British into play-off final while US, Italy battle it out for final place

BARCELONA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- INEOS Britannia secured its place in the final of the America's Cup Final to see which yacht will have the right to compete against Emirates New Zealand on Wednesday.

The boat captained by Ben Ainslie secured its fifth and decisive win over the Alinghi Red Bull Racing vessel from Switzerland in the pair's second race of the day to win the tie 5 races to 2.

The British boat had led the series 4-0, but the Swiss crew fought back on Monday to keep the tie in the balance.

"It was a tough final couple of days in the lighter conditions, hats off to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, they really pushed us hard in those lighter conditions and it was a rough day today where the wind was up and down a lot," said Ainslie after the race.

"It was a nasty sea state. A tough test for all of the teams, but I'm delighted for our team, for all the hard work and effort to get us this point," added the British skipper.

On the other side of the draw, NYYC American Magic kept the American dream alive with two critical wins over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to trail 4-3 after they too had been 4 races to 0 down.

The Italian yacht suffered a technical issue in the first race of the day, but were outsailed by the Americans in the second.

"This is high-level sport... You're always going to get a few curveballs that come your way, but champion teams can deal with that, and we've certainly got a champion team."

"We have a fantastic team ashore and there's no doubt in my mind that we will be back. I'll make a bet and I'll put the farm on it that we'll be out there tomorrow," commented Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who believes his crew can prevail on Thursday. ■