America's Cup World Series

The America's Cup World Series is a regular circuit of regattas, bringing Cup racing to top venues around the world.

The Americas Cup World Series will provide the teams and their crews valuable preparation time for the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series, the defender series (if necessary) and the America's Cup finals. With the multihulls powered by giant wingsails on the race course, this will be time when the sailors will be gaining most experience.

Fleet and match racing will be a part of each event and is sure to stretch the skills of the crews to the maximum.

The World Series of the America's Cup will give hundreds of thousands of fans around the world to experience the spectacle up close and is coming to Plymouth.

This year the World Series racing will be on the AC45 catamarans and in 2012 San Francisco is playing host to the 34th America's Cup.

2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series Schedule*

Event One: Cascais, Portugal, 6 – 14 August
Event Two: Plymouth UK 10 - 18 September
Event Three: San Diego,USA 12-20 November

Plymouth is proud to have been selected as the second stop in the inaugural America’s Cup World Series and Councillor Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth Council, said: “We are thrilled that Plymouth has been selected to be a host city for the America’s Cup World Series. Plymouth’s outstanding waterfront, its rich maritime heritage and its many attractions make it a perfect venue for this event. It will be a real opportunity for Plymouth to show off its assets to the world and it will support our ambitions to further develop our visitor and marine sectors. We look forward to welcoming the America’s Cup World Series teams and visitors from around the world to Plymouth in September.”

Richard Worth, Chairman of the America’s Cup Event Authority said: “The America’s Cup World Series will expose hundreds of thousands of more people to sport of sailing in its most exciting form - right in front of their eyes”.  And as for Plymouth he said “Similar to San Francisco, Plymouth Sound is a natural stadium that will bring the racing to the spectators and really showcase the AC45s in a spectacular way” and continued “We’re excited to have a Northern European venue that has a deep understanding of the sport of sailing, and has long supported its growth and promotion.”

Television coverage is going to expose millions more fans to the sport of high-performance sailing and be a worldwide advertisement for the city of Plymouth. The AC World Series is a regular circuit of regattas that will bring America’s Cup-level racing and experience to top international venues and for Plymouth to be included is guaranteed to enhance our global reputation with the added benefit of some temporary jobs in Plymouth for local people.

 As we know the seafaring history of Plymouth is second to none and has seen countless ships set sail on great voyages of discovery and to settle new worlds. It was from the Mayflower Steps on The Barbican Plymouth that the Pilgrim Fathers embarked on their voyage to establish a new colony in North America in 1620.

Situated on the border of Devon and Cornwall, the UK's most popular tourist destination outside of London, Plymouth has a spectacular waterfront which makes it one of the major sailing centres. It‘s the perfect venue for showcasing world-class maritime and sporting events. Plymouth boasts the largest number of maritime and marine businesses in the region and Plymouth also offers outstanding sight-seeing together with excellent Plymouth shops and cultural opportunities with numerous hotels in Plymouth. There are dozens of Plymouth restaurants to choose from whether you are looking for fine dining in Plymouth or just some good old Plymouth fish and chips.

Plymouth area attracts leading yachtsmen and women from all over the world and has seen the start and finish of many major sailing events including the Fastnet, Tall Ships and Clipper races and not forgetting the Transat.

"It will be fantastic to race in the UK this year," said ORACLE Racing's James Spithill, the youngest skipper ever to win the America's Cup. "Plymouth has great sailing history hosting the finish of the legendary Fastnet Race and the single-handed trans-Atlantic starts, so it will be cool to race the next-generation AC45s there. With fifteen teams now entered, we can be assured of some epic racing on the AC World Series circuit. We have been having a blast with AC45s and now I can't wait to get out there and go racing with this great line-up of international teams."

The AC World Series 2011-2012 will be sailed in the AC45, the forerunner to the next generation of America’s Cup boats. The boat launched to great acclaim in New Zealand in January 2011. Designed to create more on-the-water excitement for both the teams and spectators, the AC45 wing-sailed catamaran was intended for both speed and close racing. Capable of closing speeds of up to 30 knots, the AC45 remains nifty enough to handle the tactical race courses planned by America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM).

Plymouth Hoe will be a splendid viewing area to experience the thrill of the races. There’s going to be a big screen showing live coverage of the action on the water, a stage for live entertainment after the racing and plenty of food and drinks stands.

Millbay Race Village will give you the opportunity to see the boats and teams up close and personal. There will be free public access to the Race Village where the boats will be based when not in action.
The teams

There is an all star line up with nine teams:

    Oracle Racing
    Artemis Racing
    Aleph
    China Team
    Energy Team
    Venezia Challenge
    Emirates Team New Zealand
    Team Korea
    GreenComm Racing

Events schedule:

Saturday 10 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

12 noon Ska/reggae band Too Hot

2pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

6pm Singer/songwriter Ruarri Joseph

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

8.30pm Singer Newton Faulker

Sunday 11 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

12 noon Funk bank Freshly Squeezed

3pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

4.15pm Britain's Got Talent singer Michael Collins

5.30pm Bluegrass band Out to Grass

7pm Rambunctious Social Club DJ

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

8.30pm Rambunctious Social Club DJ

Monday 12 September – non-race day

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

7.30pm Plymouth's own Patrick James Person Band

Tuesday 13 September – non-race day

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

7.30pm Willie and the Bandits

Wednesday 14 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

2pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

5pm DJ Aldo Vanucci

6pm VJ

6.30pm Land of Giants

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

8.45pm Charlie Simpson

9.45pm DJ Aldo Vanucci

Thursday 15 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

2pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

5pm Louis Eliot and the Embers

Friday 16 September

11pm The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

1pm Race Highlights from the previous day's racing

2pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

5.45pm BBC Southwest's David FitzGerald

6pm Plymouth's own Becca Langsford

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

8.30pm Folk singer Seth Lakeman

Saturday 17 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

12 noon Swing and jive band Company B

4pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

5.15pm Babyhead

6pm VJ

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

8.30pm Matt Edmondson

Sunday 18 September

11am The Base shops, food and beverage stands, and the Simulator open

12 noon Swing band Co-operative Big Band

3pm Racing begins (time approximate and according to conditions)

4pm Ska and reggae band, The Simmertones

6pm Shanty singers Fisherman's Friends

7pm Mad Dog Mcrea

8pm Race highlights and athlete interviews from the stage

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