Dirty Den turns on the charm

From left: Dean Barker , Dennis Conner and Sir Michael Fay at the Lanham Hotel. Photo / Herald on Sunday.

Once, Dennis Conner came here to race yachts. Now he comes for the money.

When the four-time America's Cup winner invites me to sit next to him at the America's Cup Yachting Legends gala dinner at the Langham Hotel on Friday night, I find him to be a curious mix of embitterment and enthusiasm.

"I feel my second country is right here and I'm rooting for you guys," the 68-year-old says. "The America's Cup is really New Zealand's cup. They are the dominant presence in sailing."

But when I ask how often he comes here, Conner rubs his thumb and forefinger together, indicating 'show me the money'. The man who mortgaged his house to form his own syndicate with the San Diego Yacht Club in 1987 - and struggled to find funding for successive campaigns - appears conscious of cash.

He looks across at Sir Michael Fay and says: "He'll be spending his BNZ dollars on his island. I don't move in those circles."

He is, however, friends with Bill Koch - the billionaire sailing enthusiast whom Conner described as having a multi-million-dollar wine cellar "three times the size of this ballroom".

"It's nothing for him to crack open a US$20,000 bottle of wine for dinner."

Conner flew home to San Diego last night and is racing today. He acknowledges he's had to sacrifice a lot to follow his dream of sailing. His two children (in their 40s) don't sail because they resent it.

"It took me away so much from home," he says. "I sail because that's all I know to do."

He is also a businessman, artist and prolific author. He has released a cookbook and tells me his favourite recipe is meatloaf. I scoff: "That's not a recipe, that's leftovers!"

Conner looks at me warily. "What about Mexican, then? I cook some great Mexican food."

Much hype has been made about his refusal to allow Paul Holmes to attend the Langham dinner, but Conner isn't prepared to entertain further questions on the sore subject.

Notably absent from his table was a bottle of the broadcaster's eponymous olive oil that took pride of place on every other table in the ballroom.

He brought three of his own limited-edition watercolour prints to auction for the Asthma Foundation (he suffered from asthma as a kid). One print is snapped up by RadioLive boss Jana Rangooni who begs Conner to sign it.

Another print is bought for $5000 by NZ Premium Foods - the company co-owned by Paul Holmes.