Yachting: Conner revels in rare outing at sea despite loss

By Suzanne McFadden

Dennis Conner made a rare appearance behind the wheel of his America's Cup boat yesterday - and he was still beaming last night even though he had lost.

"I don't like losing - but I love racing sailboats. It's my idea of a holiday, and I don't think anyone would begrudge me my day off," the legendary Stars & Stripes skipper said.

Five minutes before the start-gun in Stars & Stripes' last race of the Louis Vuitton Cup round-robins, Conner stepped up to the wheel. But he was the second boat across the finish-line, trailing the homeward-bound Spanish by 35s in a race that counted for nought.

Still, it was a jovial Conner who cooked hamburgers for everyone in the compound afterwards.

"Everyone out there was great - the police boats were honking, [race director] Vince Cooke phoned me and thanked me for racing," he said.

Conner has been noticeably absent from the boat in this America's Cup, taking his role as boss very seriously on land.

"I would love to be on board the boat in the semifinals. But I'm afraid if that happened, we might not be able to pay the bills so we can carry on," he said.

Regular helmsman Ken Read said Conner had loved every minute of his day as captain. "He's been itching to get behind the wheel," he said. "He complained that we didn't bring our best sails out. But he would have complained if we had brought them.

"By his absence Dennis is shown a lot of confidence in the sailing team."

Conner has not been on board since his life-time friend Tom Whidden joined the Stars & Stripes afterguard.

The King of the Cup said he was pleased with his team's performance - ending up fifth in the fleet of 11 and making the cut.

"A week ago we were out of this regatta [when the stern of the boat tore open]. A lot of credit has to go to the guys who have kept this boat in the water," he said.

"We've got a long way to go yet. But it's a very nice to be able to have that opportunity to continue on.

"We're not the favourites, but I have been down before. I had to win five races in a row last time to be the defender.

"There's only a few good things about being old - and one is that you know things."