Event Notes: Mechanical Snafu Again Mars America's Cup Racing

Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge "suffered a mechanical breakdown" in the third race of the America's Cup challenger finals on Monday, handing Emirates Team New Zealand a point and "deepening concerns about the fragility of the high-tech AC72 catamarans being used in this year's version of the venerable regatta." It was the third consecutive race in which a mechanical malfunction "crippled one of the competitors and handed a victory to the team that managed to cross the finish line." The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup "will sail against defending America's Cup champion Oracle Team USA next month in the world's oldest sporting trophy" (REUTERS, 8/19). ... A-League Western City Wanderers preseason tour of Japan and China is "expected to be confirmed as early as Wednesday." The Wanderers will embark on a two-week trip in September that is "partly funded by the state government and will play some of the biggest names in Asian football, including two of marquee player Shinji Ono's former clubs" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/21).