America’s Cup: The Competition begins in Portsmouth

Competition leading up to the 35th America’s Cup begins this weekend when the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series hosts a series of four fleet races on July 25-26 in Portsmouth, UK. Five America’s Cup challengers will face off against the defender while accumulating valuable points that will benefit them for the challenger selection in 2017.

The locals will be eager to see Land Rover BAR, skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie, who will be flying the Union Jack and looking forward to putting on a good show in front of a home crowd, with their team base in Portsmouth. There’s likely to be plenty of British support for Artemis Racing, skippered by GBR’s Iain Percy, in a Swedish-backed team with numerous Olympic gold medallists.

The hugely popular Team New Zealand, who came so close to winning the America’s Cup in 2013, will be back with an all-star cast that includes 49er champion Pete Burling skippering. One of the newest names on the circuit, Softbank Team Japan, has also brought a talented squad skippered by Cup legend Dean Barker, while Groupama Team France is headed up by the hugely talented Franck Cammas.

And of course the America’s Cup Defender, Oracle Team USA, skippered by the 2-time cup-winning skipper Jimmy Spithill.

The schedule on July 25 and 26 has racing from 1330 to 1500 local time. Click here for complete program.

The teams will be racing the one design AC45F, the 45-foot catamaran used during the previous America’s Cup World Series that preceded the 2013 America’s Cup. However, the boats have now been retrofitted to include foiling daggerboards and rudders, which this weekend will see them flying just off the shore at Southsea Common.

America’s Cup website – ACWS Portsmouth – How to watch – Facebook

Background: The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) racing circuit forms part of the 35th America’s Cup programme, with scoring contributing to the selection of the 2017 America’s Cup Challenger. The ACWS will take place during 2015 and 2016 and will feature the one design foiling AC45F catamarans at a number of event locations around the world over the two years.

ACWS 2015 – Complete schedule
July 24-26: Portsmouth, UK
August 28-30: Gothenberg, Sweden
October 16-18: Bermuda

ACWS 2016 – Four to six events expected
July 22-24: Portsmouth, UK
Summer: Chicago, USA