Stars & Stripes (yacht)
Encyclopedia
Stars & Stripes is the name of a series of racing yachts operated by Dennis Conner
Dennis Conner
Dennis Conner is an American yachtsman, noted for winning the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and four wins in the America's Cup.-America's Cup:...

 to compete in the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...

. The name "Stars & Stripes" refers to the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 often used for the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...

.

12-metre class yachts

1987 America's Cup
1987 America's Cup
The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-seventh challenge for the America's Cup and the first time for 132 years that it had not been defended by the New York Yacht Club....



The well funded Sail America Foundation commissioned four 12 metre yachts
12-metre class
The 12 Metre Class is a rating class for racing boats designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. The first 12 Metres were built in 1907. The 12 Metre Class was...

 to support a campaign led by Dennis Conner
Dennis Conner
Dennis Conner is an American yachtsman, noted for winning the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and four wins in the America's Cup.-America's Cup:...

, representing the San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. Its address is 1011 Anchorage Lane, San Diego, CA 92106. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.- Facilities :...

, to win back the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...

 in the 1987 competition in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.
  • 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
    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.-Design and Development:...

    (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 Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    n defender Kookaburra III
    Kookaburra III
    Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Meter yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Australia. She won the Defender Selection and represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner and his Stars and Stripes...

    by 4 races to nil to win the Cup back for the USA.


The movie Wind
Wind (film)
Wind is a film released in 1992. The movie was directed by Carroll Ballard and starred Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, and Cliff Robertson.- Plot summary :...

 is loosely based on Dennis Conner's experience, from the 1983 America's Cup
1983 America's Cup
The 1983 America's Cup was the occasion of the first winning challenge to the New York Yacht Club who had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years...

 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.

Catamaran-hull yachts

1988 America's Cup
1988 America's Cup
The 1988 America's Cup was the twenty-eighth running of the America's Cup regatta, and was contested between the defender, San Diego Yacht Club represented by Stars & Stripes, and the challenger, the Mercury Bay Boating Club represented by KZ-1...


Due to the challenge being made outside a defined sailboat class, Conner enlisted the help of designers Morrelli, Chance & Hubbart & MacLane, and aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...

, to fabricate a revolutionary catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

, Stars & Stripes (US-1), which dominated over KZ 1, the challenger from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The New Zealand team sued and initially won the America's Cup trophy in a court case; however the decision was reversed on appeal, and the San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. Its address is 1011 Anchorage Lane, San Diego, CA 92106. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.- Facilities :...

 retained the Cup.

The surprise challenge by Sir Michael Fay
Michael Fay (banker)
Sir Michael Fay is a New Zealand merchant banker and partner in the merchant bank Fay Richwhite. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland, St Patrick's College, Silverstream and Victoria University of Wellington ....

 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. 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 so it was used in the defense.

After the 1988 America's Cup, the wing masted boat was bought by Mexican yachtsman Victor Tapia and sails in Mexico. The soft sail yacht was bought by Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...

 and used to set speed records in various yacht races.

2008 Port Huron to Mackinac race

Fossett's Stars & Stripes yacht was entered in the 84th running of the annual yacht race to Mackinac
Mackinac Bridge
The Mackinac Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the non-contiguous Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge is the third longest in total suspension in the world and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages...

 from Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...

, and was favored to win and set a new record time. An experienced Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 sailor Donald Wilson captained the yacht, chartering it from a Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 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
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...

 (1998) but was unable to complete the race after the mast
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

 broke, just off Alpena, Michigan
Alpena, Michigan
Alpena is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Alpena County. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is located in the city. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census...

. The yacht was again de-masted 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 America's Cup
1992 America's 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.-Races:-America³:-Il Moro di Venezia:...


Conner's 1992 IACC AC yacht, Stars & Stripes USA-11 lost the defender series final, the Citizen Cup
Citizen Cup
The Citizen Cup is a trophy which was awarded to the winner of a regatta held in 1992 and again in 1995 to decide on a defender of the America's Cup.-History:...

, to Bill Koch's America3 USA-23.

1995 America's Cup
1995 America's Cup
The 29th America's Cup was contested between the winner of the 1995 Citizen Cup, Team Dennis Conner, with the yacht Stars & Stripes , and the winner of the 1995 Louis Vuitton Cup, Team New Zealand, with the yacht Black Magic .-Races:-Team New Zealand:-Team Dennis Conner:-References:*...


Conner's 1995 AC yacht, Stars & Stripes USA-34 won the defender series, the Citizen Cup
Citizen Cup
The Citizen Cup is a trophy which was awarded to the winner of a regatta held in 1992 and again in 1995 to decide on a defender of the America's Cup.-History:...

 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 to use 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 America's Cup
2000 America's Cup
The 30th America's Cup was contested between the holder, Team New Zealand, and the winner of the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup, Prada Challenge.-Races:-Team New Zealand:* Sailed in Race 5-Prada Challenge:-References:*...


Conner again ran a one-boat campaign, entering Stars & Stripes USA-55. Eliminated in the semi-final repechage
Repechage
Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...

 by OneWorld Challenge.

2003 America's Cup
Conner's $5 million 2002 entrant, Stars & Stripes USA-77, an International Americas Cup Class
International Americas Cup Class
The International Americas Cup Class is a class of sailing vessels that was developed for the America's Cup competition. These yachts, while not identical, are all designed to a particular formula, so as to make the boats involved in a competition roughly comparable, while still giving individuals...

 yacht, was sunk
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....

 on July 23, 2002 when a rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...

 broke during preparations for the 2002–2003 races to select the challenger for the America's Cup. The boat was raised out of 55 feet (16.8 m) of water just outside Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

 Harbor. Conner's luck that year would not improve, as Alinghi
Alinghi
Alinghi is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup. Bertarelli had raced several smaller yachts named Alinghi previously, but 2003 was his first attempt at the America's Cup...

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 America's Cup
2007 America's Cup
The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and Match Race in the sport of sailing....


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

External links

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