Luna Rossa will be flying the flag for Italy in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup next week, but they will have to recover from a lull in form to keep their hopes of America's Cup glory alive.
Luna Rossa lost to second-placed Team New Zealand by five boat-lengths on Monday.
The defeat leaves the Prada-sponsored team in third place with 31 points and means they have no chance of finishing top of the table and being able to choose their semi-final opponents.
It is also a dent to the crew's morale, as it comes after Friday's loss to Louis Vuitton leaders, US team BMW Oracle.
Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand both went into Monday's race sure of a place in the semi-finals, following the results of the weekend's regattas.
The Italians started badly and never recovered, as the Kiwis cruised to an easy win.
The performance will revive doubts about the Italian yacht's speed in mid-range conditions, when the wind is neither particularly strong nor light.
Luna Rossa have two more round-robin races - against Italian rivals Mascalzone Latino and Spain's Desafio Espanol (fourth), the favourites to take the last semi-final berth - to set things back on course before the next round.
Luna Rossa are the only one of the three Italian teams to start the Louis Vuitton Cup still in with a chance of victory.
Mascalzone Latino, sixth on 20 points, started strongly with a win over New Zealand and sailed well in the early races.
But their semi-final ambitions ran aground with a sequence of five consecutive defeats and they were arithmetically knocked out at the weekend.
The third Italian outfit, +39 Challenge - ninth on eight points - never really got into their stride in the competition, although they gained some consolidation by beating South Africa's Team Shosholoza Monday.
The 'best-of-nine-regattas' semi-finals start on May 14.
The Louis Vuitton Cup final takes place June 1-12.
The winner will then challenge America's Cup holder Alinghi of Switzerland for sailing's most prestigious trophy in another 'first-to-five' series from June 23 onwards.
Luna Rossa are making their third bid for the America's Cup.
The team won the Louis Vuitton Cup in their debut campaign in 1999-2000, but were whitewashed 5-0 by Team New Zealand in the ensuing America's Cup showdown.
In 2002-2003 Luna Rossa were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
