Dennis Conner, whose home is 100 miles south in San Diego, will defend the title he won last year at Holland, Mich., then will join his America's Cup team in the last weeks of preparation for the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers trials for the America's Cup. Conner won the world championship in 1991 and '94.

He will be sailing, incidentally, in the same waters where his newest AC boat, USA 77, sank in 55 feet two months earlier. That boat was recovered the same day and is being repaired in Auckland.

Also competing will be Mark Thornburrow and Tim Parsons of Hong Kong, Harald Orneberg of England, '98 world champion Dirk Kneulman of Canada and two-time North American champion Jud Smith of Marblehead, Mass., who also finished second in two Etchells Worlds.

Seven races are scheduled---one Wednesday and two each Thursday through Saturday---on a choice of windward-leeward courses inside and outside the federal breakwater that defines the Long Beach outer harbor. A boat will discard its worst score after five races are sailed. A practice race was scheduled for Tuesday.

The Etchells, conceived in 1966 by the late E.W. (Skip) Etchells, is a 30 1/2-foot ballasted sloop sailed by a crew of three or four with a maximum combined weight of 628 pounds. Originally known as an Etchells 22 because of its 22-foot waterline, it employs fractional headsails and spinnakers.

Although Kneulman, 47, is among the favorites, he will probably take some satisfaction in the result. He built three-fourths of the boats that will be competing at his Ontario Yachts plant in Burlington, Ontario, near Toronto. The class's only other builders are in England and Australia.

`They go well in light air---there's plenty of sail area---and they shine in breeze because of the ballast ratio,` Kneulman said. `The keel is 965 kilos and the hull is 380, so [72 per cent] of the boat is lead. It just goes like a rocketship when the breeze comes up.`

In 1968 the Etchells contested a similar boat, the Soling, as a replacement for the 5.5-Meter in the Olympics. Despite a strong performance, the Soling was selected.

`They picked the right boat,` Kneulman said. `The Soling is smaller, more maneuverable, more physical and a lot easier to tow around in those little back streets of Europe. The Olympics don't make a class, anyway. It's the people that race it internationally.`

Kneulman and anyone else who sailed in last year's North Americans will never forget the experience. The first was scheduled on Sept. 11.

`Our first race was scheduled that morning,` Kneulman said. `We left the dock after hearing word that something had run into the World Trade Center, but everyone assumed that someone had made a mistake.

`When we got out there we realized something was wrong. We were in the flight path for Chicago O'Hare and there was not a plane in the sky. The race committee collected everybody and towed us in. We had a big meeting about what we should do---whether we should continue with the regatta---but everybody was stranded. We were in the middle of nowhere, so we carried on.`

Although the event continued under a cloud of gloom, Kneulman said the decision was correct.

`You can't let these bastards stop you from living. It wasn't disrespectful in any way. Everyone was hit hard. I remember having dinner that night with my American friends, it's so crystal clear. We had a prayer before dinner, everyone held hands for a second . . . and next night we had dinner with DC. Everyone was trying to be normal because that's all you could do.`

A high-pressure canopy over Long Beach has meant a late-summer heat wave and winds lighter than normal in recent days. But the forecast is for a low-pressure cell moving in, bringing the traditional sea breeze and perhaps even rain.

Photos will be posted on the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Web site following each day of racing. High-resolution photos for print reproduction will be available at the end of the event.

Source: Rich Roberts