America's Cup: All you need to know

Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill holds aloft the Americas Cup in 2013. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The 35th edition of the America's Cup begins on Saturday morning NZT. Here we break down everything you need to know about the event.

Where is it?

Bermuda will play host for the first time with racing to take place in Bermuda's Great Sound.

What are boats?

Teams will race America's Cup class boats called ACCs, the new generation of thefoiling catamaran. They are a smaller catamaran than the AC72 boats raced in 2013 with a crew reduction to six members onboard. Each boat will have a helmsman, wing trimmer and four grinders (or cyclists in Team NewZealand's case)

The boats are 15 metres long and are built to a design rule, but that rule allows designers and engineers to express their creativity in their designs.

The America's Cup Ultimate Guide

Who is in it?

There are six teams competing:
Oracle Team USA as the defenders along with challengers Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand, Groupama Team France, Land Rover BAR (Great Britain) and SoftBank Team Japan.

When does it start?

Wind permitting, the opening day of racing takes place on Saturday morning NZT from 8am. Team New Zealand take place in the third race of the day against France's Team Groupama.

Louis Vutton Cup America's Cup qualifiers - Saturday May 30 to Sunday June 4
Louis Vutton Cup America's Cup challenger playoffs - Monday June 5 to Friday June 9
Louis Vutton Cup America's Cup challenger playoffs final - Sunday June 11 to Tuesday June 13 (if goes nine races)
America's Cup - Sunday June 18 to Wednesday June 28 (if goes 13 races)

What time will races take place?

Get your alarms set! Apart from a later start on day one due to the opening ceremony, each day of racing will start around 5am NZT and finish at either 6.30am or 7am.

What's the format?

Racing begins with the Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifiers where there will be two lots of round robin. All six teams, including Oracle will race, however Oracle are already guaranteed a spot in the America's Cup final.

Each team will race each other twice over the Cup qualifiers before the top four challengers advance to the next round.

The qualifiers will be followed by the Louis Vuitton America's Cup playoffs semifinals and eventually the final where the top two challengers will race in a best of nine to face Oracle in the America's Cup.

And the America's Cup format?

The final has been reduced from first to nine wins in 2013 to first to seven races this year.

What will the coverage be?

nzherald.co.nz will live blog every race starting on Saturday while Radio Sport will have commentary from broadcasting great PJ Montgomery of every Team New Zealand race. Commentary will be available on Radio Sport frequencies across the country as well as iHeart Radio.

Sky Sport are the television rights holders and will have live coverage of every race in Bermuda.