Luna Rossa recovers to stay even with Britannia in America's Cup

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Britain's INEOS Britannia and Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli exchanged blows again Tuesday in a tight America’s Cup challenger final that remained even 4-4 after eight races.

Luna Rossa sustained yet another boat failure to lose the first race Tuesday but recovered to beat Britannia by 16 seconds in the second duel on the day in a first-to-seven playoff series.

The Italian boat nearly came to a halt after a big nosedive that was apparently caused by the boat failure early in the first race. It was eventually disqualified after outside support crew had to come on board.

Luna Rossa had already dealt with boat failures a couple of other times during this year's America's Cup. It also had an issue that led to a loss to Britannia in the current Louis Vuitton Cup final.

The teams have split race victories every day so far. Two more races are scheduled for Wednesday.

The winner will lift the Louis Vuitton Cup and try to topple defending champion Team Emirates New Zealand for the America’s Cup next month.

With good conditions on the course at the Barcelona beachfront, organizers sent the boats to the water on the first reserve day of the challenger final. The boats hit over 50 knots — more than 90 kph (57 mph) — during the second race.

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The Associated Press