''Stars & Stripes'' (''Team Dennis Conner'') is the name of an America's Cup syndicate operated by

Dennis Conner 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 ...

and its racing

yachts A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

. The name "Stars & Stripes" refers to the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

often used for the flag of the United States. TDC was registered under the flag of the

San Diego Yacht Club San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island. Facilities The San Diego Yacht Club facility has a main dining room and outdoor deck seating, a b ...

(SDYC).

12-metre class yachts

The well funded Sail America Foundation commissioned four 12-metre yachts to support a campaign led by

, representing the

, to win back the America's Cup in the 1987 competition in Fremantle, Australia. * ''Stars & Stripes 83'' (US 53) built in 1985 by Geraghty Marine, designed by Chance/Nelson/Pedrick. * ''Stars & Stripes 85'' (US 54) built in 1985 by Robert E. Derektor Inc., designed by Chance/Nelson/Pedrick. Proved to be faster than ''Stars & Stripes'' 83. * ''Stars & Stripes 86'' (US 56) built in 1986 by Robert E. Derektor Inc., designed by Chance/Nelson/Pedrick. Designed with a different keel and more sail area. * '' Stars & Stripes 87'' (US 55) built in 1986 by Robert E. Derektor Inc., designed by Chance/Nelson/Pedrick. Designed and built with the experience gained from the first three designs. ''Stars & Stripes 87'' won the trials to select the challenger and went on to defeat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'' in a four-race sweep to win the Cup back for the USA. The movie ''

Wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

'' 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. It had previously sunk, in 2002 when the rudder shaft broke while the crew was training.

Catamaran-hull yachts

The surprise challenge by Sir Michael Fay caught the 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. 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. The 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 Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to deve ...

. 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 New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. 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 the

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 James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

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'' 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 The Bayview Mackinac Boat Race is run by the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world with over two hundred boats entering the race each year. There have been at least six changes to the co ...

to Mackinac from Port Huron, Michigan, and was favored to win and set a new record time. An experienced

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

sailor Donald Wilson captained the yacht, chartering it from a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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 Alpena ( ') is the only city in and county seat of Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census. After Traverse City, it is the second most populated city in the Northern Michigan region. The city ...

. 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.

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. The defender can choose which boat to use, so Team DC selected ''Young America'', considered the fastest defender, 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 Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

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 A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

broke during preparations for the 2002–2003 races to select the challenger for the America's Cup. The boat was raised out of of water just outside

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

Harbor. Conner's luck that year would not improve, as '' Alinghi'' and ''

Oracle BMW Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. ...

'', 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.

References

External links

SAIL USA-11/ Stars & Stripes USA-11TEAM USA-11/ Stars & Stripes USA-11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stars and Stripes (Yacht) America's Cup teams 1987 America's Cup 1988 America's Cup 1992 America's Cup 1995 America's Cup 2000 America's Cup San Diego Yacht Club