The oldest trophy in international sport — the America’s Cup has been contested since 1851, forty-five years before the first modern Olympics — comes to Italy for the first time in its history, and it comes to Naples. The Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup is sailed in the Bay of Naples between May and July 2027, with the race course a few hundred metres from the shore and Vesuvius in the background. That detail changes everything for anyone coming to watch: here, unlike almost every past edition, you can follow the boats from the street.
What is actually coming to Naples
The boats are AC75s: 75-foot flying monohulls that rise onto foils and pass 90 km/h. Two things change for 2027 compared with Barcelona 2024: the crew goes up to six, and among them there must be one female sailor and one under-25, both required by the rules. The Women’s and Youth America’s Cup also return, on dates that have not been published yet.
The defender is Emirates Team New Zealand, winner of the last three editions; the Challenger of Record is Britain’s GB1, led by Ben Ainslie, and the challengers include Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, racing at home. The final entry list closes on the deadlines set by the protocol: before taking any team’s presence for granted, check the official site.
The team bases are being built at Bagnoli, on the former industrial site west of the city: some 250 hectares that the event is also meant to bring back to life, with a marina, the media centre and public spaces. The race course, on the other hand, stays on the other side of town, in front of the city waterfront.
The calendar, day by day
The 2027 programme stretches over two months, and that matters when you choose when to come: not every racing day is the same.
| When | What is raced |
|---|---|
| 24-27 September 2026 | Preliminary regatta in Naples, in AC40s |
| 22-23 May 2027 | Louis Vuitton Cup opens: all challengers fleet racing, six races over two days |
| from 26 May 2027 | Louis Vuitton Cup, one-on-one round robin |
| 16-20 June 2027 | Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals (21 June in reserve) |
| from 26-27 June 2027 | Louis Vuitton Cup final, running to 3-4 July if needed |
| from 10 July 2027 | America’s Cup Match, best of thirteen races, due to finish on 17-18 July |
Two things to know before fixing dates. First, racing depends on the wind: the limits published for the 2026 preliminary are 7.5 and 21 knots, and outside that range they do not sail, days slip, and that is why the calendar keeps reserve days. Second, the Louis Vuitton Cup final can end early, so between 4 and 10 July 2027 there may be a window with nothing on the water.
The dress rehearsal: the September 2026 preliminary regatta
There is a starter before the main course, and it is happening now: from 24 to 27 September 2026 the bay hosts a preliminary regatta. It is sailed in AC40s, the smaller one-design class with four people on board: eight fleet races and a match race to finish on the last day.
- Race village at the Rotonda Diaz, by Mappatella beach: free entry, open from late morning, big screens, a stage and live commentary.
- Racing is in the early afternoon, with the first starts around 2 pm: three races a day on the official days, with Thursday given over to practice.
- You can watch from the whole of Lungomare Caracciolo, free, with no ticket and no booking.
- On television, Italian coverage is on RAI and Sky, and the event’s own channels stream it live.
It is also the best chance to see how the city behaves on a race day — something that in July 2027 will matter ten times over.
Where to watch from shore
The course is drawn to be watched from land: it runs between Castel dell’Ovo and Posillipo, close to the shore. The good spots, in order of convenience:
- Lungomare Caracciolo and Via Partenope: pedestrian, two kilometres long, with the boats in front of you and Vesuvius to the side. The natural choice, and also the most crowded.
- Rotonda Diaz: the hub of the shore-side events, where village, screens and commentary are concentrated.
- Castel dell’Ovo and the Santa Lucia quarter: the closest view to the start line, and a few metres higher up.
- The Posillipo hill — Via Orazio, Parco Virgiliano, Marechiaro: you look down on the course, understand it better and have far more room. You do have to get up there, and it is not a walk.
- From the water: boats can watch from the designated spectator areas outside the course. The access rules are published by the organisers before each event.
Getting to the waterfront on race days
The Naples seafront is pedestrian even on a normal day. On event days the area around it is rearranged, with diversions and parking bans, and parking there is not an option: the local garages fill early and cost as much as dinner.
Three things work. The metro, whose stops between Municipio and Mergellina are a few minutes’ walk from the sea, is the quickest way in. The ferry or hydrofoil, for anyone coming from the islands, lands at Molo Beverello, a quarter of an hour on foot from the Rotonda Diaz. Or you get dropped at the edge of the closed area and walk the rest: that is what almost everyone coming from Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast for the day asks for, because the problem is not getting there, it is getting back.
Bagnoli, where the team bases are, is a different matter: it lies west of the city, is served by the Cumana railway and metro Line 2, and is a good twenty minutes by road from the city waterfront.
Where to stay, and why to look outside the city
July is already high season in Naples. With the America’s Cup in town in 2027, rooms in the centre and along the seafront will be booked far ahead and priced accordingly. The sensible alternatives are all within an hour: Sorrento and its peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, the Campi Flegrei — next-door neighbours to Bagnoli — and the Vesuvius area.
The warning is the usual one, and on those days it weighs more: public transport thins out in the evening. The last ferry to the islands leaves early, the Circumvesuviana closes sooner than you would think, and so do the coast buses. If you sleep outside the city, decide how you get back before you book the hotel, not on the night. For everything else, our guide to what to see in Naples in three days still applies: the city is not only seen from the sea.
Frequently asked questions
When is the America’s Cup in Naples?
The Match — the final showdown — starts on 10 July 2027 and finishes by 17-18 July: it is won on a best of thirteen races. Before that, from late May to early July, the Louis Vuitton Cup decides the challenger. And from 24 to 27 September 2026 Naples hosts a preliminary regatta, sailed in the smaller AC40 boats.
Where can you watch the racing from shore?
The race course runs close inshore between Castel dell’Ovo and Posillipo, so you can watch from Lungomare Caracciolo, Via Partenope, the Rotonda Diaz and the Posillipo hill above the city. For the September 2026 preliminary regatta the race village is at the Rotonda Diaz, by Mappatella beach, and entry is free.
Do you need a ticket?
For the 2026 preliminary regatta, no: the village is free to enter and the seafront is public. For 2027 the access arrangements for the ticketed areas have not been published yet; the source to watch is the official site, americascup.com.
Where are the team bases?
In Bagnoli, the former industrial district west of the city, which is being redeveloped for the event. It is on the opposite side of Naples from the seafront: the Cumana railway and metro Line 2 serve it, not Line 1.
Is it better to stay in Naples or outside?
In July 2027 Naples will be full and expensive. Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, the Campi Flegrei and the Vesuvius area are all within an hour by road, but public transport thins out in the evening: if you stay outside the city, plan the journey back before you book, not on the night.
The dates and formats on this page are the ones published by the organisers in September 2026 and can change: the official calendar lives on americascup.com. What will not change is the rarest thing about this edition — a race course a stone’s throw from the shore, in a city that has faced the sea for twenty-five centuries.
On race days the seafront closes
We drop you at the edge of the pedestrian zone and pick you up wherever you say, late in the day too: from the airport, the port or your hotel on the coast, with no hunt for parking that does not exist.
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