Luna Rossa stormed to victory with three races to spare

The Americans dropped skipper Chris Dickson but it was to no avail as Luna Rossa stormed to a winning 5-1 lead.

The Italians will meet either Team New Zealand or Spain's Desafio Espanol in the final which starts on 1 June.

Desafio kept their hopes alive in an exciting race on Sunday but still trail the highly-touted Kiwis 4-2.

The winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup will earn the right to challenge Swiss defenders Alinghi in the America's Cup which gets underway on 23 June.

It was a surprisingly straightforward victory for Luna Rossa who rounded every single mark in first place and a huge disappointment for the Larry Ellison-backed Oracle syndicate who made the final of the LV Cup in 2003.

The Americans came into the race with the high expectations that accompanied the event's highest budget, estimated to be $270m.

In a last throw of the dice, BMW Oracle skipper Dickson stepped down for Sunday's race with Gavin Brady becoming tactician/skipper and Sten Mohr taking over as helmsman.

"We brought our best package in the semi-finals but we have not achieved the results we were hoping for so in my capacity as CEO I fully support any moves that will give us a chance to win," Dickson said in a statement released early on Sunday.

"We are a fighting team and will never give up."

The change had little effect, however, as Luna Rossa, skippered by Australian James Spithill, got the favoured end of the line and proceeded to take control on the first leg.

The Italians swept round the first mark with a comfortable 33-second lead and held that advantage over the remainder of the race.

Desafio showed great resolve despite coming under pressure from the New Zealanders at the start of their race-off and kept their noses in front on the first leg, rounding the first mark some 12 seconds ahead.

The Spanish kept Team New Zealand at bay down the second beat and although an untidy gybe lost them time at the turn they resisted their opponents to win by 15 seconds.

"We've shown that we can live with the best boat in the world and we've now done better than the Americans, the boat with the biggest budget," said Desafio's team director Agustin Zulueta.

"This team has been fantastic."