 One of the most competitive classes in sailboat racing, the Etchells is often the boat of choice for the world's top sailors, including America's Cup veteran Dennis Conner, a three-time world champion in the class.A graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in naval architecture, Skip Etchells worked for the Navy in shipyards on the West Coast during World War II.After the war, he got a job in New York City with Sparkman & Stephens, the yacht design firm, before establishing his own boat-building company, Old Greenwich Boat Co., based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.