Ineos Britannia’s chances of making the 37th America’s Cup appeared to receive a huge boost on Wednesday when rivals Luna Rossa suffered a spectacular crash in Race 7 of the challenger final, leaving them with what looked like significant damage to their boat.

Italy's AC75 boat took a dramatic, high-speed nosedive during the latest race against Britain in their America's Cup challengers clash on Tuesday, damaging their carbon fibre decking and handing their opponents a win and 4-3 lead.

Luna Rossa recovered from a dramatic, high-speed nosedive during the first race against Britannia, bouncing back in the second.

British co-helm Dylan Fletcher said he feared “someone might have been killed” had Ineos Britannia not taken evasive action during Sunday’s controversial loss to Luna Rossa, which allowed the Italians to draw level at 2-2 in the Louis Vuitton Cup final.

The Italian boat co-helmed by Australian Americas Cup veteran Jimmy Spithill is level in the challenger series

By Alexander Smith BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) -Italy recovered from a high-speed nosedive in their first race against Britain on Tuesday, bouncing back in strong winds in the second to level the series in what both teams are framing as a "fight" to become the America's Cup challenger.