Stars & Stripes (America's Cup syndicate)

Last updated
Stars & Stripes
Stars and Stripes IACC.jpg
Stars & Stripes
Team Dennis Conner
Career
Yacht clubBurgee of San Diego Yacht Club.svg  San Diego Yacht Club
Established1987
NationFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Team principal(s) Dennis Conner
SkipperDennis Conner
Notable victories 1987 America's Cup
1988 America's Cup
1987 Louis Vuitton Cup
Yachts
Sail no.Boat name
US–53Stars & Stripes 83
US–54Stars & Stripes 85
US–56Stars & Stripes 86
US–55 Stars & Stripes 87
US–1Stars & Stripes 88
USA–11Stars & Stripes
USA–34Stars & Stripes
USA–77Stars & Stripes

Stars & Stripes (Team Dennis Conner) 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. [1] The name "Stars & Stripes" refers to the nickname often used for the flag of the United States. TDC was registered under the flag of San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC).

Contents

12-metre class yachts

The well funded Sail America Foundation commissioned four 12-metre yachts to support a campaign led by Dennis Conner, representing San Diego Yacht Club, to win back the America's Cup in the 1987 competition in Fremantle, Australia.

The movie Wind is loosely based on Dennis Conner's experience, from the 1983 America's Cup loss to his America's Cup win in Perth, and on a number of events that occurred on various competitor boats throughout the match races of the 1987 America's Cup. For artistic reasons, the 12-metre Stars & Stripes 87 was dramatized in the film as Geronimo.

During the 2017 Hurricane Irma, Stars & Stripes 87, the third iteration of the Stars & Stripes sustained major damage in Sint Maarten. A total of five 12 meter yachts were damaged, sunk, or were dismasted. [4] [5] It had previously sunk, in 2002 when the rudder shaft broke while the crew was training. [6]

Catamaran-hull yachts

Stars and Stripes after winning the America's Cup and returning to harbor in San Diego, California, September 9, 1988. Americas Cup 1988 By Phil Konstantin.jpg
Stars and Stripes after winning the America's Cup and returning to harbor in San Diego, California, September 9, 1988.

The surprise challenge by Sir Michael Fay caught San Diego Yacht Club unprepared. They initially rejected the challenge, but were compelled to respond when Mr. Fay brought the matter before the New York courts. The court's decision was handed down in November 1987, leaving little time to prepare for the 1988 challenge race. [7]

As the challenge used the original Deed of Gift as its basis, the design requirements specified only that she be a single masted yacht no more than 90 feet at the waterline. San Diego Yacht Club and Dennis Conner's syndicate chose to respond with an assuredly faster multi-hull design. Conner enlisted the help of designers Morrelli, Chance & Hubbart & MacLane, and aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites. Two Stars & Stripes cats were built, one with a conventional soft sail (Stars & Stripes S1), and the second with a wing mast (Stars & Stripes H3) built by Scaled Composites. The wing masted boat proved to have superior performance, and so was used in the defense.

To no one's surprise, Stars & Stripes dominated its match races with KZ 1 , the challenger from New Zealand. Following the race the New Zealand team sued and initially won the America's Cup trophy in a court case. The decision was reversed on appeal, and San Diego Yacht Club retained the cup.

After the 1988 America's Cup, the wing masted catamaran was bought by Mexican yachtsman Victor Tapia and currently sails in Mexico. The soft sail yacht was bought by Steve Fossett and used to set speed records in various yacht races. The soft sail yacht suffered a dismasting during a Mackinac race which resulted in her being stored for several years. In 2015, Freddie Mills acquired the vessel and has re-rigged and re-commissioned her as a private racing yacht operating out of Newport, Rhode Island. In October 2017 Stars & Stripes (soft sail) was acquired by Key Lime Sailing Club and Cottages in Key Largo to be used for day charters and racing.

2008 Port Huron to Mackinac race

Fossett's Stars & Stripes yacht was entered in the 84th running of the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race to Mackinac from Port Huron, Michigan, and was favored to win and set a new record time. An experienced Chicago sailor Donald Wilson captained the yacht, chartering it from a Florida businessman for both the Port Huron and Chicago to Mackinac races. The same yacht previously competed in the 74th running of the Port Huron regatta (1998) but was unable to complete the race after the mast broke off near Alpena, Michigan. [8] The yacht was again dismasted mid-race in heavy winds while leading a rival multihull yacht Earth Voyager, which then went on to finish the race in record time. [9]

International America's Cup Class

1992

Conner's 1992 IACC AC yacht, Stars & Stripes USA-11 lost the defender series final, the Citizen Cup, to Bill Koch's America3 USA-23.

1995

Conner's 1995 AC yacht, Stars & Stripes USA-34 won the defender series, the Citizen Cup against Young America USA-36 and Mighty Mary USA-43, by use of tactics. However, it was considered to be the slowest of the three defending yachts, partially due to an old sail inventory, and also a result of neglecting important recommendations from the design team.[ citation needed ] The defender can choose which boat to use, so Team DC selected Young America, considered the fastest defender, [10] instead of Stars & Stripes in the America's Cup final, losing to Team New Zealand. Dennis Conner did not run a two boat campaign due to cost, so there was no second Stars & Stripes.

2000

Conner again ran a one-boat campaign, entering Stars & Stripes USA-55. Eliminated in the semi-final repechage after an unexpected loss against America True.

2003

Conner's $5 million 2002 entrant, Stars & Stripes USA-77, was sunk on July 23, 2002, when a rudder broke during preparations for the 20022003 races to select the challenger for the America's Cup. The boat was raised out of 55 feet (17 m) of water just outside Long Beach Harbor. Conner's luck that year would not improve, as Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing , two well financed boats, would contest for the spotlight. Conner had a backup and training vessel available, Stars & Stripes USA-66, which he raced until USA-77 could be repaired.

2007

Conner announced that he could not raise sufficient funds for another Cup challenge.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Conner</span> American yachtsman

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.

<i>NZL 32</i>

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.

<i>KZ1</i> (yacht)

KZ 1, formally called New Zealand, is a one-off sailing yacht built to challenge for the 1988 America's Cup. She was designed by Bruce Farr and is constructed from a carbon fibre and Kevlar/Nomex sandwich, skippered by David Barnes and crewed by a team of 40 from the Mercury Bay Boating Club in Whitianga, New Zealand.

Bruce Nelson is a Naval Architect who specializes in high-performance yacht design, and who has competed as a sportsman at the upper echelons in his chosen field.

<i>Wind</i> (1992 film) 1992 American film by Carroll Ballard

Wind is a 1992 film directed by Carroll Ballard and starring Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey and Cliff Robertson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Cayard</span> American sailor

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.

<i>Kiwi Magic</i>

New Zealand "Kiwi Magic" was the America's Cup challenge boat sailed by Chris Dickson in the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger series held in Gage Roads off Fremantle, Australia during the summer months of 1986 through 1987. She was New Zealand's first America's Cup entry and was the premier boat in the New Zealand Challenge syndicate.

The 1983 America's Cup was a 12-metre class yacht racing series which pitted the defending New York Yacht Club's Liberty against the Royal Perth Yacht Club's challenger, Australia II. The September 1983 series of match races was won by Australia II, with four race wins to three, in the first successful challenge of the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defense of the Cup. The Australian syndicate's boat, skippered by John Bertrand, fought back from a 3–1 deficit to best the Dennis Conner-helmed defender, ending both the longest winning streak in sporting history and U.S. domination of the racing series.

Dawn Riley is an American sailor, and a pioneer in the sport of sailboat racing. She is in the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the international America's Cup Hall of Fame. The youngest and only female to be a 'dual-famer' this. She sailed in four America's Cup races and two Whitbread Round the World races. She was the watch captain on Maiden, the first all-women's entry in the Whitbread race, and was the team captain of the first all-women's team in the America's Cup. She later established the America True Foundation to encourage youth participation in sailing. Since 2010 she has run Oakcliff Sailing dedicated to Building American Leaders Through Sailing

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 America's Cup</span> 26th Americas Cup yacht race

The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup.

The 1988 America's Cup was the 27th America's Cup regatta, and was contested between the defender, San Diego Yacht Club represented by Stars & Stripes H3, and the challenger, the Mercury Bay Boating Club represented by New Zealand Challenge's KZ-1. Run under strict Deed of Gift rules, the regatta was won by San Diego Yacht Club, in a two-race sweep.

The 2nd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The winner, Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the 1987 America's Cup.

Thomas David Blackaller Jr. was a world-champion American yachtsman, America's Cup helmsman, sailmaker, and racecar competitor. He was a two-time world champion in the Star class keelboat, a world champion in the international Six metre class, raced in three separate America's Cup campaigns, and influenced the careers of many other sailors.

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.

Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and Kookaburra III represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner sailing Stars & Stripes 87.

Stars & Stripes 87 was the 12 Meter challenge boat sailed by Dennis Conner in his bid to reclaim the America's Cup from the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia in 1987.

Britton Chance Jr. or Britt Chance was an American naval architect who developed core elements of three yachts that won the America's Cup and won the World Championship six times. The New York Times said he "was known for having a mathematician's precision and a renegade's willingness to experiment". Professional Boatbuilder called him "one of the brightest minds in yacht design".

Young America (USA-36) is an American International America's Cup Class yacht that unsuccessfully defended the 1995 America's Cup.

<i>Liberty</i> (yacht)

Liberty (US-40) was an American racing yacht in the 12-metre class that unsuccessfully defended the 1983 America's Cup.

The America's Cup is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport.

References

  1. "Stars & Stripes Donation Page".
  2. 1 2 "12 Metre Yachts by Country". Trivia Classic Racing Yacht. Archived from the original on 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  3. "The 12-Metre Class America's Cup Contenders 1958 -1987". Sail World. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  4. "stars & sunk". Sailing Anarchy. 21 September 2017.
  5. "Stars & Stripes 86 (US-56)".
  6. "America's Cup Yacht Sinks Off Long Beach". Los Angeles Times. Jul 24, 2002.
  7. Gabriel, Trip (May 29, 1988). "War at Sea". New York Times Magazine. p. 5.
  8. "Detroit Free Press Queens of speed are set to sail - 12 July 2008". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  9. "The Sarnia Observer Earth Voyager sets record time at Mackinac - 14 July 2008". Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  10. "1995 Young America USA-36". 33rd America's Cup. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010.