Conner and Turner to Sail Match Race in 12-Meters Before Super Bowl

Dennis Conner and Ted Turner, with pro football players on their crews, will sail a match race at San Diego in 12-meter boats Jan. 28, three days before the Super Bowl.

The race will be a special event of the Super Bowl week. ABC plans to telecast 2 1/2 minutes of the race on the pregame show.

Dana Smith, vice president of marketing for Dennis Conner Sports Inc. in San Diego, said a report of the event Thursday was “premature” but essentially accurate.

Conner will sail Stars & Stripes ‘86, the radical second of three boats built for his last America’s Cup campaign. It was not taken to Fremantle, Australia, for the competition last winter.

Turner will sail Liberty, which Conner sailed to a 4-3 Cup loss to Australia II in ’83 and which Conner recently has been sailing in local San Diego events.

“We haven’t firmed up a lot of the details,” Smith said. “We’ve had tremendous interest from the NFL players, but some we might like to have could be playing in the game.”

One player on each boat will be the “assistant skipper.” New York Giant quarterback Phil Simms probably will be with Turner, and three or four other players on each boat will be winch grinders, a task that requires more muscle than sailing skill. Eight experienced sailors will fill out each crew.

Charger quarterback Dan Fouts, contacted personally by Conner, apparently had agreed to be Conner’s assistant without realizing the date would conflict with his commitment to play in the Super Bowl Charity Golf Tournament at Torrey Pines, Smith said.

Turner, aboard Courageous in 1977, was the last American skipper to defend the America’s Cup before Conner defended it in ‘80, lost it to the Australians in ’83 and won it back in ’87.