LYME Regis Sailing Club star Jim Turner’s bid to reach the America’s Cup finale has ended at the qualification stage in New Zealand.

Turner, who was part of an 11-man crew for American Magic, lost out to Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in Auckland.

The Italians go on to face Sir Ben Ainslie’s Team Ineos UK in the qualifying Prada Cup final, the winners tackling defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup trophy.

American Magic represented the 30th time in 170 editions of the world’s oldest sporting trophy that a New York Yacht Club team had fought for the title.

However, their competition was not without incident as ‘Patriot’ suffered a scary capsize in the Prada Cup qualification rounds.

Footage of the drama shows a big gust of wind, later calculated at 23 knots, lifting the vessel fully into the air before crashing back to sea.

Despite the best efforts of the skilled crew to steady the ship upon landing, gravity eventually took hold and American Magic capsized. All 11 team members were safe.

Turner’s participation in sailing’s most famous event has been four years in the making, with a gruelling fitness regime over in the US.

In the Prada Cup final, Ainslie’s British squad will vie with their Italian rivals over 13 races for the chance to be Challenger to Emirates Team New Zealand.

Their quest begins on Saturday, February 13 with the first vessel to claim seven victories going through to the overall final beginning on Saturday, March 6.