'Dirty Den' turns into Mr Nice Guy

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Shake hands with Dennis Conner, honorary New Zealander.
He has been called plenty of things in his time: Mr America's Cup, the king of cups, and Dirty Den. He is the man who called Chris Dickson a cheat and Bruce Farr a loser.
The sailor Kiwis loved to hate. He beat us twice, but we beat him last time.

Auckland is now Conner's second home and he is settling in as a Kiwi.

He is a member of a couple of local yacht clubs and helps out with a junior sailing programme at the Panmure club.

"I'm trying to be a good member of the community and help the kids," he said.

He regularly comes over to sail his favourite class of boat, the three-crew Etchell - this weekend he will be a skipper in the Auckland championships.

"I have a twisted mind. I've donated the trophy - all the finest New Zealand sailors racing for the Stars and Stripes trophy," he cackled.

Team Dennis Conner will now be decked out in Canterbury clothing - you will see Conner walking the waterfront in a rugby shirt.

He has bought an apartment in the Viaduct Basin and proudly extols the virtues of the new development.

He is also supporting the country's boatbuilding industry by commissioning a luxury launch for the America's Cup campaign. It will be christened in Auckland in March.

And last night he was the special guest at an auction for the Starship children's hospital. There appears to be a method to his change of heart towards New Zealand.

"All New Zealand people would like to see New Zealand successfully defend the America's Cup. But there's four months of racing before that and hopefully the people will root for Team Dennis Conner to be the challenger."

Conner's hackles are raised at the mention of the old days, when he was the Kiwis' No 1 villain. It was he, he said, who helped Sir Michael Fay to get the first cup challenge rolling over a decade ago.

"The fact is I helped Michael Fay raise the money initially. I was the speaker for the first dinner. I was supportive of New Zealand yachting a long time before 1985.

"Once there was some feisty business going on between myself and Chris Dickson in Perth. Both people want to win very badly and it's not all fun and games.

"The fact I've had two New Zealand crews sailing my boats in the round-the-world race is pretty good evidence of what I think of New Zealand. The proof of the pudding comes down to who Dennis Conner goes sailing with - he picks New Zealanders."

Conner is absolutely right. He has been one of the greatest influences on New Zealand yachting, without being a New Zealander.