yesterday for some rest and relaxation with a bit of sailing sprinkled in between.

"Number one is that I like to sail and for me it's nothing more enjoyable than a nice weekend in a great spot out sailing against my friends and that's what I intend to do this weekend,'' said Conner, while setting up a boat loaned him by Dennis Correia at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Conner said he will be taking part in today's Etchells fleet racing in the Great Sound: "The Etchells 22 is a fine boat and fun to sail and they have quite a competitive fleet here in Bermuda so I'm looking forward to having a nice day sailing here tomorrow and then on Sunday I'm going to do a little race with the local ocean racing fleet.'' Since the America's Cup campaign back in May, where Conner's entry Stars and Stripes was defeated by Ed Koch aboard Americ 3 , the San Diego resident has been busy organising his entry for the Whitbread Round the World Race next September.

"I've been doing the fund-raising to put together a programme to enter that race,'' said Conner. "Our major sponsor is RJR Nabisco and we're going to use the Winston Brand Cigarette and the boat is going to be called Winston and we're building that boat in Italy right now. It'll be launched next April and then we'll practise and get ready to enter the race.'' In addition Conner has sailed in several regattas involving Etchells in Long Island as well as competing in Europe in his grand prix boat and in New York aboard Stars and Stripes .

The lifelong sailor also heads his own marketing company, Dennis Connor Sports, that specialises in yachting and also has a marina designs business.

With the next America's Cup competition not until 1995 Conner has not yet got down to business as to how he will set up his bid.

"Right now the America's Cup for 1995 is just getting organised, said Conner.

"We don't even know what month it'll be.

"The boats will be the same but we don't know much about the competition yet.

When all that's sorted out then I can proceed and make my own plans. Right now I'm just not worried about it because I have enough sailing opportunities to stay busy.'' Having won numerous championships and the respect of his peers worldwide, the married father of two has firmly entrenched himself in sailing history.

Said Conner: "I don't really feel I'm out to prove anything at this point in my career. I've won an Olympic medal (bronze in 1976 at Montreal), won the Star Boat World Championships, the SORC, and 27 world championships so I don't really sail to prove anything anymore.

"I'm out there because I love it and I like the competition. Some people like to go out and enjoy golf in their spare time. For me, I go out and race sailboats.'' After leaving the Island on Monday, Connor, who is here as a guest of deForest (Shorty) Trimingham, jets off to Hong Kong for the Asian Pacific Championships before going on to Sydney, Australia, and returning to the US for a Christmas break.

Connor credits his growing up in the sailing mecca that is San Diego for his blossoming into a world class yachtsman.

"My father was a commercial fisherman so I was born around the water and it was natural for me to gravitate to the yacht club because my father was always on the waterfront,'' said Conner. "When he went off on the water to fish I went off to the yacht club to hang out.

"San Diego is really one of the sailing centres of the world so I had a lot of local heroes to look up to and learn from. That was the first advantage I had, the second was that I was of relative modest means -- I didn't have a boat of my own -- I had a chance to sail with a lot of different people instead of just having my own boat and learning by myself. I crewed for a lot of different people and learned about various ways of solving problems.'' Indeed Conner learned his lessons well as indicated by the array of honours received and while he can afford to lay back and take it easy he keeps on going, driven by a competitive spirit and love for a sport that has borne him a very rich harvest.

BUSY BODY -- Dennis Conner in Bermuda for a weekend of fun sailing in Etchell and ocean yachts.