HAMPSHIRE is set to welcome back one of the world's most prestigious sporting events for three days of spectacular sailing and entertainment.

One of the county's most famous sporting sons, sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie, will this weekend spearhead the British effort in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth, hours after celebrating the birth of his first child.

  • Scroll down for a detailed map, travel information, prices and more

It is only the second time the event has come to the county and will see some of the world's best sailors compete for a place in the America's Cup finals in Bermuda next year.

And among the thousands of visitors set to descend on the city will be the Duke of Edinburgh, who is visiting Sir Ben's Land Rover BAR team base today, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who will join the spectators on Sunday.

They will be among the crowds lining the shore to see some of the world's fastest hydro-foiling yachts race in the event, which is a heat for the main America's Cup next year.

The America’s Cup catamaran yachts use the latest sailing technology to skim on the surface of the water on their hydrofoils, and have more in common with F1 racing cars than regular sailing boats.

They have reached speeds of up to 47 knots, or 55 miles per hour.

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Portsmouth-based challengers Land Rover BAR, led by Olympic sailor Sir Ben from Lymington, will battle five other international teams in the contest.

Great Britain has never won the cup since its creation in 1851, and while Sir Ben's team slogan is Bring the Cup Home, it was changed to celebrate the arrival of his new daughter.

The event will come just days after Sir Ben and wife Georgie celebrated the birth of their first child, Bellatrix.

Sir Ben took to Twitter to call it his #proudestday, with the Land Rover BAR team saying: “Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby Bellatrix #BringTheBabyHome”.

On the water, preview racing takes place today, followed by the start of racing proper tomorrow.

An opening ceremony at 11.30am tomorrow will be followed by three races and three more on Sunday.

The main races which will see the teams battle for the all-important points takes place between 1-3.30pm tomorrow and on Sunday.

Last year the event attracted over 200,000 spectators, brought £9m to the UK economy and £5.9m was spent by visitors in Portsmouth.

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Spectators can view the races from the Race Village which is a free, ticketed area on Southsea Common.

The Race Village will have the best viewing of the event and is where you can see the sailor’s close-up, learn about the racing and the technology with live commentary and watch the big screens for a blow-by-blow account of the racing.

There are also special activities with ticketholders over eight able to try Blokart land sailing, while there will also be a skatepark, the Top Banana circus workshops, a climbing wall, and the Techzone.

At the Techzone you can take a close up look at one of the Land Rover BAR AC45 racing yachts and a sailing simulator allowing visitors to find out what sailings on the yachts is really like.

And there will also be spectacular aerial displays at noon on all three days of the event, with the world famous Red Arrows, The Blades acrobatic display team and the Red Bull Matadors will all wow the crowds over the weekend.

Site map

Daily Echo:

1. Event Shop & Info Point / 2. Bmw Exhibits / 3. Bremont / 4. Moet Bar / 5. Sail Racing/Goslings / 6. Ac Team Exhibits / 7. Love Southsea / 8. Travis Perkins Family Area / 9. Heart Fm / 10. Red Bull / 11. Bermuda Tourism Authority / 12. Royal Navy & Royal Marines / 13. Rya / 14. Rnli / 15. Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation / 16. Dirt2 Road / 17. VIP Hospitality / 18. Premier Grandstand / 19. TV/Media Compound / 20. Volunteers / 21. Main Stage / 22. Landrover BAR / 23. BT 100% Sport / 24. Tech Zone / 25. AC Zone / 26. The Market Place / 27. Media Centre / 28. Race Viewing Hill / 29. Sailors’ Lounge / 30. Big Screen / 31. Kids’ Zone / 32. Skate Park

Travel and Parking
Park and ride buses will run every ten minutes with services stopping in the city centre and The Hard Interchange, next to Portsmouth harbour Train Station - about a 25 minute walk to the event. 

The last bus leaves from The Hard Interchange at 9.30pmn on Friday and 7.15pm on Saturday and Sunday, stopping four minutes later at the city centre. 

There is a separate event park and ride service from Lakeside, North Harbour, Western Rd, Portsmouth, which stops at Gunwharf and the race village. 

The park and ride has easy access from the M27 east and west bound and will be signposted as “ACWS Park & Ride”

You can pre-book race village parking at the seafront, although Saturday has already sold out and there are limited spaces for Sunday.

The nearest train station to both the Race Village and Southsea Common is Portsmouth Harbour.

Prices:
Race Village day ticket - £25
Premier Grandstand day ticket - £60
Sailors Lounge day ticket - £120