On Wednesday, Britain won a close quarters battle against Italy to gain a series lead of 5-4.

Ben Ainslie, the British co-helm of both AC75 "foiling" boats that bounced around in rough seas near Barcelona, said they were trying to stay on their hydrofoils while being on a knife edge.

Francesco Bruni, co-helm of the Italian team, said that they were having difficulty choosing a smaller jib after the race. This was the first of the two races on Wednesday for the Louis Vuitton Cup, which is open to the top seven teams.

The winner of this series will face New Zealand in a battle for the America's Cup at the end of this month.

The British extended their lead by capitalizing on a mistake made by the Italians. (Reporting and editing by Christian Radnedge; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)