America's Cup: Breakage, disqualification and super speed in the giants' duel

Instead of the forecast 12-17 knots, the sailors were confronted with wind speeds at and above the upper wind limit of 21 knots today. Race committee member Melanie Roberts had to postpone the third race in the Louis Vuitton Cup final more than a dozen times before her famous sentences were uttered for the first time at 14:49. "This is the race committee. We have now met the windlimit and this race is live!"

• America's Cup: "This race is live!" - the woman with the voice of the America's Cup

While thousands of fans on the beach, on the water and at home in front of their screens waited with great anticipation for this high-speed duel, one of the protagonists was not at all ready at this point. Shortly beforehand, a batten in Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's mainsail had broken and pierced the membrane. The Italians had no choice but to change the sail. They received support from their team on the chase boat. "It was a difficult decision, but it had to be made," said helmsman Jimmy Spithill.

"Luna Rossa" disqualified before the start

When the British team pulled into the start box with around two minutes to go, chief referee Richard Slater disqualified "Luna Rossa" for outside assistance and awarded Ben Ainslie's team the win. While his team failed yesterday due to the time limitThe score was actually 2:1 in the duel for a place in the America's Cup match against defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand.

While Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli switched to a larger mainsail, the wind once again remained above the limit. For a race to start, the wind must be consistently above 6.5 and below 21 knots at several points on the Cup course between nine and four minutes before the start. If the limit values are exceeded or undercut at even just one measuring point, the clock is reset to the initial nine minutes and the procedure starts all over again.

In this case, it was to take over an hour until the next start. Ineos Britannia entered the starting box on time from the starboard side at almost 48 knots and immediately set off in pursuit of "Luna Rossa". Around 40 seconds before the start, when the Brits pushed the Italians away from the starting line again to windward, the latter made a risky match-race move that subsequently caused much discussion.

America's Cup: Ben Ainslie struggles with close decision

With both boats travelling at speeds of almost 40 knots, the Italians tried to escape from the British bow with a gybe. It not only looked extremely close, but also like the two boats were overlapping. "Britannia" also had to jibe to get out of the way and was stopped roughly as a result. Ben Ainslie could be heard shouting "Jesus Christ", followed a few seconds later by his team's protest. "The scene was very, very close in my opinion and from our point of view it was a penalty," said Ainslie.

However, the referees decided otherwise and allowed the race to continue without intervention. "They disagreed, but that's the way it is in sailing - and the only thing that applies in sailing is that the umpires are always right." The four-time Olympic champion explained that they still wanted to discuss this decision with the jury in order to understand it better. Coach and seven-time match race world champion Ian Williams was also "not very happy about the decision".

As a result, the British nevertheless maintained a strong position on the approach to the start line. However, the Italians managed to gain a slight advantage, which was enough to force the British to turn early. What followed was the most adrenaline-fuelled race in the entire 37th America's Cup cycle to date. Absurd speeds, tight situations with several protests and tactical finesse were on offer. Although Ineos Britannia always remained in the attacking position, the first two laps were unthinkably close.

"Britannia" and "Luna Rossa" statistically balanced

Despite the gap growing to over 400 metres a little later, partly due to a weak leeward barrel manoeuvre, the British Cup hunters did not give up and came dangerously close to the red moon again on the fourth and final lap. They reached the last windward gate six seconds after the leaders and went on the downwind for an all-out attack. Clever covering and strong manoeuvres enabled them to make up two seconds, but it was no longer enough for victory. "We love this kind of race. It's just great for the team to be under this kind of pressure and strain," commented helmsman Jimmy Spithill on the equaliser.

Ben Ainslie was also conciliatory at the end of the nerve-wracking race day: "In the end, it was a great day and I am grateful that we had this incredible race." They also broke their own speed record in a test race, but in the race the top speed came from "Luna Rossa": 55.2 knots! "These boats are amazing," said Ainslie. Although the wind was stronger at times today than at the Start of the final on Thursday it was a little easier. "It's the swell that makes it really difficult with these boats."

However, the teams hardly gave each other anything today, not just in terms of feel, but also on paper. At 41.4 knots, the average speed of the Brits was 0.1 knots higher than that of the victorious Italians. However, with slightly better VMG values (velocity made good; windward or leeward speed), they covered around 240 metres less. The number of manoeuvres was balanced at 24.

New Zealanders train for the America's Cup Match, Alinghi capsizes during test run

After four completed races in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup, there is no clear favourite. The only certainty so far is that the winning team will go into the 37th America's Cup match against the defenders from Emirates Team New Zealand in a stronger position. They completed another training session today before Barcelona. Alinghi Red Bull Racing was also on the water for unknown testing purposes, but had to abandon the session prematurely. The Swiss AC75 capsized for reasons as yet unexplained, but no crew members were injured and "BoatOne" was righted a short time later and brought back to base.

Instead of an initially planned free day, two more duels between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Ineos Britannia are scheduled for tomorrow. The forecast promises 12 to 18 knots of wind, with the first start scheduled for 14:10. Click here for the live broadcast on YouTube.

The races from day three of the Louis Vuitton Cup final in the video replay: