Yachting: Conner unveils new Stars & Stripes

Dennis Conner has unveiled the first yacht in what he hopes will become a two-boat campaign to win back the America's Cup.

In front of the grand headquarters of the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan, Conner today posed with the latest Stars & Stripes, a $US2 million ($NZ4.74m) boat that will carry sail number USA66.

The boat's navy blue and white colour scheme appears very similar to that used by Conner in the last Louis Vuitton challenger series.

Conner, who has been based in San Diego on the US west coast, said his return to the New York Yacht Club was a chance to redeem himself. He last represented the club in 1983, when the United States lost the America's Cup for the first time in 132 years.

But it is not clear whether Team Dennis Conner and the NYYC will succeed in building a second yacht for the 2002 Louis Vuitton challenger series which starts in October in Auckland. Club commodore Charles Dana said plans for the second boat would be announced when USA66 is christened next Thursday and construction would was expected to begin "very soon".

Conner pioneered the two-boat approach back in 1980 enabling him to fine-tune and select the better boat. In recent years, however, limited funds have forced him to campaign with just one boat, often against better-funded competitors.