October 17^th marks exactly one month to go until the start of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Fukuoka event, the last event of the 2015 / 2016 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series and the final chance for the America’s Cup teams to put points on the board for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda, 2017.

Preparations in Fukuoka are right on track to deliver a spectacular first ever America’s Cup event in Asia, and a fitting finale to an incredible series, battled out over the last eight rounds from the UK to Sweden, Bermuda, Oman, the USA and France, but it all comes down to the last round in Japan from 18^th to 20^thNovember 2016.

Every team has a reason to be looking forward to Fukuoka, perhaps none more so than SoftBank Team Japan who will be racing at their home event for the first time ever. Kazuhiko “Fuku” Sofuku, Sailor and General Manager of the Japanese team has been one of the driving forces behind the event and is clearly excited about the chance to finally race an America’s Cup event in his home country. “Of course, as a Japanese sailor, I’m overjoyed that an America’s Cup event will take place in Japan. All of us – SoftBank, our team and Fukuoka city – for a long time we have been planning for this event and every single one of us have been working really hard to make it happen. For me personally, it’s a dream-come-true moment and thanks to everyone’s support, we are now just one month away from it all happening.”