LOUIS VUITTON CUP AND THE MATCH
THE RACE FOR THE AULD MUG

The Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series) will put every competing team through a series of intense regatta stages to decide who will earn the right to face the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the highly anticipated Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Match starting on 10 July 2027.

The saying famously goes: "To win the America's Cup, you first must win the Louis Vuitton Cup."

PRELIMINARY REGATTAS
THE ROAD TO NAPLES

The Preliminary Regattas are where the first real clues about each team’s strength emerge. In 2026, up to three events will set the stage, followed by a final showdown in 2027, just weeks before racing begins in Naples. Sailed in the dynamic AC40 class, these regattas also introduce an exciting new opportunity. Each team may now field two boats: one helmed by their core America’s Cup squad and another showcasing the rising stars of their Youth and Women’s teams. It’s the first glimpse of form, strategy, and speed as teams test new ideas, refine crew configurations, and push hard for early momentum on the path toward sailing’s biggest prize.

THE DEFENDER
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND

In 2024 Emirates Team New Zealand concluded a historic chapter, winning the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup after an epic showdown in Barcelona. The team re-wrote the record books as the first continuous team in the 175 years of the event to win the three-peat.

Sailing for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) in Auckland, the New Zealand team’s inception goes back to 1987. With three campaigns already under their belt, then, Team New Zealand, eventually won the 29th America’s Cup in 1995—making it “New Zealand’s Cup”—and resulting in a successful defence in Auckland in 2000. In the years after, the trophy went to Switzerland and later to the US, until Emirates Team New Zealand regained the Auld Mug in a spectacular regatta in Bermuda in 2017 by showing their innovation and ingenuity through the introduction of ‘Cyclors’ on the foiling catamaran.

THE CHALLENGER OF RECORD
GB1

The British team, GB1, sail under the flag of the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd. (RYS), and are led by Sir Ben Ainslie.

During the last edition, the most successful British Challenge in over 90 years ended in defeat in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match after a spirited series against the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand. The British team reached the country’s first America’s Cup Match final since 1964 and the first match win since Sir T.O.M. Sopwith’s team in 1934. There’s a steely British determination to go one better with another campaign to try to secure the one trophy yet missing.

WOMEN’S AMERICA’S CUP
THE RISE CONTINUES

The Women’s America’s Cup returns in 2027, building on the groundbreaking success of its inaugural edition in Barcelona. What began as a transformative moment for women in high-performance sailing is now a fully established pathway to a role on an AC75, creating real opportunities for female athletes to compete, excel, and step into the spotlight on the world’s fastest boats. In Naples, the momentum continues as the next generation of sailors takes on the AC40 once again, proving that the “winds of change” are only getting stronger.

YOUTH AMERICA’S CUP
THE NEXT GENERATION

The Youth America’s Cup has long been the launchpad for future legends, with past editions in 2013, 2017, and 2024 producing some of the sport’s biggest stars. In 2027, the competition returns and we may be able to see the “Next at the Helm” promise come true at some of the AC75 sailing too... Faster, sharper, and more competitive than ever, young sailors from around the world will take the helm of AC40s, showcasing raw talent, bold decisionmaking, and the fearlessness that defines the next generation. Naples will once again become the proving ground where tomorrow’s America’s Cup champions first make their mark.