Team racing eyes Olympic future

The International Olympic Committee has put pressure on its sports to improve their broadcast appeal, which for Sailing has led to speedy boats and dynamic competition formats. But fleet racing remains a difficult spectator sport, which begs the question, “Why not have Team Racing?”

While it checks a lot of the boxes, the lack of worldwide participation and a need for provided equipment are cons, as is the increased number of competitors per team. The athlete quota for Sailing has been shrinking, and the addition of Team Racing would mean the subtraction from other sailing events. Not popular!

But Team Racing keeps banging the drum in this report from AFLOAT:

Olympic ambitions for team racing have been raised following the 2026 Team Racing World Championship in Stockholm, with World Sailing event controller Steven Wolff expressing hope that the discipline can find a route onto the Olympic program.

“We’re certainly hopeful in the team racing world that we can find a way to get into the Olympics,” Wolff said in the official World Sailing event report. – Full report

Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Sailing Program (July 16-28):
First Week – July 16-20
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class – Long Beach, CA
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class – Long Beach, CA
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – Long Beach, CA
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL – Long Beach, CA

Second Week – July 23-28
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 – Los Angeles, CA
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 – Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470 – Los Angeles, CA
Men’s Skiff – 49er – Los Angeles, CA
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX – Los Angeles, CA
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17 – Los Angeles, CA

For more details, click here.