THE FIRST Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth event, held in July 2015, saw close to a quarter of a million people visit Portsmouth to watch the six America’s Cup teams battle it out on high-speed, flying catamarans.

Event organisers TEAMORIGIN conducted in-depth research into the event, listening to feedback from fans, visitors, local businesses and residents, to deliver a more focused experience for 2016. There will be a new-look ’Race Village’ in a compact but content rich area in Southsea located around the Southsea Castle area locally known as ’Bandstand Field’ and ’Castle Field’. The main Southsea Common area is no longer part of the Race Village and becomes a non-ticketed access area with no restrictions.

The public show starts on shore and on water from Friday, July 22, to Sunday, July 24. Adult ’Race Village’ tickets are priced from £25 per day (early bird £18 per day), there are also affordable ticket options for families, with half-price tickets for under-16s, and free entry for the under-fives. The sell-out Premier Grandstand returns for 2016, with early-bird seats (that include entry into the Race Village) available from £53 per day, and a new ’Sailors Lounge’ option offers an exclusive covered sailing club-style sports bar area with limited capacity tickets available from £120 per day (includes grandstand seat and food/drink voucher). The 2016 event also turns its attention to youth engagement and has assigned Thursday, July 21, as ’1851 Thursday’. It will be a non-ticketed youth engagement and sponsor activation day hosted by ’The 1851 Trust’ a charity which aims to inspire and engage a new generation through sailing and the marine industry.

Racing will again be held directly in front of the ’Race Village’ making it the place to enjoy views of the action. The ticketed ’Race Village’ will also be packed with new innovative displays and features including more hands-on exhibits giving insights into this unique competition, featuring an all new Tech-Zone and Sailing Team Hubs, where visitors can get an up-close look at the sailing ’pit lanes’. Fans can also listen to expert insight with the live Dock-out and Dock-in shows bringing the sailing teams to the fans before and after racing.

For more information visit www.lvacwsportsmouth.com