GB close to ending 60-year wait for America's Cup spot

Four-time Olympic sailing champion Ben Ainslie is the skipper and chief executive officer of the Britannia team, which is backed by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos Group

Great Britain moved closer to securing a place in the America's Cup for the first time since 1964 as Ben Ainslie's Ineos Britannia team took a 6-4 lead over Italy.

The British team require one more point to win the first-to-seven Louis Vuitton Cup series after edging two tight races amid choppy conditions off the coast of Barcelona on Wednesday.

The winners will challenge defending champions New Zealand for the 37th America's Cup from 12-17 October.

"It was a great effort from the entire team. It's very hard to sail these boats on these waves and it's difficult to explain to people just how tough it is. You’re constantly on a knife edge," said British co-helm Ainslie, 47.

"It's great to get the two wins, the guys managed the really difficult conditions well but there's still plenty of gains to make."

Britain has never won the America's Cup - the world's oldest sporting competition - and last contested the race 60 years ago.

New Zealand, the current holders after winning the 36th America's Cup in New Zealand in 2021, automatically qualify for the final match.

Facing Italy's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli boat for a chance to end their long absence, Britain built on an early lead and then capitalised on a mistake by the Italians in the first race of the day.

During the second, the teams were neck-and-neck off the start but the British team controlled the race to move to match point, with the next matches scheduled for Friday.

Britannia qualified for the Louis Vuitton Cup final by beating Swiss team Alinghi 5-2 in the semi-finals.

First held around the Isle of Wight in 1851, for the first time in its history this year's America's Cup includes a women's event - with Hannah Mills, Britain's most successful female Olympic sailor, leading the 12-strong British squad in the qualification races starting on 5 October.