Build-up to LA2028

The Olympic sailing programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Games has a lot of similarities with Paris 2024. The same 10 events stay the same from 2024, although the hope and expectation is that the weather will be much kinder than the hot and almost windless Olympic Regatta that was held in Marseille in the south of France. The warm sea breeze on the Californian coast is considered to be one of the most reliable you could hope for, although there is the dreaded old sailor’s cliché that could well come to haunt the Olympic Regatta when it starts on 16 July 2028: “It’s not normally like this…”

The format of racing to decide the medals will be significantly different, moving the boat classes away from the Medal Race 10-boat decider that had been used since the Beijing 2008 Games.

The problem with the Medal Race was that it was often a yawn-fest for spectators; it didn't always make for the most thrilling of finales. In the men’s and women’s singlehander fleets in Marseille for example, Matt Wearn (AUS) and Marit Bouwmeester (NED) respectively had sailed well enough through the week to seal the gold medal before the final day. Good for them, not so great for showcasing the sport.

For a while the sailors were being threatened with the prospect of a ‘sudden death’, winner-takes-all scenario that would have been a massive move for the sport. When the sailors pushed back against this, a political compromise was made and there is now a new format which will keep the game open until the final day of competition. Yet the most consistent performers across the regatta will still carry in a marginal points advantage into the final medal races.

Meanwhile the equipment will be pretty much the same as the Paris 2024 Games, maintaining the balance between traditional boat sailing and modern, high-speed foiling disciplines.

Here is a list of the ten Olympic sailing classes for LA2028:

The programme comprises 10 events, split between men's, women's, and mixed competitions, with two different host venues roughly 7 miles apart on the Californian coast, the port of San Pedro to the west, and Long Beach further to the east.