Naples' Lungomare waterfront is about to get loud. From 24 to 27 September 2026, the bay will host the second official Preliminary Regatta of the 38th America's Cup cycle — and it's the first time the elite teams race on the exact waters that will decide the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup Match itself in 2027.

Nine identical AC40 foiling monohulls, sailed by six teams, will battle it out in fleet racing across three days, with a winner-takes-all match race final closing the event on the Sunday. The line-up includes defender Emirates Team New Zealand, Britain's GB1, home favourites Luna Rossa, Switzerland's Tudor Team Alinghi, France's La Roche-Posay Racing Team and the newly entered American Racing Challenger Team USA. Several squads — New Zealand, GB1 and Luna Rossa among them — have brought a second AC40 so their Women's and Youth crews can log real race time alongside the senior sailors.

The schedule is simple: practice on Thursday the 24th, fleet racing on Friday and Saturday, then final fleet races plus the top-two match race showdown on Sunday the 27th. None of it counts towards the 2027 standings — this is about performance data, crew rotation and learning the bay's quirks — but the racing is real and the boats are spectacular in full flight.

If you're not in Naples, watching is refreshingly easy. The America's Cup YouTube channel and website are streaming the regatta free for UK and New Zealand viewers, and TVNZ adds live coverage, studio analysis and replays for Kiwis. The usual catch is geo-blocking if you're travelling abroad — the standard fix is a VPN: install one, connect to a server in your home country, then open your usual broadcaster's stream as normal. Just note that the official feeds remain free in several countries, so you may not need to bother at all.

For anyone planning to be there in person, the setting is the draw. The course sits right off the Lungomare, Naples' sweeping seafront promenade, meaning you can watch world-class foiling yachts skim past while standing a short stroll from the historic centre, Spaccanapoli and a decent pizza. It's also a rare low-stakes chance to scout the venue a full year before the Cup itself takes over the city in 2027 — when hotel prices and crowds will be in a different league. If you fancy combining sailing with a city break, September water and weather in Naples are about as good as it gets, and this preliminary regatta is free to enjoy from the waterfront. Source: Yachting World