America's Cup

In 2027, the Gulf of Naples becomes the centre of the sailing world. The America's Cup, the oldest trophy in international sport, will play out against a backdrop of Mount Vesuvius, ancient coastline and some of the bluest water you'll ever see. If you're going to be there, you may as well be on the water for it.

Naples doesn't do anything quietly. It's a city of colour, noise, history and extraordinary food, and it sits at the edge of one of Italy's most breathtaking stretches of coast. To the south, Amalfi. To the west, Ischia and Procida. Just offshore, Capri. When the America's Cup organisers chose Naples as the venue for the 2027 edition, they picked somewhere that can hold its own against the spectacle of the racing itself.

The Bay of Naples offers natural grandeur as a race course. The conditions are typically lively, and the amphitheatre effect of the surrounding coastline means spectators have a genuine view of the action whether they're watching from the shore or from the water. From a boat, though, it's on another level entirely.

Watching the AC75s tearing across the bay at 50 knots while Vesuvius sits in the background is the kind of thing you tell people about for years.

The America's Cup in its modern format is a proper event programme, not just a single race day. There are Preliminary Regattas, the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series where multiple teams from around the world battle it out for the right to face the defender, and then the main event itself, the Match. The whole thing runs over several weeks, which means there are plenty of race days on the calendar and plenty of opportunities to get out on the water.

The boats are AC75s, foiling monohulls that lift completely out of the water and reach speeds that most powerboats would be embarrassed by. In person, and especially from close on the water, they're extraordinary to watch. The noise, the spray, the sheer athletic effort of the crews, it all hits differently when you're not watching through a screen.

Shoreside viewing at major sailing events has come a long way, but it still has a fundamental problem: the racing happens offshore, and the best action is often a long way from the nearest beach. Spectator zones on the water put you where the boats are. You see the tacks and gybes up close. You feel the wind. You get a sense of scale that no camera angle ever quite captures.

There's also the straightforward pleasure of being on a boat in the Bay of Naples on a summer day. Even on a rest day between races, this is not a bad place to be.

The America's Cup brings an enormous number of visitors to its host city. Barcelona in 2024 saw accommodation prices triple and charter boats book out months in advance. Naples in 2027 will be no different. The city is already seeing interest from teams, sponsors, sailing fans and general visitors who just want to be somewhere exceptional for a few weeks.

If you've got specific race days in mind, or you want to be out on the water for a Challenger Series semifinal or the Match itself, locking that in now gives you far more choice than waiting until the schedule firms up.

We're a Mediterranean boat hire company with a straightforward offer: good boats, experienced crew, and genuine local knowledge about the best places to be and the best routes to take. We've been arranging charters and transfers around major sailing events for years, and we know how the logistics of race weeks work.

Naples in 2027 is going to be one of those events where people who were there will say they were there for the rest of their lives. Being on the water for it makes it something else entirely.