On Monday, France lost their chance to compete for the coveted America's Cup trophy. Britain, however, won key matches in the round-robin, putting them at the top of the leaderboard.

Ben Ainslie and the British team are the leaders in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals.

Ainslie, after defeating the Italian team in an elimination race, said, "To be honest, that's not what we expected." He declined to reveal who they will pick for their next race.

"Congratulations to the team...all the hard work has paid off." Ainslie told the America's Cup TV program that he thought they had a good package. "We just have to keep it rolling."

Five possible challengers to the America's Cup - Britain, France Italy, United States, and Switzerland - have been competing in the Louis Vuitton Cup's double round robin stage in sometimes volatile sailing conditions in the Mediterranean.

Britain had earlier eliminated France from the competition by a convincing victory over late-entrants in the Cup Challengers.

Quentin Delapierre, the French crew leader, said that "what they have achieved is truly unbelievable" and added, "We fought hard, but it wasn't enough".

The French team has been eliminated, and despite their hard racing, they only managed to win one series. Now, the remaining four teams will compete in a semi-final for a spot in the final. This will determine who will face New Zealand, the defending champions, in October.

All four athletes are hoping to win the oldest sporting trophy in the world, the "Auld Mug", which was won for the first time off the South Coast of England, England, in 1851.

America's Cup campaigns cost tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. They are now fought in the latest 'foiling AC75' boats, which some compare to Formula One. (Reporting and editing by Christian Radnedge; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)