LA28 sailing venue decision accompanied by 20% reduction in race program
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World/com/nz 1 Jul 09:19 PDT
Port Los Angeles - San Pedro - Venue for the dinghy events for LA28 © World Sailing
The decision to stage the Los Angeles "dinghy" events alongside a working container port appears to have been a political determination by local politicians.
The releases yesterday quoting various LA politicians make frequent reference to the fact that the port area in San Pedro was used successfully by the 1932 Olympic "sailing" events, and again by SailGP, in an attempt to head off criticism from those who expected the 1984 venue of Long Beach to be used for all events.
There was no formal report on the venue selection submitted to World Sailing's Events Committee updating on the LA28. Instead the formal update report focussed on arrangements to be made for the inclusion in LA28 by sailors whose National Authorities had been suspended by World Sailing over the Ukraine invasion and war.
According to a verbatim report to the Events Committee, the racing for each class will be reduced by 20%, and scheduled over three days of Qualification racing followed by a Medal race on a separate day.
For the past 25 years straight (2000–2024), the Port of Los Angeles has been the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, and the top container port in the United States. It is difficult to see how the Olympic Sailing Regatta can be accommodated without significant port disruption, or compromise on the standard of competition expected at an Olympiad.
Under the comprehensive plan for the 2028 Olympic Games, the Port of Los Angeles is set to host six sailing disciplines: men’s and women’s dinghy, men’s and women’s skiff, along with the mixed dinghy and mixed multihull events. Meanwhile, the four board competitions—windsurfing and kiteboarding for both men and women—will take place off Belmont Shore. These events will be scheduled sequentially, beginning with the board categories in Long Beach and followed by the remaining races at the Port, claimed to maximise media exposure and audience engagement.
The spin out of World Sailing, places the dynamic board events at the heart of the vibrant Long Beach shore, along with Beach Volleyball, Open Water Swimming and Coastal Rowing, while creating a second stage at the Port of Los Angeles to elevate the athlete and spectator experience for the boat classes, bringing the event into the 2028 Host City.
That was backed up by local officials, obviously well pleased with the rabbit they had pulled out of the LA28 hat.
However they did not need to look any further than beyond their own city boundaries, to see the results of a sailing event that has stayed true to its sailing roots, and long resisted pressures to change in order to stay in lockstep with the rest of the sport.
The Congressional Cup, sailed out of the Long Beach Yacht Club was the birthplace of match racing as we know it. The club came under a lot of pressure to change their event to fit the demands of the World Match Racing Tour, but resisted, and were dropped from the WMRT for a time.
But who's laughing now? The Congressional Cup retains its place as the most prestigious regatta in Match Racing. The event has changed slightly, but has retained its place.
Every aspiring match racer dreams of seeing their name engraved on the hallowed trophy, alongside most of the greats of the sport, including many of the winners of the prestigious America's Cup.
“After extensive coordination with both cities and World Sailing, we’re excited to use two of the Pacific Coast’s premier locations for Olympic sailing in 2028,” said LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass emphasized the city’s maritime legacy: “Sailing has deep roots here, and San Pedro will once again take centre stage globally. It’s a tremendous chance to share our hospitality and the Olympic spirit.”
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson reflected on the city’s proud Olympic past: “We’re honoured to build on the legacy of the 1984 Games and showcase our stunning coastline to the world once more.” Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson added, “Nearly 100 years after Olympic sailors first arrived in 1932, we’re proud to bring that legacy back with ten events along our shores.”
Council member Tim McOsker welcomed the announcement: “It’s an honour for San Pedro and the Port of Los Angeles to be chosen as hosts for Olympic sailing. I’m thankful to all who helped make this happen and excited for an event that will inspire fans and elevate the sport.” Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port, echoed that sentiment: “We’re eager to continue working with LA28 as we get ready to welcome the world’s top sailors to America’s Port.”
However in 1932, "Sailing" was known as "Yachting" and technically was not part of the formal Olympic program.
Only four events were sailed.
The singlehander event was sailed in the Snowbird class, a local California design chosen for cost and availability. The races were intended to be sailed in a one-design fleet, but due to limited boat numbers, some heats were required.
The Star class had its first Olympics, and was joined by the 6 and 8 Metre classes, to the International Metre Rule. Two boats sailed in the 8 Metres, and unsurprisingly both won a medal.
The Snowbirds were due to race in the morning, but could not due to a lack of wind and sailed in the heavier tradewind breeze in the afternoon.
Generally Olympic sailing begins early in the afternoon, and the LA28 hope is to pick up the fresher breezes.
In the SailGP regatta sailed earlier in 2025 off San Pedro - the F50s were blessed with 12kts on the Saturday and 6kts of breeze on the Sunday. SailGP decided not to return to the Port of Los Angeles for Season 6.
The Events deal probably works for the LA local officials. However forgotten is the fact that the Olympic regatta is the pinnacle of a four, eight or even 12 year process of committment and development by the athletes, who deserve the best possible stadium and program to show their abilities and compete.
The frequent riposte to a compromised facility is that "at least it is equally bad for everyone". That's not good enough. We saw that at Marseille 2024. At the same regatta we also saw some event changes, which were sold as being innovative, but failed to fire - despite having also flopped in previous events in the same classes.
No good sailing reason has been provided for splitting the venue for sailing - which has made numerous compromises over the last few Olympics to accommodate the IOC's direction of travel.
They have not been taken up generally by the rest of the sport, which is on a divergent path, with many of the traditional events of the sport being revived - with great success. L
Latest of these is the upcoming Admirals' Cup, later this month, which has attracted a big entry of 15 teams; similarly with the growth of short-handed sailing; while many have reservations about the America's Cup - there is no denying the audience "eyeballs" and progress that has been achieved.
How many other Olympic sports are straddling their venues? Some will claim that Rowing has done just that - but it's a stretch of credibility even for the Five Ring circus to suggest staging ocean rowing on a rowing lake.
From what has been published on the World Sailing website, there was no formal update on LA28 to the Events Committee, where one would have expected such a key decision to have at least been the subject of comment by the elected representatives of the sport.
There are some significant changes coming illustrated by this extract from the Mid Year Meeting Minutes of the Events Committee:
"The conditions [pre-requisites for the LA28 competition] below were shared verbatim by CEO to stakeholders and World Sailing must work to ensure all points are addressed for LA28:
- Shortening the opening series by removing at least 20 per cent of the races and scheduling the remaining races over three days for all events, while retaining one dedicated medal day per event.
- Aligning with LA28 and the Olympic Broadcast Service on the optimal distribution of races and competition days across the Games window — including the potential to begin before the Opening Ceremony — to minimise the event footprint and resource requirements.
- Reducing the target time for dinghy races to enhance the broadcast impact and allow for a more compact competition schedule.
- Ensuring a joint decision by LA28, World Sailing and OBS on whether more than one contingency day per event is required, based on the specific conditions of the field of play and the overall competition schedule.
Further streamline operations and enhance efficiency by reviewing and reducing the number of support boats required, minimising container use, reviewing official training time and venue access, and encouraging equipment sharing."