Ineos Britannia reached the Louis Vuitton Cup final as they clinched a 5-2 semi-final win over Switzerland in Barcelona.

The British crew will face either the United States or Italy in the final at the end of September for the eventual chance of competing for the America’s Cup.

Britain, under skipper Ben Ainslie, had raced to a 4-0 lead, but the less-experienced Swiss crew won a reprieve on Monday.

The Swiss had looked set to cause another upset when they beat the British in the first race on Wednesday, narrowing the gap to 4-2. But they could not capitalise on their improving form in the second race in tricky conditions.

“We are all very relieved to have got through today and to have survived and made it through to the final,” Ainslie said on the America’s Cup live broadcast after his team’s victory on what he described as a “tough day”.

“It’s seriously hard out here with the wind all over the place,” said Ainslie, adding the Swiss were “a great team”.

In the other semi-final, Italy suffered equipment failure during their second race of the day to leave the US on three wins to their four in the first to five race.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will compete against defending champions New Zealand for the America’s Cup – the oldest international trophy in sport.

The 37th America’s Cup will be staged from 12-17 October.