Conner makes bold predictions for Cup
America’s Cup great Dennis Conner predicts a ‘‘wonderful’’ regatta in Auckland sailed in foiling 60-foot sloops with no involvement from Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts, but the United States being represented by another billionaire.
Conner, a four-time winner of the Auld Mug, dedicated his latest yachting podcastto wrapping up Team New Zealand’s recent win in Bermuda and looking at what the 2021 format would bring.
‘‘I love Auckland, I love the people there, it just could not be nicer ... if you love sailing, it’s ideal.
‘‘Everyone has a boat and lives on or near the water.
‘‘The Cup is going to have a wonderful new home there,’’ Conner said, adding he planned to attend.
As Team New Zealand and Italian Challenger of Record Luna Rossa work through their plans for the boat, the rules and racing format, Conner was quick to reveal what he has been picking up in whispers.
‘‘I’m hearing rumours about a sloop, maybe in the 60-foot range that could foil.
‘‘We know if it’s light enough and well designed, it could foil,’’ he said, suggesting a crew of 14 on a boat that could sail at around 18 knots into the wind and low-30s downwind.
‘‘It will be a creative boat, you know that.
‘‘There is no-one more creative than they [Team New Zealand] are. They will think outside the box.’’
Conner believes ‘‘it’s the end of the Coutts era’’ and that would likely mean no further involvement from Oracle billionaire Ellison.
‘‘Coutts looked like he’d had enough of the Cup to me,’’ Conner observed of the Kiwi legend’s organisational efforts in Bermuda.
‘‘He has made more money from sailing than anyone in the entire world. He will return to his homeland and be well received as one of the greatest America’s Cup sailors ever.
‘‘It will take a little while for them to forget that he was the one that took the Cup off them ... but he has a lot of friends there.
‘‘He will help bring the youth of New Zealand along even faster than we might have expected.’’
Conner predicted such a move would impact on Ellison, who had employed Coutts as his right-hand man in yachting.
‘‘Who will Larry trust to run his team if Russell Coutts has gone?
‘‘I think we will see Larry retiring and moving on to other things that Larry does.’’
Conner said the strong word he was hearing was that Richard DeVos, a cofounder of Amway and owner of the Orlando Magic NBA team, was set to challenge.
‘‘He has the loot, he’s a legitimate billionaire,’’ Conner said of the 91-yearold whose net worth was valued at US$5.1b (NZ$6.9b) in January.
‘‘It will mean a lot of fresh blood and a lot of money spent. The America’s Cup isn’t a beach class catamaran regatta ... you have to be prepared to spend some money to win it.’’
In the broadcast on his Facebook page, Conner said a question mark would be placed over the ongoing involvement of Japan and France.
But he expected Britain and Sir Ben Ainslie to continue and believed former winner John Bertrand was ready to head another Australian challenge.
‘‘I think they will do away with the travelling circus they had with the catamarans,’’ Conner said in respect to the world series that was sailed in the leadup to the last two America’s Cups in San Francisco and Bermuda.
Conner said the last regatta saw Jimmy Spithill ‘‘lose his lustre’’.
‘‘It looked like Peter Burling and our friends on the Team New Zealand boat really showed him the way. It looks like the youth is coming through again.
‘‘Burling did a darned good job with no huge mistakes. I don’t believe the capsize was his fault, he wasn’t running the foils.
‘‘Other than that one or two minor errors that never really affected the Cup he did a great job.
‘‘Glenn Ashby of Australia appeared to be the brains of the outfit tactically, and together they made for an amazing team.’’