Dennis Conner

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Olympic medal record
Sailing
Bronze	1976	Tempest Class

Dennis Walter Conner (born December 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman who has participated in the America's Cup nine times. The America's Cup is considered by most to be the pinnacle event of the sport of yachting.

Conner won the America's Cup four times, in 1974, 1980, 1987 and 1988, but was the first man ever to lose the famed cup to a challenger, in 1983, as well as the first man to lose it twice. He was skipper of the legendary Stars & Stripes boats. He also owns a shop, named Team Dennis Conner Team Shop. Within the Yachting community, Conner is most famous for fundamentally changing the America's Cup, and racing in general, from an amateur to professional status. Before 1980 America's Cup competitors were mostly volunteers who took time off to compete. Mr. Conner insisted on year round training with a new focus on physical fitness and on the water practice, which led to professional crews.

Sponsored by software company Computer Associates among others, 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 $40 million from his sponsors. His syndicate, Stars & Stripes, suffered a severe setback before they departed California when one of the two Stars & Stripes boats (USA-77) sank when its rudder post failed during training. Eventually repaired, they were unable to recover the valuable testing time lost and they were defeated in the quarter-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

He is known to be an approachable competitor who likes signing autographs for his fans. He is often referred to as "Mr. America's Cup".

Conner has announced that he and his team will not be competing in the 2007 America's Cup in Valencia, Spain due to a lack of funding.

[edit] Accomplishments

Holds 2 Doctorate degrees
Won 4 America’s Cups
Won a Bronze medal in the 1976 Olympics (with Conn Findlay) in the Tempest class
Held Trans-Atlantic and Newport-to-Ensenada elapsed time records
2 Star Class World Championships (winner of every race in Kiel Germany with 89 boats)
4 Southern Ocean Racing Conferences wins
2 Congressional Cups
3 Etchell World’s (still ranked No. 1 Internationally)
2 Whitbread Round the World races
Twice a member of the U.S. Admirals Cup team
Commodore San Diego Yacht Club 1985
3 TIME US Yatchsman of the Year
US sailing Hall of Fame
Americas Cup Hall of Fame
7 time San Diego Yatchsman of the Year
Author of 9 books (Comeback, Art of Winning, No Excuse to Lose, Sail Like a Champion, History of the America's Cup)
Winner 28 world championships
Member of San Diego Yact Club, New York Yacht Club, Yacht Club de Monaco
Motivational Speaker