Irish sailor Rocco Wright claims European bronze

Irish sailor Rocco Wright claimed bronze at the International Laser Class Association [ILCA] European Championships in Andorra on Friday.

After an 11-race series, the defending champion finished third behind Greek sailor Athanasios Kyfidi and Italian victor Mattia Cesana.

The leading trio had enjoyed a week-long duel at the front of their 71-boat event in a range of conditions.

"Rocco was getting caught in a group on the starts today when he needed to do his own thing," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing's head coach, of the Howth YC man.

"He also hadn't been sailing for four weeks as he was recovering from illness."

The ILCA 6 event also saw Fiachra McDonnell [Royal St George Yacht Club] place ninth overall thanks to some solid performances.

In the men's senior ILCA7 event, Finn Lynch [National Yacht Club] worked back from a couple of disappointments on Thursday to finish 13th overall.

"It was a very, very up and down week for me, a good start and a decent ending," he reflected.

"I was happy with how I was sailing but definitely lots of room to improve."

Although Ewan McMahon was able to comfortably qualify for the Gold fleet, including a race when he placed second behind Lynch in an one-two result for Ireland, the Howth sailor ended the event in 45th overall.

His sister Eve rounded off her regatta in the ILCA 6 women's event in 14th in the European Championship. The 19-year old is on her first full season at senior level and is making steady progress after her triple gold medal season in 2022.

The Irish squad are next in action at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma, Mallorca at the start of April.