Australia's Gold Medal Class Gets to Work at LA 2028 venue

Double Olympic Champion Matt Wearn © Beau Outteridge

Australia has won the past four Olympic gold medals in the men's one-person dinghy event, and this week the Australian Sailing Team's National Squad will line up on the waters where they will chase a fifth and continue that remarkable legacy.

The San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta starts today at the Port of Los Angeles, the venue that will host the boat classes at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. Fourteen Australians will compete among 137 boats across the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes.

While several members of the squad raced in Long Beach last year, this week marks the first international Olympic Classes Regatta on the LA2028 racecourse in the San Pedro. The Australians have already spent time learning the venue, competing at last week's North American ILCA Championships.

Double Olympic Champion Matt Wearn knows better than most how important it is to spend time on an Olympic racecourse. Wearn said the squad has already experienced a wide range of conditions, "We have been here for nearly two weeks now and have had everything from 0 to 20 knots, so we are getting the full experience."

"It's always really important to spend as much time as possible on the Olympic waters to build confidence in the conditions," Wearn explained. "By having the time here this year, we can go home, look for similar conditions to train in, and then come back and see the improvement next time."

Australian ILCA 6 Squad - photo © Beau Outteridge

Racing will be held both inside and outside the seawall, creating two distinct racecourses, each with its own challenges. Paris 2024 Olympian Zoe Thomson, one of seven Australians in the ILCA 6 fleet, said the venue is already revealing its character.

"The training has been super valuable," Thomson shared. "Every training day has greeted us with a seabreeze of some description. The seabreeze tends to favour one side, and the downwinds are more open with a smooth, slightly choppy sea state. Of course, our warm-up regatta had four tricky days with 'Catalina Eddy' conditions, so the variety is proving it's a great venue."

Thomson believes becoming familiar with both the sailing conditions and the surrounding environment will provide a significant advantage ahead of LA 2028.

"I think if we can feel comfortable and become locals both on and off the water, it will be a big advantage in two years' time," she said.

The San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta runs from 19-24 July and marks another important milestone on the road to LA2028.

Full list of entries can be found here

Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (AS Squad), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF),State Sailing Performance Program (SSPP) and other Australian (AUS) entries at the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta:

ILCA6 (67 entries)
Elyse Ainsworth (AST)
Mara Stransky (AST)
Zoe Thomson (AST)
Casey Imeneo (ASF)
Evie Saunders (ASF)
Francess Beebe (AUS)
Sylvie Stannage (AUS)

ILCA7 (70 entries)
Matt Wearn (AST)
Ethan McAullay (AST)
Zac Littlewood (AST)
Michael Compton (AS Squad)
Lawson McAullay (AS Squad)
Isaac Shotte (AS Squad)
Alexander Bijkerk (SSPP)