America’s Cup World Series Chicago on NBC Network

NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series continues on June 19 at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC, with a one-hour highlight show featuring top moments from the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago on Lake Michigan.

Complete with full coverage of Super Sunday’s double-point races, the America’s Cup World Series special also includes interviews with regatta winner and Artemis Racing skipper Nathan Outteridge, as well as World Series leader and Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby.

The Chicago event includes all six teams entered in the 35th America’s Cup, featuring defending America’s Cup champion ORACLE TEAM USA (USA), Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand), Groupama Team France (France), Land Rover BAR (Great Britain), and SoftBank Team Japan (Japan). All teams are competing on the foiling AC45 catamarans.

The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series is the primary stage of the America’s Cup, and began in the summer of 2015 with events in Portsmouth, Great Britain, Gothenburg, Sweden and Hamilton, Bermuda. Overall ranking position in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series determines the starting points score of the teams competing in the America’s Cup Qualifiers in 2017.

Todd Harris serves as host and play-by-play announcer for all America’s Cup World Series coverage, and was joined by analyst and former America’s Cup sailor Ken Read.

Background: The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) racing circuit forms part of the 35th America’s Cup programme, with ACWS scoring contributing to the selection of the 2017 America’s Cup Challenger. The ACWS will feature fleet racing in one design foiling AC45 catamarans.

ACWS 2015
July 25-26: Portsmouth, UK
August 29-30: Gothenberg, Sweden
October 17-18: Bermuda

ACWS 2016
February 27-28: Muscat, Oman
May 7-8: New York, USA
June 11-12: Chicago, USA
July 23-24: Portsmouth, UK
September 10-11: Toulon, France
November 19-20: Fukuoka, Japan

ACWS 2017 – One event expected
TBA

Using a format of fleet racing in foiling, wing-sailed 45ft catamarans, the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) winner will be the team with the most points accumulated from all the ACWS events.

In 2017, the six teams (5 challengers and 1 defender) will compete in the new 15-meter AC Class, beginning with the America’s Cup Qualifiers, a double round robin match racing series which will reduce the five challengers to the top four teams. In this series, the winner of the America’s Cup World Series starts the America’s Cup Qualifiers with a 2 point advantage (runner-up in ACWS begins with 1 point advantage).

At the conclusion of the America’s Cup Qualifiers, only the four challengers with the most points (each match win earns 1 point) advance to the final stage to determine the challenger which will face the defender in the 35th America’s Cup. Complete schedule.