorca today (Monday 31st March 2025) with Olympians Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Sean Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) scoring a win in their series. This is the first major competition on the Olympic classes calendar for LA2028.
Fresh winds graced the Bay of Palma where close to 800 boats have gathered from around the world to contest 10 events with Irish sailors present in four disciplines.
After narrowly missing a medal at the Paris Games less than eight months ago, Dublin sailors Robert Dickson with Sean Waddilove didn't disappoint with their pre-event favourite billing in the 49er men's skiff event.
The pair scored a tenth and race win for the opening day's racing. This marks the first of three days of qualification competition to decide the Gold fleet series later in the week.
A third race was scheduled but the fresh winds died off as the day progressed and further competition was abandoned.
There were tricky conditions across the bay where the one-person dinghies were competing though the full programme for the day was completed.
Double-Olympian Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) had two top tens in his Men's one-person ILCA7 class leaving him 14th overall in this 174-boat class which will count as a good start to his series.
His team-mate and fellow contender for LA2028 Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club) also had a good start with a fourth place in the opening race as he held a position with the leading pack. A 15th in race 2 after a poor start leaves him 20th overall for the day which he was nevertheless pleased with.
"It's fantastic to kick off the LA2028 with the first day in Palma," McMahon said after racing ended. "It was a solid first day, I couldn't ask for much more; a good first race and I consolidated after a poor start in the second."
However, it wasn't quite as rosy a picture for McMahon's Olympian sister Eve (Howth YC)competing in the Women's one-person ILCA6 dinghy. She lies 44th overnight after two mid-fleet results in her qualification group.
"It's nice to be back racing, training has been going really well but unfortunately my day today wasn't the best - I'd be lying if I said I was happy with it," McMahon said. "A couple of costly things happened today but that's sailing and that's high-performance sport."
"I'll reflect on it and take the learnings from it but it’s nice to get the LA cycle underway. I'm still really excited about racing and looking forward to going out and showing exactly what I can do tomorrow."
Qualification racing continues on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide the respective Gold fleet contenders for the top boats in each event. On Saturday, each of the top ten crews will contest a single medal race final to decide the podium in their events
SEE ALL ABOUT THE PRINCESS SOFIA HERE