The Los Angeles harbor commission approved a permit on Thursday, April 30, that will bring a 2028 Summer Olympics sail training camp to an area adjacent to San Pedro’s Cabrillo Beach starting in May.
Aerial view shows highlighted areas that will be used for an Olympics sail training center. (Image Courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles)
The combined properties — at 3000 Shoshonean Road and on a vacant triangular lot at 2114 S. Mesa St. — will provide an athletic training and boating facility at the Outer Harbor that will serve national sailing federations and athletes who are training for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The permit will also provide community groups with public access to the former Cabrillo Beach Youth Camp.
Teams from Spain and Canada compete aboard F50 hydrofoiling catamarans during the Los Angeles Sail GP on Saturday, Mar. 15, 2025, at the Port of LA’s Outer Harbor in San Pedro. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
The permit for the nonprofit Pathway to Podium will oversee the property for sail training for the six Olympic sailing events that will take place in the Outer Harbor. Four sailing events will also take place in Long Beach and the San Pedro training facility will serve athletes who will participate in events at both locations.
The site will also provide boat storage.
“Training in the actual venue in the years prior to the Games is routine practice for sailing,” the harbor commission board report says, “due to the unique wind and climate characteristics of individual sailing venues.”
The Los Angeles Harbor Department has been assessing and preparing the site for the past year and the aim is also to find a permanent tenant once the Olympics are over.
“Preparing the site minimally for Olympic sail training and maximally for expedited reopening for larger-scale community use will take immediate and significant investment,” the report says, “as the facilities on site site are suffering from various deferred maintenance issues.”
The need to use the former Cabrillo Beach Youth Sports Waterfront Center prompted an eviction notice for Scouts of America in December.
Going forward, the port will conduct a competitive bidding process to attract a long-term tenant for the beachfront camp site, which includes buildings, docks and decking.
Long-term, the port foresees a “high-performance sailing center and community aquatic and education center,” among other possible uses going forward.
In the interim, Olympic sailing events need a training base for athletes.
The Olympic sailing training facility will be in place from May through the conclusion of the Olympic Games.
An advisory board includes Harbor Area members, and the nonprofit P2P will provide services to national sailing federations and athletes to ensure secure storage space, access to training courses, and athlete amenities such as restrooms, meeting rooms and parking.
“P2P will also provide access to community groups,” the board report says, “with the expectation that access to the site will be increased through various programs.”
Property under the control of adjacent private marinas, the report also says, will be used for in-water boat berthing and container staging by national sailing federations, for office space, and for independent athletes to store boats and equipment.
Among competitors in the sailing events is a young female athlete from Ukraine, who will be helped to “pursue her Olympic dreams” by coming to the camp, said Kelly Marie, an internationally recognized sailing leader on the board of P2P.
Jack Baric of San Pedro, also serving on the Board of Directors, commended the port for providing the property, which will give young people a place to swim and camp, and most immediately, athletes a spot to train for the Olympics.
The area, Baric said, “is an unbelievable asset.”