Britain won a 5-2 victory over Switzerland on Wednesday in the America's Cup Challenger Series to earn a spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final in Barcelona.

In the other semifinal, the United States maintained their hopes with a vital win over Italy who suffered a dramatic equipment failure in their second race of that day.

Jimmy Spithill said, "Looks as though we've broken traveller track" about the damage done to the AC75 monohull foiling rig. The part that broke caused a huge bang, and the boat temporarily lost control.

In the semi-final of the first-to-5, Italy has four wins to the United States' three. The winner will play Britain in the final, which is scheduled for the end of this month.

The Louis Vuitton Cup winner will then face New Zealand in a battle for the "Auld Mug", the oldest sporting trophy dating back to 1851.

The British crew, led by Ben Ainslie, had raced into a 4-0 advantage but were redeemed on Monday by the Swiss crew.

When the Swiss beat the British in Wednesday's first race, they narrowed the gap by 4-2. They could not take advantage of their improved form in the second race due to difficult conditions.

Ainslie, after the America's Cup broadcast live coverage of his team's win on what he called a "tough" day, said: "We're all relieved that we've survived today and made it to the final."

Ainslie said that the Swiss are "a great team". (Reporting and editing by Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)