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Auckland, New Zealand -- As Round Robin 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup came to a close today for Stars & Stripes, Dennis Conner sailed as helmsman during a very close and exciting match with their final competitor of the Round, Bravo Espana.  After todays race, which the Spanish won by a narrow margin of 35 seconds, Team Dennis Conner will have only 17 days to prepare for the semi-finals, beginning on January 2, 2000.

The Stars & Stripes team was excited about having Dennis Conner at the helm for the final race of Round Robin 3.  It was great to be back with the guys, said Conner.  I feel a little guilty not being out there fund-raising with the semi-finals only two weeks away, but I couldn't resist giving myself an early Christmas present by sailing the boat.  Conner decided to drive the boat this morning after Tom Whidden, a member of Conners afterguard, returned home to the United States to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary and his daughter Holly's 21st birthday.

The first three Rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup were abundant with collisions, breakdowns and fluky weather patterns probably a preview of what to come in the semi-final Round.  Only six of the eleven team that started racing in October will advance to the semi-final series; the final race of this Round, between Le defi Francais (France) and the New York Yacht Club Young America, is scheduled for tomorrow.  The outcome of that race is irrelevant because Young America was mathematically eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup today.

In addition to Team Dennis Conners Stars & Stripes, the following teams will also advance to the semi-finals: Prada Challenge (Italy), AmericaOne (USA), America True (USA), Le defi Bouygues Telecom-Transiciel (France) and Nippon Challenge (Japan).

The race schedule for the semi-finals will be decided by a draw at 9:00 am (NZ time) on December 30, 1999 at the Louis Vuitton Cup Media Center in Auckland, New Zealand.  The six semi-finalist teams, who will all start the series with zero points, will race each other twice during the semi-finals, each race counting for one point.
                                                                        

For more information, please contact:

Veronica Cahill
Media Relations Liaison
Team Dennis Conner
TDC Compound