Paul Cayard

Paul Pierre Cayard (born May 19, 1959) is an American yachtsman who has participated in a broad range of world championship level sailing events including the America's Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He was elected into the Sailing World Hall of Fame in 2002. In total, he has twice participated in the Olympic Games and five times in the America's Cup, in addition to winning seven world championships.

Early life

Cayard was born on May 19, 1959 in San Francisco. He graduated with a degree in business management from San Francisco State University in 1981. He married Ulrika Kristina Petterson, daughter of Swedish sailing legend Pelle Pettersson.

Sailing career

Cayard's first sailing experience was at the age of eight in 1967 on Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. As he progressed, he moved into high performance dinghies such as the International 505. As Cayard grew and became more proficient in sailing, he gained Tom Blackaller as an influential mentor who introduced him to the Star class. The Star class would become a lifelong passion for Cayard.

In 1984 Cayard was selected as an alternate for the USA sailing team. In 2003 he won a silver medal in the pre-Olympic regatta in the Star class. In 2004 he finished 5th in the Star class at the Olympic Games in Athens.

Cayard has competed in a broad range of ocean racing events with an impressive record. He has won the 1994 Kenwood Cup, the 1994 and 1996 Sardinia Cup, and the 1995 Admirals Cup. His top achievement in this arena was winning the 1997/1998 Whitbread Round the World race as skipper of EF Language. He beat out 10 other yachts for the prize over a course of 32,000 miles (51,500 km). This was remarkable as it was his first ever Whitbread and he also became the first ever American to win the event.

As of 2006, Cayard competed in the Volvo Ocean Race as skipper of "Pirates of the Caribbean" syndicate sponsored by The Walt Disney Company in reference to the movie of the same name. Cayard Sailing, Inc. managed the syndicate. The team finished the overall race in 2nd place.

In 2007, Paul Cayard and Russell Coutts announced the launch of the World Sailing League in partnership with internationally renowned Portuguese sports promoter, João Lagos. The World Sailing League (WSL) will be held at premier sailing locations around the world with the series winner receiving a cheque for $2 million. Twelve teams, representing nations, will compete in identical, state-of-the-art 70ft catamarans. It is anticipated that there will be venues in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North America and South America. Cayard and Coutts are both committed to skipper teams in the league.

America's Cup

Cayard's first America's Cup was in 1983 aboard Blackaller's "Defender" as a sail trimmer. "Defender" finished third in the defender selection series. For the 1987 America's Cup series, Cayard moved up to tactician and alternate helmsman on Blackaller's new boat "USA", which lost out to Dennis Conner's "Stars & Stripes" for the right to challenge for the cup [ [http://www.americaone.org/cup/history7.html History of the America’s Cup - The Cup Down Under] ] .

For the 1992 America's Cup, Cayard became manager and skipper of "Il Moro di Venezia" from Italy, a syndicate backed by Raul Gardini. In 1991, he won the first ever International America's Cup Class world championship. Over the months long challenger selection series, Cayard's team beat out seven other teams from six other countries to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and gain the right to challenge for the America's Cup. Part of the challenge included protest room theatre as Cayard successfully protested the employment of a bowsprit on the New Zealand challenge.

Though "Il Moro di Venezia" was outclassed in the America's Cup races by the faster "America³", Cayard's expertise in sailing provided some memorable moments. In the second race of the series, his yacht won the start and maintained a small lead for the entire race. He employed classic match racing tactics throughout the race, and at the downwind finish managed to beat "America³" by three seconds, producing the smallest winning margin in cup history. Cayard went on to lose this series 4-1.

In 1995, Cayard rejoined an American effort for the America's Cup, joining Team Dennis Conner aboard "Stars & Stripes" as primary helmsman. Though "Stars & Stripes" was noticeably slower than other boats on the defender series, the syndicate managed to win the Citizens Cup for the right to defend the Cup. In an unprecedented move, Team Dennis Conner decided to use the faster yacht "Young America" from the PACT 95 syndicate to defend the Cup. Cayard and this syndicate ended up losing the Cup 5-0 to Team New Zealand, who had won the Louis Vuitton Cup.

With the change in venue and hemisphere for the Cup, the next America's Cup was not held until 2000. For this iteration of the America's Cup, Cayard formed his own syndicate with backing from a number of sponsors and named it "AmericaOne". The sponsoring yacht club was St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco. This syndicate faced off with 14 challengers from 10 nations for the right to challenge for the Cup. "AmericaOne" reached the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup facing off against "Prada" for the right to challenge against Team New Zealand for the America's Cup. The final over the best of nine races was hotly contested, with neither yacht ever winning by more than two minutes. "Prada" won the first race, and "AmericaOne" the second. "Prada" went on to win the next two races, putting "AmericaOne" at a 3-1 disadvantage. "AmericaOne" then proceeded to win the next three races and appeared on the brink of winning the Louis Vuitton cup. However, Paul Cayard blew up several spinnakers in the next two races and "Prada" won the next two races and gained the right to challenge for the Cup, ultimately losing 5-0 to Team New Zealand [ [http://www.americaone.org/cup/history8.html History of the America’s Cup - Big Boats Reborn] ] .

Following the conclusion of the 2000 America's Cup, Cayard recommended to the "AmericaOne" syndicate board of trustees that the syndicate should not compete for the 2003 America's Cup, citing significant financial and recruiting obstacles. Assets of AmericaOne were eventually sold to Larry Ellison who founded the Oracle Racing syndicate, later joining forces with BMW Racing to form Oracle BMW Racing, with Cayard as skipper. Cayard later was moved out of the skipper position into an administrational position and ultimately left the syndicate [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/sailing/12/11/cayard.ppl/index.html CNN article on Cayard's removal from Oracle BMW Racing] ] [ [http://www.yachtracing.com/richroberts/012903.htm Cayard: the AC From the Outside (en)] ] .

In March 2007, Cayard returned to the 32nd America's Cup as Technical Advisor to Desafio Espanol 2007. Cayard also commentated on the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 and the 2007 America's Cup for La7, the Italian broadcast rights holder.

On 12 October 2007, Cayard announced that he will join Desafio Espanol as Sports Director for the 33rd edition of the America's Cup.

Sailing accomplishments

* Won the Star class world championship in 1988.
* Won the Maxi class world championship in 1988 aboard "Il Moro di Venezia III".
* Won the 1989 One Ton class world championship.
* Won the 1991 50-foot world championship aboard "Abracadabra" in Japan.
* 1991 Yachting magazine Yachtsman of the Year.
* Won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1992.
* 1992 Rothmans Yachtsman of the Year.
* Won the Citizens Cup in 1995 for the right to defend the America's Cup.
* Won 1994 and 1996 Sardinia Cup (ocean racing)
* Won 1994 Kenwood Cup (ocean racing)
* Won the 1995 Admiral's Cup (ocean racing)
* Won the 1996 International Level Class 40 world championship.
* Won the 1999 Steinlager Cup.
* Won the 1997/98 Whitbread Round the World Race (now known as the Volvo Ocean Race) as skipper of the Swedish entry EF Language.
* 1998 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.
* Won 2002 IMS world championship in Capri, Italy.
* 2002 inductee into the Sailing World Hall of Fame.
* 2005-2006 Skippered 'Pirates of the Caribbean' in the Volvo Ocean Race, placing 2nd overall

Miscellanea

* Speaks three languages; French, Italian and English
* Holds a pilots license for single engine aircraft.
* Cayard counts his 1988 Star class world championship as his most prized victory
* Member of three different yacht clubs, St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Yacht Club de Monaco and is a member of the West Valley Flying Club
* Cayard stands height|m=1.9 tall and weighs convert|97|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on.

References

* [http://www.americaone.org/syndicate/cayard.html Record of world championships won]
* [http://www.americaone.org/results-finals.html 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup finals results]

External links

* [http://www.cayardsailing.com/ Cayard Sailing website]
* [http://www.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/profil.php?idIndex=&idContent=4497 32nd America's Cup website]
* [http://www.wsl2009.com World Sailing League website]
* [http://www.blackpearlracing.com Pirates of the Caribbean entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 website]
* [http://www.la7.it/vela/index.asp LA7 Italy's website]
* [http://www.la7.it/vela/video.asp Cayard's italian video]
* [http://www.americaone.org "AmericaOne" website]
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/usa/paul+cayard/1726317/ Cayard sailing profile on yahoo.com]
* [http://www.sailing.org/bio.asp?ID=USAPC5 International Sailing Federation event racing record]
* [http://www.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/boatdestiny/index.php?idIndex=0&idContent=3542 History of "Il Moro di Venezia" at the 1992 America's Cup]
* [http://www.usoc.org/26_21701.htm Paul Cayard's U.S. Olympic Team bio]