Dennis Conner

{{Infobox sailor

| name = Dennis Conner

| image = Dennis-Conner-America-s-Cup cropped.jpg

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| fullname = Dennis Walter Conner

| nationality = American

| classes = Tempest, Star

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|09|16}}

| birth_place = San Diego, California

| death_date =

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| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country | {{USA}}}}

}}

Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup.

Sailing career

Conner was born September 16, 1942, in San Diego.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/dennis-conner-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418101621/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/dennis-conner-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Dennis Conner |publisher=Sports Reference |access-date=March 25, 2018}} He competed in the 1976 Olympics together with Conn Findlay and took the bronze medal in the Tempest class.{{Cite web |title=2024 Star Worlds in San Diego welcomes new talent while celebrating a remarkable class |url=https://www.sail-world.com/news/277837/2024-Star-Worlds-in-San-Diego-welcomes-new-talent |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.sail-world.com}} Conner also took part in the 1979 Admiral's Cup, as helmsman on the Peterson 45 named Williwaw.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rorc.org/admiralscup/history/1979/default.html |title=rorc.org: "Champagne Mumm Admiral's History - 1979" |access-date=December 12, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041212091724/http://www.rorc.org/admiralscup/history/1979/default.html |archive-date=December 12, 2004 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Monteagudo |first=Merrie |date=2022-02-04 |title=Dennis Conner and his San Diego Yacht Club-based crew won the America’s Cup in 1987 |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2022/02/04/dennis-conner-and-his-san-diego-yacht-club-based-crew-won-the-americas-cup-in-1987/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}

=America's Cup=

Conner has won the America's Cup three times, successfully defending the Cup in 1980 and 1988, and winning as the challenger in 1987. His 4–3 loss in 1983 to Australian Alan Bond's wing-keeled challenger Australia II marked the first time the United States had lost the Cup in the 132-year history of the competition, simultaneously ending a run by the New York Yacht Club that began with the first contest. Following the loss Conner formed his own syndicate, the Sail America Foundation, through which he raised funds to mount a challenge on behalf of his hometown San Diego Yacht Club, culminating with winning the Cup back from Australia in 1987. Conner's 1983 loss and the subsequent 1987 victory are the basis of the 1992 American Zoetrope film Wind.

=The Big Boat Challenge and the beginning of multihulls in America's Cup=

Representing San Diego Yacht Club, Conner's Sail America Foundation faced another controversial challenger in 1988, backed by New Zealand banker Michael Fay.{{cite web |url=http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0212a/ |title=Think this is ugly? You should have seen 1988 |date=February 12, 2008 |author=Rich Roberts |work=Scuttlebutt News}} Fay's team abandoned the 12-meter format that had prevailed since the pre-WW II demise of the massive and fantastically expensive J-sloops, and challenged with a huge and unconventional 90' super-sloop (KZ1). Conner responded with an even more controversial 60' wing-sailed catamaran (US-1) in a surprise defense.

Fay's challenge and legal case based on the Deed foreshadowed the controversial 33rd America's Cup, whose legal wrangling resulted in the contest being decided in enormous multihulls in February 2010,{{cite web |url=http://www.sailing.org/news/28267.php |title=America's Cup Multihull Battle Set For February 2010 |date=May 14, 2009 |work=The International Sailing Federation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708163510/http://www.sailing.org/news/28267.php |archive-date=July 8, 2010 }} while returning to the pre-war style of exclusive, billionaire backed campaigns of Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing.

=Leadership and management=

Before the 1980s, America's Cup competitors were mostly amateurs who took time off from their regular jobs to compete. Conner insisted on year round training with a new focus on physical fitness and practice. This change in approach led to a return to professional crews in sailing, which had hardly been seen since the 1930s.

File:Dennis Conner By Phil Konstantin.jpg

=Funding and setbacks=

Perhaps due to the bad media attention surrounding the 1988 catamaran defense, Conner had insufficient funding to mount a multiple-boat defense in 1992, which also heralded the debut of the IACC yacht. His USA-11 proved no match to Bill Koch's America3 campaign. USA-11 was built as a test-bed for design ideas that were to be incorporated into the "racing" boat, nicknamed TDC-2. However, TDC-2 was never built. Its ideas were incorporated into his single-boat campaign for 1995, and the yacht Stars & Stripes USA-34. After almost sinking during The Citizen Cup defender trials, USA-34 went on to a come-from-behind win over Mighty Mary, earning the right to defend The Cup against Team New Zealand's Black Magic, NZL-32. Believing Stars & Stripes was no match against the Black Magic, Dennis Conner swapped boats for the Cup matches, pitting Young America against New Zealand's Black Magic NZL–32. But the result was a humiliating defeat for Dennis Conner, losing to Team New Zealand 5-0.

Conner again found difficulty securing funding for the 2000 America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. As in 1992 and 1995, he mounted a single-boat campaign centered upon Stars & Stripes USA-55. Conner was eliminated in the quarter final repechage by Craig McCaw's OneWorld Challenge.

Conner was a rare non-billionaire fielding a team to compete in the 2003 America's Cup, held in New Zealand, receiving funding of up to US$40 million from his sponsors. His syndicate, Stars & Stripes, suffered a severe setback before they departed California, as one of the two Stars & Stripes boats (USA-77) sank when its rudder post failed during training. Despite raising the boat from 55 feet of water and eventually repairing it, they were unable to recover the valuable testing time lost and they were defeated in the quarter-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

2003 marked Conner's last participation in the America's Cup.

Yachting accomplishments

3-time winner, America's Cup, 1980, 1987 and 1988
2-time loser, America's Cup, 1983 and 1995
Inductee, America's Cup Hall of Fame
Captain, two Whitbread Round-the-World races (On boat Winston in 1993-94 and on boat Toshiba 1997–98.) (see Volvo Ocean Race)
28 World Championships
Three-time winner, U.S. Yachtsman of the Year: 1975, 1980 and 1986{{cite web |url=http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex/ |title=US SAILING - Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year Awards |access-date=2010-04-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715230403/http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex/ |archive-date=2010-07-15 }}
Seven-time winner, San Diego Yachtsman of the Year
Olympic Bronze Medal winner, 1976
4 Southern Ocean Racing Cups
2 Congressional Cups
1987 ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year
National Sailing Hall of Fame Founding Inductee in 2011{{cite web|url=https://nshof.org/inductees/conner-dennis/|title=Dennis Conner 2011 Inductee |publisher=Nshof.org |access-date=April 11, 2020}}
Maxi yacht racing
One of only four American sailors inducted into the ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame
2-time winner Etchells World Championship (1991 San Francisco, 1994 Newport Beach)

Honors and activities

Honorary doctorate from Green Mountain College, 1987
Honorary doctorate from the Medical College of the University of South Carolina, 1987
America's Greatest Sailor, US Sailing's Greatest American Sailor Tournament
Commencement speaker, United States Naval Academy
Cover of Time magazine, February 9, 1987 [http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/time/3341-1.jpg]
Cover of Sports Illustrated with President Ronald Reagan, February 1987 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111003083611/http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1987/0216_large.jpg]
Artist, sales of artwork in the several millions of dollars
Motivational speaker
Member of San Diego Yacht Club, Silvergate Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Yacht Club de Monaco
San Diego Rotary

Education

Bachelor's degree from San Diego State University

Publications

No Excuse to Lose, 1987
Comeback: My Race for the America's Cup, 1987
Learn to Sail: A Beginner's Guide to the Art, Equipment and Language of Sailing on a Lake or Ocean, 1998
The America's Cup: The History of Sailings Greatest Competition in the Twentieth Century, 1998
The Art of Winning, 1990
Sail Like a Champion, 1992
America's Cup Cookbook, 1992
Life's Winning Tips, 1997