By Jamie White – Head of Communications

Portsmouth is set to host America’s Cup World Series sailing races in Britain in 2015 and 2016 as part of the build-up to the main event in 2017.

Olympic gold medallist and head of the British America’s Cup team, Sir Ben Ainslie, is building a base in Portsmouth for his Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) team, which will strive to win the America’s Cup in 2017.

Ainslie was instrumental in helping Team USA win the cup in 2013 – and now wants Britain to achieve the same success. If Ainslie and the British team can claim victory, it will mean the ‘Auld Mug’ returns to Britain for the first time since it was held in 1851 in the Solent.

Ainslie said: It’s fantastic for us to be able to race in front of a home crowd in the World Series – a global series in the build-up to the next America’s Cup in 2017. It will be raced in the 45-footers we saw in the build-up to the last America’s Cup – they’ll be flying out of the water like we saw in San Francisco last year.”

The America’s Cup World Series will be held around the globe between teams aiming to take on America’s Cup holder Team Oracle USA.

A similar event held in Plymouth in 2011 helped boost the local economy by a reported £60 million.

Points gained in the America’s Cup World Series will affect the seeding and starting scores for the challenger teams in 2017.

The choice of Portsmouth as the venue was announced by entrepreneur Keith Mills, who is backing Ainslie’s bid to win the America’s Cup.

The choice of venue for the 35th America’s Cup, either San Diego or Bermuda, will be announced on December 2nd.

Portsmouth is home to the head office of mystery shopping and performance improvement company, Douglas Stafford, which works with a range of clients across the UK.