Does this future-proof the sport?

Every four years, the International Olympic Committee brings together the nations of the world for peaceful competition. Each sport needs pathways to ensure international participation, and Sailing accomplishes this best with the men’s and women’s one person dinghy events.

Using the ILCA 6 and 7, the equipment is available and comparatively affordable while necessary skills are quicker to grasp. Of the ten Olympic sailing events, the entry limit is near double for the one-person dinghy events, allowing World Sailing to fulfill IOC participation requirements.

But from the outside, the 55-year-old ILCA (formerly Laser) is archaic compared to the skiff, kite, windsurf, and multihull events. With a push toward greater broadcast excitement, the call for change is frequent, but that would either oust the ILCA or another event. Here’s a plea by Dan Slater:

As a three-time Olympian, America’s Cup sailor, Olympic and youth coach, I believe strongly that men’s and women’s single-handed foiling dinghy racing needs a place in the future Olympic program.

This is bigger than any one class. It is about future-proofing our sport.

A one-design foiling dinghy can combine everything that has made sailing great for generations with everything that excites the next generation:

• Yacht-club racing
• Speed and foiling
• Tactics and strategy
• Men and women racing the same discipline
• International competition
• A genuine youth-to-Olympic pathway

Classes such as the WASZP and Switch, alongside the development-driven Moth, are already demonstrating the appeal of single-handed foiling. We don’t need to abandon traditional dinghy racing to modernize sailing. We need to take traditional dinghy racing into the foiling generation.

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.