The last couple of weeks had all of us on-the-water folks focused on the impacts of the King Tides and hurricane-level storms on our Peninsula and the destruction of the homes there.
During a portion of that time, the weekend of Oct. 9-11, major rowing and sailing events put our aquatic community to the test. Our response was something to be proud of: we pulled together, nearly seamlessly, to meet challenges no one could have foreseen.
As athletes compete in Long Beach in preparation for the 2028 Olympics, I’m proud of the people who make this waterfront what it is. I have every confidence our local watermen and women will help deliver one of the world’s best experiences, by doing what Long Beach does best — coming together.
Sailing Youth Championship
The “Youth Championship” is U.S. Sailing’s top youth regatta, featuring the top sailors and most-challenging performance boat classes, including doublehanded dinghy, international 420, doublehanded skiff, singlehanded dinghy and more.
High tide, however, left little or no beach for launching.
The “Youth Championship” took place in Long Beach last month, featuring the top sailors and most-challenging performance boat classes. (Courtesy photos by Simone Staff, U.S. Sailing)
The “Youth Championship” took place in Long Beach last month, featuring the top sailors and most-challenging performance boat classes. (Courtesy photos by Simone Staff, U.S. Sailing)
The “Youth Championship” took place in Long Beach last month, featuring the top sailors and most-challenging performance boat classes. (Courtesy photos by Simone Staff, U.S. Sailing)
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The “Youth Championship” took place in Long Beach last month, featuring the top sailors and most-challenging performance boat classes. (Courtesy photos by Simone Staff, U.S. Sailing)
The Davies launch ramp was closed for construction, while Marine Stadium’s ramp was reserved for rowing. With the Peninsula closed to non-resident traffic, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club quickly arranged a water taxi using the public long dock beside Long Beach Yacht Club. Storm-preparation tree trimming closed part of Appian Way, and Long Beach marathon road closures further complicated access.
There were five regatta days and four days of competition, according to an email sent to ABYC members.. During that time, the wind reached 25 knots and some points — and none at other times. Participating were 165 sailors, 118 boats, 37 coaches, 145 volunteers and 12 staffers. There were 600 dinners prepared and served to sailors, coaches and volunteers, 260 made to order, though lunches were prepared assembly line-style for volunteers.
Despite the challenges, it was another outstanding regatta hosted by ABYC, with support from our aquatic community.
Elite rowing
That same weekend, Long Beach Marine Stadium welcomed some of the world’s top rowers, as six national teams competed in the USRowing Long Beach Elite and Community Invitational, organized by the Long Beach Rowing Association and USRowing. The two-day event included elite athletes representing the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Great Britain and Norway.
Long Beach Marine Stadium recently hosted the USRowing Long Beach Elite and Community Invitational. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach Rowing Association)
Thanks the stakeholder group led by Councilmember Kristina Duggan, race officials connected with aquatic partners throughout Belmont Shore, said LBRA President Hanne Chupik. Joan Palango of the Boat Owners Association took the lead on the water safety side, bringing together six boat owners from Seal Beach and Alamitos Bay yacht clubs. They brought their own boats and helped keep the warm-up loop safe. Members of those clubs also volunteered with bow numbers and the first aid station. Jeff Kiesel organized volunteers from Kahakai Outriggers, who helped keep another section of the course safe.
“This event was a wonderful example of what our club and broader Long Beach aquatic community can accomplish together,” Chupik wrote in an email, “and it’s exactly the kind of teamwork we will need as we move toward LA28.”
The regatta was designed as something different: an invitation for international athletes to experience Olympic-style racing conditions on the very course where rowing will take place during the 2028 Summer Games.
For the first time in years, a full 1,500-meter buoyed course stretched down Marine Stadium.
Small yellow and red buoys marked the racing lanes, with red identifying every 250 meters. From shore, the long, perfectly straight line of buoys was a striking sight — a familiar image to those who remember racing at Marine Stadium years ago, and a preview of what is to come in 2028.
For the athletes, it was a chance to get on the water, learn the course, experience the conditions and begin to feel at home in a place that will soon become the center of the rowing world.
Women’s sailing
Oct. 9 to 11 also marked the Long Beach Yacht Club’s Linda Elias Memorial Woman’s One Design Challenge. There were 10 women’s racing teams competing on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s identical Catalina 37’s — the same boats used in the Congressional Cup.
Tthe Long Beach Yacht Club’s Linda Elias Memorial Woman’s One Design Challenge took place from Oct. 9 to 11. The winning team was Seattle’s Sloop Tavern Yacht Club. (Photo courtesy of Molly Howe)
Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s Molly Howe and her team of sailors from Washington state took top honors. Sloop Tavern is a bar in Seattle that is home of the 34 ounce “Sloopersize” serving of beer.
I asked her how it felt to take top honors against all those legendary women sailors?
“This is our third year as Pacific Northwest mavens,” she said, “and yes, we’re so pleased that it came together like this.”
Howe’s team has a tradition of renting a house in Naples (pool or hot tub required), donning matching shirts and giving the Catalina 37 they race in a temporary moniker for the weekend. This year, they named the fiberglass boat “Dolly” — in honor of Dolly Parton.
Coastal rowing
The 2026 World Rowing Coastal Championships took place from Oct. 10 to 13 in Long Beach’s sister city, Qingdao, China. Long Beach rower Maddy Focht competed in the coastal mixed double sculls and she was part of the USA01 crew that secured gold. Focht’s victory cements her status as a top coastal rower after her June switch from traditional to coastal rowing. The 3.5 kilometer coastal route has multiple buoy turns, demanding precise boat handling and endurance.