The AC75 boat of Italy took a dramatic and high-speed nosedive in the latest race between Britain and their America's Cup Challengers on Tuesday. This caused damage to their carbon fiber decking, and gave their opponents an advantage and a 4-3 win.

The first-to-7 Louis Vuitton Cup saw Britain and Italy tied at 3-3 heading into Tuesday. The winner would then challenge New Zealand to the America's Cup.

Italian foiling monohulls crashed bow first into the Mediterranean off Barcelona after gaining speed and bearing away from top mark on the first leg in the head to head race.

Francesco Bruni, co-helm of the Italian America's Cup team after the race had been stopped, said that there was a problem with the top mark. He added that the damage appeared to be repairable and caused by the nosedive.

Italy has already experienced several boat problems during their campaign to challenge the 'Auld Mug,' which dates back to the year 1851 and is considered the oldest international sporting prize.

Italian sailors had to try and assess the damage caused by the crash, which occurred at speeds approaching 50 knots. They eventually received outside assistance from the support team. This resulted in an automatic victory for Britain.

Ben Ainslie, the British co-helm said that conditions were perfect for racing. He added: "These are boats just getting faster and faster each day." (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)