The Dutch and Spanish teams qualified for the semifinals in the testing conditions near Barcelona, as well.

The Swedish crew, which has had more time to practice with the AC40 foiling boat than other teams, set the pace in a Mediterranean breeze that was shifting.

Sweden, Australia, Canada, and Germany were all in the same group as Sweden at the end of this eight-race series. The six-boat semifinal scheduled for Friday was the result.

Canada's hopes of winning the first race were dashed when their high-tech vessel was damaged in a dramatic nosedive and nearly capsized. They are now out of the competition.

The crash had also repercussions on the other side, between Britain, France Italy, New Zealand Switzerland and United States.

The 12 teams participating in the event shared boats. As a result, Britain was not able to compete on Tuesday as planned due to damage to the AC40 used by Canada.

The organisers decided to reschedule the fleet race for the group to Thursday so that it could be repaired.

The race committee announced that the racing was cancelled in the interest of fairness for all competitors. (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)