The sailing competition at the Asian Games got under way yesterday at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Gamagori. World Sailing President Quanhai Li, Asian Sailing Federation President Malav Shroff, and Secretary General Jason Lim visited the venue, where they met athletes from the participating nations and wished them every success in the competition.
Sailing Highlights
- Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is a direct Olympic qualifier for LA 2028: one continental quota place in the Men’s Dinghy (ILCA 7) and one in the Women’s Dinghy (ILCA 6) will be earned here — the only two LA 2028 sailing quotas on offer at these Games, making this an ILCA-defining moment for Asia.
- A record 22 nations and 14 events are competing at these Asian Games — nearly double the number of nations and events seen at Hiroshima 1994, 32 years ago.
- Boys’ and Girls’ Skiff (29er) have been added to the Asian Games programme for the first time, providing a pathway into skiff sailing.
Sailing Programme
Racing began yesterday in the Mixed Dinghy (470) and Boys’ and Girls’ Skiff (29er) fleets. The remaining classes, including Men’s Skiff (49er) and Women’s Skiff (49erFX), went afloat but were unable to race due to unsettled wind conditions.
Our ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes, representing Women’s Dinghy and Men’s Dinghy, were scheduled to start racing today, but light winds prevented racing from getting under way. Racing will continue tomorrow and through 3 October, when the two classes conclude with their Finals series and the first Olympic quota places for Asian nations at LA 2028 will be awarded. 13 sailors from 13 nations are entered in the ILCA 6, and 18 sailors from 18 nations in the ILCA 7 — with both fleets racing for the one LA 2028 quota place at stake in each class.
ILCA 7 – Men’s Dinghy entry list
- Chan Nhov CAM
- Junsuo Luo CHN
- Nicholas Bezy Halliday HKG
- Vishnu Saravanan IND
- Shahab Khatam IRI
- Haruto Kuroda JPN
- Vladimir Chshankin KAZ
- Ilia Ignatev KGZ
- Jeemin Ha KOR
- Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy MAS
- Muzammil Hassan PAK
- Jun Han Ryan Lo SGP
- Udara Deshabakthi Rajapaksha SRI
- Chusitt Punjamala THA
- Tsai-chien Wu TPE
- Alowais Sultan UAE
- Anton Tereshchenko UZB
- Phat Thach VIE
ILCA 6 – Women’s Dinghy entry list
- Junqi Gao CHN
- Stephanie Louise Norton HKG
- Nethra Kumanan IND
- Yumiko Tombe JPN
- Yana Belozerova KAZ
- Hyewon Jung KOR
- Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif MAS
- Jania Ang SGP
- Arianna Taalya Tranchell SRI
- Sophia Montgomery THA
- Dhuha Albeshr UAE
- Thi Nhung Nguyen VIE
- Ameena Shah KUW
How to follow / Useful links
Report by Agustín Argüelles – ILCA | Photo Credits: AINAGOC – via ASAF.