AC World Series Televised in US
It’s a huge disappointment to Bay Area sailors that no Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event will take place here — despite the fact that the Golden Gate YC is the sponsoring club of AC defender Oracle Team USA. But thanks to recently announced TV viewing opportunities, there’s no reason that Bay sailors can’t enjoy the action this weekend during the World Series event in Bermuda.
Sunday’s races will be broadcast on NBC Sports and NBC Sport Live Extra at noon on the West Coast (1-hour delay). All races can be viewed both Saturday and Sunday via the America’s Cup App, for a fee. See the website to download it.
In case the ACWS has been off your radar, six teams will be fleet racing in AC45 wing sail catamarans, all built to the same design rule. After July’s event in Portsmouth, UK, and August’s series in Gothenburg, Sweden, Emirates Team New Zealand is leading with 72 points, followed by the British team Land Rover BAR (65), Oracle Team USA (64), SoftBank Team Japan (56), Sweden’s Artemis Racing (53), and Groupama Team France (50).
The ACWS schedule for 2016 is still being fine-tuned, but a contest in Abu Dhabi or elsewhere in the Middle East is expected in February, followed by a Chicago event June10-12, a Portsmouth event July 21-24, a Gothenburg event in August, and a Tokyo event in October (tentative).
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The new America’s Cup boats that will be used in the Louis Vuitton AC Qualifiers (May 2017) are expected to be launched late next year or early in 2017. The actual America’s Cup Match will begin in Bermuda June 17, 2017.