Viagra boost for 'hardened' Conner
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Team Dennis Conner will need stamina for the long campaign
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AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNN) -- Veteran America's Cup sailor Dennis Conner has added a new sponsor to perk up his 2002 campaign.
The logo for impotence drug Viagra has been painted on the side of Team Dennis Conner's boat after U.S. drug company Pfizer became a sponsor.
Team spokeswoman Veronica Brown said Pfizer as a "silver" sponsor for the campaign, joining apparel company Nautica and software company Manugistics.
"We don't disclose details about sponsorship dollar levels," she told CNN. Silver sponsors come below platinum and gold sponsors for Conner's campaign, his ninth.
Team Dennis Conner won the race by 20 seconds, prompting Peter Harrison, boss of rival team GBR, to say: "From our perspective we were facing a bunch of hardened professionals," Yachting World reported.
Conner won the America's Cup in 1974, 1980, 1987 and 1988, but also lost it twice. Nowadays Conner concentrates on planning and fund-raising for the $40 multi-million campaign.
His boat Stars & Stripes won its first race on day 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series on October 1 in Auckland.
The series is held over four months to determine the final challenger to race Team New Zealand for the America's Cup, yachting's oldest trophy.
