America’s Cup 2024: What is it, how does it work, race schedule and dates

As Ben Ainslie attempts to win Britain’s first America’s Cup, here is everything you need to know about yachting’s blue-riband event

The 37th America’s Cup takes place in Barcelona this autumn as the British entrant led by Ben Ainslie bids to end the 173-year wait for a first victory.
To earn the right to compete for the America’s Cup itself, against New Zealand, Ainslie’s crew must first win the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup, which got under way on September 26. Their opponents in that final are Italy’s Luna Rossa, skippered by Jimmy Spithill. 
Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia beat the Swiss Alinghi boat in the semi-final of the Louis Vuitton Cup; Italy beat the US boat American Magic. 
The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will qualify to take on the reigning America’s Cup champions – the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron – in the first-to-seven-wins match-race in Barcelona starting on October 12. 
The America’s Cup is the oldest international trophy in sport. It was first held in 1851, predating the modern Olympic Games by 45 years. In the first match the schooner America, representing the New York Yacht Club, came over to the Isle of Wight and beat the best the Royal Yacht Squadron could muster to claim the ‘Auld Mug’.
The watching Queen Victoria was said to have asked, “Who was second?” to which the reply was, “Ma’am, there is no second”. There have been 36 editions in total. Britain has never won it.
The Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series started with a double round-robin stage between the five challengers from August 29 to September 8. The French Orient Express Racing Team were eliminated after this initial phase.
In the semi-finals Great Britain (Ineos Britannia) beat Switzerland (Alinghi) and Italy (Luna Rossa) beat the US (American Magic). Great Britain and Italy are now competing in the Louis Vuitton Cup final from September 26 to October 5.
The winner of this will face defenders New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup match from October 12-21.
In the UK and Ireland, live coverage of the America’s Cup will be available to watch on TNT Sports and Eurosport/Discovery. It will also be available on YouTube, Facebook and on the America’s Cup official website.
Live coverage and highlights of the Louis Vuitton Cup have also been broadcast on YouTube.
Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finalsThe semi-finalists raced in best-of-nine semi-finals, with their seeding determined by their performance in the round robins. A maximum of four races per day were sailed. 
Semi-final 1: Ineos Britannia beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Semi-final 2: Luna Rossa beat American Magic 
Louis Vuitton Cup finalThe two semi-final winners now face each other in a best-of-13 final to determine who gets to race against New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup match. Two races per day can be sailed on September 26, 28, 29, October 1, 2, 4 and 5. Reserve days are scheduled for October 6 and 7. 
Racing starts at 1pm UK time on race days and generally runs until 3pm or 4pm.
On the opening day of racing, Luna Rossa took the first victory but Ineos Britannia fought back to make it 1-1. When racing resumed in high winds on Sunday Luna Russo were disqualified from the third race but controversially won the fourth. On Monday, again the teams took a race apiece. The series really exploded into life on Tuesday when Luna Rossa nosedived in the opening race and badly damaged their boat. Remarkably, they fixed some of the damage with gaffer tape and bounced back to win the eighth race, thereby locking the series at 4-4 going into Wednesday’s competition. 
37th America’s Cup matchThe winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will qualify to face New Zealand in the America’s Cup match itself in a best-of-13 series. Two races per day can be sailed on October 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21. The reserve days are October 14, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.
The New York Yacht Club won the first ever America’s Cup held in 1851 before successfully defending it 24 times over the course of the next 130 years against a succession of mainly British challengers backed by splendid adventurer-types. James Lloyd Ashbury, the son of a railway tycoon, tried twice without success. Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the famous tea company, challenged five times over a period of 31 years. Sir Thomas Sopwith, of the famous First World War single-seat biplane, challenged twice in the 1930s on his J-class yachts Endeavour and Endeavour II.
The New York Yacht Club — backed by great American dynasties like the JP Morgans and the Vanderbilts — sent them all packing. It was only in 1983, by which time the Cup match was preceded by a challenger series between the fleet of hopefuls, that a foreign syndicate finally prevailed. Australia II, with its controversial ‘winged keel’ (which survived a legal protest by the NYYC), took the Cup to Perth. Since then, New Zealand have won the Cup four times, the United States have won it with two different yacht clubs, and even land-locked Switzerland have won it twice. Britain has still never won it.