Favourite villain sets sail again

By JULIE ASH

He can be as fierce as he can be charming, but the America's Cup wouldn't be the same without him.

Dennis Conner, the man New Zealanders love to hate, has returned to Auckland for his ninth campaign to win yachting's most famous trophy.

"It is like I have never left," the Stars and Stripes skipper, who has just turned 60, said.

"People couldn't be nicer. Bus drivers roll their windows down and talk to me at stop signs. People come up to me in the supermarket and kids ask for my autograph.

"I think they are all rooting for me to win the Louis Vuitton, but are not going as far as hoping we will be the cup winners."

Conner has won the cup four times, in 1974, 1980, 1987 and 1988, and lost it twice, in 1983 and 1995.

"This is my profession, this is what I like to do.

"The America's Cup is one of the pinnacles of the sport if not the pinnacle. It is difficult not to be excited about being part of it."

Conner is sailing again for the New York Yacht Club, almost 20 years after he lost the cup to Australia II in 1983.

The loss ended the New York club's 132-year stranglehold on the Auld Mug.

"I enjoy being with them and I think if I can deliver the cup back home they will love me."

Team Dennis Conner reached the semifinals in the last cup contest, but a one point penalty for using an illegal rudder let Prada slip ahead into the challenger finals.

He is not making any predictions about the coming challenge.

"If the boats are evenly matched it will be tough because there is a very high level of confident sailors in the teams.

"But if one of the challengers has some boat speed, it could be tougher than ever."

Conner said Auckland's syndicate row appeared very similar to last time, except for the large mauve camp of Alinghi.

He said money was always important to syndicates, but big-budget challengers such as Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing were not automatically top contenders.

"It would be silly to rank the challengers on their budgets.

"It doesn't make them any faster on the race course.

"We don't feel like the poor kids on the block. We know we have a good boat and a good team. We have what we need and we have as good a chance as any."

Conner's campaign came to a halt in July when USA77 sank off Long Beach. A new bow has been fitted to the yacht, and it should be sailing again soon.

"It was a setback from the point of having another boat to spar against down here, but on the other hand we were able to focus on the boat [USA66] we are going to use."

While many of the other challengers have had their yachts out training on the Gulf for months, Conner's team stayed at home until August and has shunned any of the informal racing between syndicates.

"I don't think it is in my best interest," Conner, who now seldom sails on the boats, said.

"It is good to be here to learn about the local conditions and good to be here to experience the ambience of the racing.

"But it is very difficult to test boat speed here because the conditions are always changing."

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