[Source: Reuters]

Italy and Britain made the final of the first America’s Cup for women, seeing off competition from four other teams in a tightly-contested semi-final series.

On another day of fluctuating Mediterranean winds, the contest to whittle the fleet of six down to two went down to the wire as the sun set over Barcelona, with Spain just failing to make the cut despite a dominant last race in the series.

Racing in high-tech foiling AC40 monohulls, lifted just above the water on hydrofoils, the teams’ black-sailed boats hit speeds of up to around 30 knots as they sped around the course.

“It’s amazing to be in the first ever Women’s America’s Cup Final. We are all so happy. We will enjoy this moment and then focus on what I’m sure will be an exciting and action-packed race against the Italians,” said British skipper Hannah Mills.

The event has been welcomed as a pathway to bridge the gap in experience in the state-of-the-art foiling boats which have been dominated by men, improving the opportunities for women at the highest level of professional sailing.

“It’s such a joy, I’m so happy,” said Italian co-helm Giulia Conti of reaching the head-to-head final, which organisers said would now take place on Saturday, a day earlier than scheduled.

“I think they made a good call to do it tomorrow. I’m just stoked to get it done fast, so that we have the momentum, we are warmed up,” Conti told Reuters when back ashore, after spending nearly 10 hours out at sea, much of the time waiting for wind.

“I’m super happy to be sharing this first Women’s America’s Cup final with them. We’ve raced against each other for a very long time. They really deserve to be in the final because of all the effort that Hannah put into this project,” Conti said of the prospect of facing triple Olympic medallist Mills and her team.

“I’m thrilled to be sharing a final with some friends. It’s a battle but we are ready to fight with everything we have,” Conti said, admitting that Mills had the better record in a long history of head-to-head contests between the two sailors.

The challenge for the America’s Cup itself also begins on Saturday, with Britain taking on holders New Zealand for the “Auld Mug”, billed as the oldest international sporting trophy, which began in 1851 and has never been won by a British boat.

“Tomorrow’s going to be a huge moment in our sport, especially for women in sailing. I can’t wait to be a part of it. Hopefully, I’ll sleep well tonight. I’m sure I’ll have a few nerves,” British co-helm Tash Bryant told Reuters.

“I’m sure we will take on tomorrow exactly how we have taken on every other day of this event and all our training, with a good mindset, trying to learn as much as we can, to let the boat rip and hopefully finish first,” Bryant added.

The other teams to make the semi-final of the event were New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.