LA28: Skiff Summit in San Pedro – the next big step towards the Olympics

At the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta, the crews are primarily chasing their Olympic dreams. In two years’ time, the LA28 Olympic regatta will be held in the same waters off San Pedro Bay. In Los Angeles Harbour, also known as America’s Port, the six sailing disciplines – Ilca 6, Ilca 7, Mixed 470, 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 will be in action, whilst board sports athletes (kitesurfing, iQFOiL windsurfing) will be competing for medals off the coast of Long Beach.

Olympic test event in Los Angeles: Skiff stars put to the test

Most of the Olympians are competing in the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta for the first time this year. This also applies to the national team. Two weeks ago, the ILCA skippers (due to the proximity to the World Championships, in which Germany is not taking part) and skippers, as well as the 470 pairs, kicked off the first Olympic test regatta. Germany’s best Olympic double-handed crews – led by Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, who won silver – excelled in the 470 class. This week, the best skiff and Nacra 17 sailors are exploring the venue for the upcoming Olympic Games.

They, too, got off to a remarkably good start. In the 49er class, Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger are even leading the star-studded field after the first two days of qualifying. Click here for the interim results. The helmsman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and his bowman from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club were level on 23 points with the Australians Harry Price and Max Paul at the top of the standings after six races.

Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger from the Bavarian Yacht Club made a huge leap forward on the second day. Their somewhat inconsistent run of results already includes two race wins, but also a 14th and a 22nd place. “We’ve been training here for a week beforehand and really like the conditions,” said Jakob Meggendorfer at the future Olympic venue.

Four German skiff teams in action

In a field comprising a total of 31 49er crews from 18 countries, the national sailing team, with its two top teams, Schultheis/Rieger and Meggendorfer/Spranger are in the line-up. Host nation the USA has seven boats competing, New Zealand three, and Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, China and Germany two each. In the women’s 49erFX class, there are 18 skiffs from 14 nations. Canada, the USA, Australia and Germany are each fielding two crews.

The German women’s skiff sailors are also among the joint favourites at the Olympic test event in Los Angeles. Sophie Steinlein and Cathy Bartelheimer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club/Segelclub Inning am Ammersee), who finished fifth at the 2025 World Championships, will be among those competing. In addition, European champions Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille from the Mühlenberg Sailing Club. Steinlein and Bartelheimer, who are often strong in the final stretch, initially moved up to eighth place on the second day of the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta. Bergmann and Wille, in eleventh place after three double-digit results, are still searching for form.

The 49erFX fleet is led by After the first third, the lead was once again held by the Canadian sisters Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance, who had already won Kiel Week and, most recently, the open class at the European Championships in Eckernförde. The French duo of Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retournaz are leading the standings in the foiling Olympic catamaran class, the Nacra 17.

After the Olympic test event, there are two World Championships ahead featuring German medal hopefuls

A German Nacra 17 team will not be competing at the Olympic Classes Regatta in Los Angeles. The joint trial by Ilca 7 helmsman Julian Hoffmann and Alica Stuhlemmer in the Nacra 17 has come to an end. Julian Hoffmann (Seglerhaus am Wannsee sailing club/Segelclub Alpsee Immenstadt) is currently preparing for the Ilca-7 World Championships in the last week of August in the Irish waters off Dun Laoghaire, for which there are 141 entrants, including Philipp Buhl, Ole Schweckendiek, Philip Walkenbach, Nik Aaron Willim and Maximilian Reger – five more strong German players have registered.

Prior to that, the 470 Mixed World Championships will take place in the former Olympic venue of Enoshima from 10 to 17 August, with several German crews among the medal contenders. Runner-up Anna Markfort has already set out the goal: “We want to make it onto the podium at the very least.”