Sailing-Italian nosedive hands Britain 4-3 lead in America's Cup challenger series

BARCELONA, Spain : Italy's AC75 boat took a dramatic, high-speed nosedive during the latest race against Britain in their America's Cup challengers clash on Tuesday, damaging their carbon fibre decking and handing their opponents a win and 4-3 lead.

Britain and Italy were level at 3-3 going into Tuesday in the first-to-seven Louis Vuitton Cup, with the winners going on to challenge defenders New Zealand for the America's Cup.

The Italians' sleek silver foiling monohull crashed bow-first in a dramatic splash down into the Mediterranean waters off Barcelona as it picked up speed after bearing away from the top mark of the first leg of eight in the head-to-head race.

"We had a problem at the top mark," Italy's co-helm Francesco Bruni said on the America's Cup live broadcast after the race was stopped, adding that the damage looked repairable and had been caused by the nosedive.

Italy have already suffered several problems with their boat during the campaign to become challenger for the 'Auld Mug', which dates back to 1851 and is known as the oldest international sporting trophy.

The Italian team's sailors were left trying to assess the damage sustained during the crash at a speed approaching 50 knots, eventually getting outside assistance from their support team which meant an automatic win for Britain.

British co-helm Ben Ainslie said the conditions had been perfect for racing, adding: "These boats are just going faster and faster every day."