How to watch the ACWS Portsmouth from the water

Oracle Team USA fly out the water in front of the Portsmouth crowd. Credit Ian Roman

Sailors intending to watch the America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth from the water this July are being urged to register their details with the event organizers.

The high speed multihill racing will be coming to Portsmouth from 21 to 24 July – today marks 100 days to go until the big event.

Last year, more than 25,000 spectators watched the racing on-board private and chartered boats, which made for a fantastic atmosphere on the water.

The key change to watching on water for 2016 is that organisers are asking all boats planning to watch on water to send an email to: watchonwater@teamorigin.com with the skipper’s name and email address; size of boat; type of boat (power, sail or RIB); number of expected guests.

Private boats watching the America's Cup World Series Portsmouth racing. Credit: Shaun Roster

Private boats watching the 2015 America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth racing. Credit: Shaun Roster

Registration will enable every boat owner to receive race course information, safety information and exact location to view racing from and regular updates during the event.

Plus the key information needed to get out on the water during the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth 2016.

Queen’s Harbour Master Portsmouth will publish a Notice to Mariners approximately three weeks before the event.

On Friday 22 July, America’s Cup Match Racing action will return to the Solent for the opening day. The six America’s Cup teams will compete in Match Racing duels alongside the usual fleet races.

This offers the chance to watch the world’s best sailing teams racing one-on-one in some really close battles, with speeds reaching in excess of 40mph.

The fleet racing kicks off on Saturday 23 July, followed by a double-points finale on Sunday 24 July. There are plans to run three races per day, making for a fast and furious weekend of competition.

What to expect

Land Rover BAR sail to victory. Credit: Lloyd Images

Last year huge crowds turned out to watch Sir Ben Ainslie’s home team Land Rover BAR take victory on UK waters. In 2015 many of the teams had only just launched their foiling AC45 catamarans and Sir Ben had got to grips with this challenging boat quicker than his international rivals.

However, this year’s event in Portsmouth will be the seventh event on the circuit and the level of competition has stepped up a few gears since last summer. Defending their Portsmouth title will be no easy feat for Sir Ben and his crew.

‘This time around everyone’s had plenty of time in the boats, so the standard of boat handling should be a lot closer by the time we get to Portsmouth, and there will probably not be such big differences between the speed of the boats. As we’ve seen for most of this year, any team can win any race’, said Land Rover BAR’s sailor Paul Campbell-James.

‘You’ve got a lot of Brits across the teams which is great for the home crowd Obviously our boat is full of Brits, then there’s Iain Percy on Artemis Racing and Chris Draper on Softbank Team Japan.

‘Anyone can have their day, you’ve only got to look at the scoreboard to see that Emirates Team New Zealand lead with Oracle Team USA just in front of us. The Japanese and French teams are definitely getting better, and you wouldn’t bet against any team,’ says Campbell-James.

Crowds on 25 July 2015 at Portsmouth’s America’s Cup World Series event. Credit: Shaun Roster

Where to watch ashore

Shoreside, the best place to watch the action is from the ticketed ‘Race Village’ on Southsea seafront offering close-up views of the racing and the benefit of large screens broadcasting the racing action with live racing commentary, on-board footage, audio and amazing graphics.

Pre and post racing the main stage will feature expert insight and analysis from the competing teams. Interactive content highlights include the ‘Tech Zone’, opportunities to meet the sailors in ‘The Team Zone’, ‘The Marketplace’ a covered retail area alongside cool bars and food zones.

Event director Leslie Greenhalgh said: ‘We’re really excited about our new Race Village for 2016, which is going to include lots of hands-on activities as well as live commentary and big screen coverage of all the racing.

‘The teams are going to be docking in and out close to the spectator area, and we’ll be getting the sailors up on stage to hear their reactions straight after racing. There’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere with supporters cheering on our home team and we want to give them a great send-off before they head to Bermuda in 2017.’

The daily schedule will see the teams dock out from Southsea seafront, with aerial displays before racing, intense racing scheduled between 1330 and 1500 each day (with live television coverage on BT Sport), and then teams docking In before post-racing debriefs and interviews on the big stage in the race village.

This year tickets start from £25 per person, with 6-15 year olds half price and under-5s going free.

Last year’s sell-out Premier Grandstand is once again booking fast (only Friday and a small number of Sunday seats remain) while new this year is the Sailors Lounge, an exclusive area with special guest speakers giving some special insights into the competition.

Each Sailors Lounge ticket also includes a Grandstand seat to watch all the action.

For all info on tickets: www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ACWSPortsmouth

Wavemakers

The application process for this year’s volunteer programme ‘The Wavemakers’ is officially open and we are proud to have secured Airbus, one of the City’s largest private sector, employers as sponsor.

Red Arrows Spring Hawk. Credit: SAC Steve Buckley

Action in the air

The Blades Display Team will fly on Saturday 23 July, with four high-performance planes flown by former RAF fast-jet pilots performing a routine that includes more than 30 manoeuvres and features plenty of close-crosses and heart-stopping dives.

Charter yachts

Sunsail has once again become an official charter supplier for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth. Offering a range of packages from corporate hospitality to ‘Stay & Play’ which includes an overnight stay on a yacht in a marina nearby together with a race village ticket. Contact: events@sunsail.com

Win with Henri Lloyd

To celebrate ‘100 days to go’ Henri Lloyd are offering you the chance to win a one of five personalised Land Rover BAR replica polos to support the team. Click here to enter.