When Long Island-based Computer Associates, the third largest computer company in the world, announced last week that they would be sponsoring Team Dennis Connor's bid to bring the America's Cup back to New York from New Zealand, few were prouder than Garden City native Bill Trenkle, who has been sailing with Team Dennis Connor since 1980.

Computer Associate's platinum sponsorship of the team, which has based out of San Diego, CA since the last half of the 1980s, is significant for many reasons. Team Dennis Connor, best known for sailing Stars & Stripes, left the New York Yacht Club after losing the Cup to Australia in 1983, the first time it left American hands in the 132-year history of the international yachting race, breaking what has been called, "the longest winning streak in sports." In 1987 the team went to Australia, winning the Cup back, but bringing it to San Diego rather than New York.

Since 1987, the United States' history with the Cup has been less than successful, with the Cup being lost again in 1995, this time to New Zealand who retained it in the 2000 America's Cup campaign. One cause that has often been cited in the unsuccessful past campaigns of Team Dennis Conner has been a lack of financial resources, a problem addressed by the Computer Associates sponsorship.

In addition to their platinum sponsorship, Computer Associates, the world's leading eBusiness solutions provider, will also serve as the technology partner for Team Dennis Conner's America's Cup challenge, Stars & Stripes. Team Dennis Conner, sailing once again for the New York Yacht Club, will utilize Computer Associates' technology to ensure the optimum performance of the yacht. The team will implement a variety of Computer Associates solutions to gather, store, analyze, manage, and distribute information about Stars & Stripes during the many stages of the racing program.

"The America's Cup is the oldest sporting trophy in the world and ultimately rewards the country that assembles the best managers, scientists, technologies, tacticians, and athletes," said Ken Fitzpatrick, Computer Associates' general manager of Global Marketing. "By teaming with four-time America's Cup Champion Dennis Conner and his all-star crew, and by leveraging Computer Associate's core technologies, we're on a mission to help bring the Cup back to America."

This mission has special significance for Dennis Conner himself, who stated, "I have unfinished business when it comes to the America's Cup. It would be a dream for me to bring the Cup back to the United States, and to the trophy room in the New York Yacht Club. The support of an organization with Computer Associates' energy, and the benefit of deploying their cutting-edge technology solutions will, I'm convinced, enable me to achieve that goal."

Bill Trenkle, a 1976 graduate of Garden City High School, has been sailing for Conner since 1980 when he was recruited by him while on the sailing team at New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, where he majored in Marine Engineering. He has been an integral part of Conner's America's Cup campaign since that time, starting as a back-up foredeck crewmember and assisting in the construction and modifications of the boats in Conner's successful 1980 campaign with Freedom and the 1983 Liberty campaign. Trenkle was then at the heart of the 1987 Stars & Stripes victory in Australia and was responsible for commissioning the boats, training the crew, and sailing on board as port trimmer. In addition to still sailing in each of the Cup campaigns, Trenkle has served in operations management for America's Cups '88, '92, '95, and 2000. He most recently served as Director of Operations for Team Dennis Conner's America's Cup 2000 Campaign in Auckland, New Zealand, a position he has also held in Team Dennis Conner's two entries in the Whitbread Round the World Race, in 1993-94 and 1997-98. He will once again be the director of operations representing the Stars and Stripes team for the 2003 America's Cup Challenge. In each of the America's Cup campaigns since 1988, Trenkle has been responsible for overseeing the design, construction, maintenance, and sailing of the boats, as well as being responsible for crew training and competing as a sail trimmer on the boat.

Trenkle's other sailing experience includes being on the winning crews of the 1982 SORC, 1982 and 1984 Bermuda Race, and the 1984 North American Ocean Racing Championship. He has won many races in the Etchells 22 one design class and has also competed in the San Francisco Big Boat Series, the Kenwood Cup, the Admiral's Cup Trials and the One Ton North Americans. His other competitions include the Maxi Boat World Championships, IOR 50-foot class World Championships, the Fastnet Race, and other major sailing events.

Trenkle, in addition to his work for Team Dennis Conner's America's Cup campaigns, serves as president of Dennis Conner Sports. He currently lives in San Diego with his wife Crystal and his two young sons, Tyler and Justin. The family will once again temporarily relocate to Auckland for the 2003 America's Cup campaign.