Starting shot of the 27th Little America's Cup

The LITTLECUP 2015 was launched officially yesterday evening at the Société Nautique de Genève during the opening ceremony which ended with a red illumination of the Jet d'Eau Fountain. Compulsory training racing sessions are being held today so that teams can test their new battleground in real conditions before getting down to the nitty gritty tomorrow in the qualifications.

The event's sponsors and main partners, Lombard Odier, the SNG and the Town of Geneva, joined Steve Clark, Chairman of the C Class in expressing their support of the LITTLECUP and its competitors during the event's opening ceremony. In a symbolic gesture to the inhabitants of Geneva, the opening of the 27th Little America's Cup was marked at nightfall by the illumination of the Jet d'Eau Fountain in red, emblematic for C Class, being hosted in Switzerland for the first time.

After a few sessions earlier this week to familiarize themselves with Lake Geneva, today the teams will be meeting each other for the first time in a fleet training session. The 7 teams have worked day and night in order to line up at the start with their finely-tuned C Class yachts, honed for top performance. With one day to go before the start of the qualifications, the tension and concentration are tangible in the paddocks of the LITTLECUP Village. "Here we are" enthused Race Director, Denis Horeau, "after nearly two years of intense preparation, able to admire the racing of these highly technological catamarans on Lake Geneva."

Each day, the course will be set in the area of the Petit Lac in the most favourable wind conditions for racing to be held between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. in front of the SNG, in Versoix or off Hermance. At the end of the 4 days of qualifying fleet races, the 2 winners will battle it out in match racing finals.

Follow the racing in situ from the Quai Gustave Ador or on YouTube, where racing will be broadcast live using a tracking system and 3D modelling.

www.littlecup.org