Dennis Walter Conner 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.
NZL 32, or Black Magic, is an International Americas Cup Class yacht which won the 1995 America's Cup by defeating the American defender Young America in a 5–0 victory off San Diego, California.
Stars & Stripes is the name of an America's Cup syndicate operated by Dennis Conner and its racing yachts, which are among the most famous in the world. The name "Stars & Stripes" refers to the nickname often used for the flag of the United States. TDC was registered under the flag of the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC).
The International Americas Cup Class is a class of racing yacht that was developed for the America's Cup between 1992 and 2007. These yachts, while not identical, were all designed to the same formula to offer designers the freedom to experiment whilst keeping the boats sufficiently comparable to race in real time. The class was established for the 1992 America's Cup because of perceived shortcomings of the 12-metre class, which had been used in the America's Cup since 1958.
Paul Pierre Cayard is an American yachtsman and professional sailor. He has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the US Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He has won seven world championships, twice participated in the Olympic Games and seven times in the America's Cup. In 2011 he was elected into the US Sailing Hall of Fame.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on its first attempt in 2000, but then lost the America's Cup match against the defending champion team, Team New Zealand.
The 1992 Citizen Cup was the defender selection series regatta for the 1992 America's Cup, held in the United States. Two defense syndicates competed over four round robins in order earn a berth in the Citizen Cup finals; the winner earned the right to defend the America's Cup against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The 28th America's Cup was contested between the winner of the 1992 Citizen Cup defender selection series, America³, and the winner of the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series, Il Moro di Venezia. It was the first edition of the America's Cup that was sailed on International America's Cup Class yachts.
The 5th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2000. The winner, Prada Challenge, went on to challenge for the 2000 America's Cup. It was the first time in the competition's history that there would not be an American challenger or defender.
The 4th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in San Diego, United States in 1995. The winner, Team New Zealand, went on to challenge for and win the 1995 America's Cup.
The 3rd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in San Diego, United States in 1992. The winner, Il Moro di Venezia, went on to challenge for the 1992 America's Cup.
The Louis Vuitton Acts were a series of International America's Cup Class regattas leading up to the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup and 2007 America's Cup. Thirteen regattas or acts were held in total. These regattas involved all eleven challengers plus the holder of the America's Cup, Alinghi, and allowed the challengers to earn bonus points that went towards the Louis Vuitton Cup. The 2004-2007 period was the first time this format had been used in America's Cup racing.
New Zealand Challenge was a sailing team funded by Michael Fay that challenged for the America's Cup three times between 1987 and 1992. New Zealand Challenge was the first team from New Zealand to enter the competition.
John Waldrip Kolius is an American sailor. He won a silver medal in the Soling class with Walter Glasgow and Richard Hoepfner at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In 1987 and 2000 he competed at the Louis Vuitton Cup. Kolius began sailing at the age of 5 when his father introduced the family to sailing as a way to spend time together. John's first boat was a Sunfish and he grew up sailing at the Houston Yacht Club through the Ragnot program. In 1968, John won his first major championship, the US Sailing Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup. He was 17 years old. Two years later at the age of 19, Kolius won the US Sailing Senior Championship for the Mallory Trophy. It was not too long after that he began sailing Solings and preparing for the Olympics. In 1975, John won the Soling North Americans and in 1976 an Olympic silver medal. In 2023, he was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
Raul Gardini was an Italian agri-business and chemicals tycoon. In 1980, he took the helm of his father-in-law Serafino Ferruzzi's family business, starting an aggressive campaign that led to the acquisition of the French sugar and paper company Beghin-Say SA, turning Ferruzzi into Europe's leading sugar producer. In 1985, Gardini focused his interest on chemicals and bought stock in the Montedison chemical group. By 1987, he had acquired 42 per cent of the group, turning Ferruzzi-Montedison into Italy's second largest industrial group after the state-owned company Eni. In 1989, Eni and Montedison formed a joint-venture called Enimont.
America³ (USA–23) was an American International America's Cup Class yacht that successfully defended the 1992 America's Cup challenge from the Il Moro Challenge racing syndicate.
Since the 1980s, Italy has been a serious challenge contender for the America's Cup. Italian teams have won the Challenger Selection Series three times: the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1992 with Il Moro di Venezia, in 2000 with Luna Rossa and the Prada Cup in 2021, again with Luna Rossa.
Compagnia della Vela is a yacht club in Venice, in northern Italy. The club was the "Challenger of Record" for the 1992 America's Cup, where they were represented by their team Il Moro di Venezia, and won the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup.
Italy 
