Conner shows he can take it on the chin

By JULIE ASH

Just over a month ago Stars and Stripes helmsman Ken Read had the frightening task of ringing up his boss, Dennis Conner, and telling him his yacht had just sunk.

Five weeks later, Team Dennis Conner have settled into syndicate row and, as Read puts it, "are ready for the games to begin".

"As soon as we pulled in here it was like, 'wow there is an America's Cup going on'.

"Everyone is so enthusiastic; the energy is great," Read said.

While some syndicates set up shop after the last cup and have barely left, Team Dennis Conner and their two yachts, USA66 and USA77, arrived in Auckland last month.

In the last campaign, the syndicate made the semifinals, but losing a penalty point for using an illegal rudder in one race cost them the chance of racing off in the challenger series final.

"We had such great sailing conditions in Long Beach that we had a choice of coming down here in the New Zealand winter and sailing maybe 30 to 50 per cent of the days or staying in Long Beach and sailing all day every single day. For us it was an easy decision.

"The best tuning and testing conditions in the world are at Long Beach as far as we are concerned. Hopefully it pays dividends."

The team's campaign came to a grinding halt in late July when USA77 sank off Long Beach. Read was at the helm.

"Everything happened so fast and it filled up so quickly. I remember thinking to myself I can't believe this boat is going to sink," he said.

"When the boat came to rest with half the mast sticking out, I remember sitting there, drenched, in the rubber boat thinking, 'no sweat, we are going to be fine'."

USA77 will have a new bow fitted in the next few days and should be out sailing in the next week or so.

Read said the sinking was a setback but was not the end of the world.

"The first phone call made to Dennis from the water went something like, 'Hey Dennis, the boat just sank'.

"He said, 'Oh, it needed a good wash anyway'.

"If your boss isn't upset and just breathes confidence then the rest of us are allowed to do the same thing.

"It is a little drawback in time but it also allows us to maybe make some improvements that we wouldn't have been able to do before, so on one hand you could look at it as an advantage almost."

Read said the ability of the team's builders and designers to work with carbon fibre meant there would be little or no difference in weight when the bow was replaced.

"It could even be a hair better," said Read.

He said every team would have made subtle improvements on NZL60, Team New Zealand's winning yacht in 2000.

"But are subtle improvements of NZL60 going to be enough?

"Or is someone going to show up like Australia II did in 1983 with a winged keel?

"What is the next breakthrough going to be? It will happen in some point. Whether anyone up and down this road has something tucked away in their back pocket or not, I don't know. But that is the fun of it.

"Everyone is curious whether they are fast or slow, so October 1 will be a telling day," he said.

Although they were one of the last to arrive in Auckland, Read, competing in his third cup, is confident the team are on track.

"Of course we would like to be a little further along. There would be half a dozen things that we wish were a little further on but any team would be lying if they didn't say the same thing.

"Our two boats were training for two and a half months together so by no means are we just starting out. If we are not confident in what we have done, we shouldn't be here."