Dennis Walter Conner: Olympic Gold Medal, America's Cup, Carpet Sales, back to America's Cup

[Anonymous]

I just watched a documentary about how the Australians won the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club and the skipper Dennis Walter Conner.

I hadn't really heard this story before. I've been to Newport before for the Food and Wine Festival.

In the documentary, Dennis Connor was interviewed about his loss to Australia in 1983. It was the first Cup defender to be defeated in the 132-year history of the race, simultaneously ending a run by the New York Yacht Club that began with the first contest, according to Wikipedia.

Dennis Connor said he was depressed. He became a carpet salesman. They showed video footage of him selling carpet.

The man had already won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1976 for sailing. And he had won the America's Cup in 1980.

I'm just wondering. How typical is this for an athlete of his caliber? He did return to sailing and won the America's cup again.

It also seemed like there was a lot of revising the rules at the last minute during the race, to maintain an advantage.

[Anonymous]

This is the documentary with interviews and video footage. It's surprisingly very good. I posted this question here in the Sports Discussion instead of the Entertainment discussion because I thought more people interested in sports could comment.

Untold: The Race of the Century

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just watched a documentary about how the Australians won the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club and the skipper Dennis Walter Conner.

I hadn't really heard this story before. I've been to Newport before for the Food and Wine Festival.

In the documentary, Dennis Connor was interviewed about his loss to Australia in 1983. It was the first Cup defender to be defeated in the 132-year history of the race, simultaneously ending a run by the New York Yacht Club that began with the first contest, according to Wikipedia.

Dennis Connor said he was depressed. He became a carpet salesman. They showed video footage of him selling carpet.

The man had already won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1976 for sailing. And he had won the America's Cup in 1980.

I'm just wondering. How typical is this for an athlete of his caliber? He did return to sailing and won the America's cup again.

It also seemed like there was a lot of revising the rules at the last minute during the race, to maintain an advantage.

I can only speak to sailing, because I am very familiar with the sport at this level. In general it's common, the vast majority of pros and Olympians do not make a lot of money sailing. The daily rates are good, but not consistent, the sponsorships are minimal and don't pay well enough to live off of. And in 1980 there wasn't the internet, social media, etc. Things are slightly better now and there are slightly more opportunities, but it's hard when you have a sport where it's a challenge to sell tickets due to location and it's relatively niche.

To put it into perspective, my husband was a pro sailor when I met him, probably considered "middle" of the pack. He made about $60k/year sailing. Not horrible, but not the best! He supplemented his sailing income by working on boat electronics. He's since well-past those years, but his friends that are still in the business all supplement except for most of the America's Cup guys.