Desafío Español 2007 signs Paul Cayard

by www.americascup.com on 12 Dec 2006 Desafío Español 2007 anounced today, Tuesday 11th of December, signing with American Paul Cayard to be the sport and technical advisor for the team.

Cayard has sailed in five editions of the America’s Cup and won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1992 as skipper on the Italian boat, Il Moro di Venezia.

The local team challenging for the 32nd America’s Cup has signed an agreement with the Cayard Sailing Company and personally with Paul Cayard (San Francisco, 1959), who will help the team prepare successfully ESP 97 for a few weeks in the build up to the Louis Vuitton races.

Agustín Zulueta, Sporting and Technical Director of the team said that he 'trusts Pauls Cayard’s experience to help the team to be one of the top four'. Zulueta also assured that with this agreement 'we are trying to raise the level of our crew' concluding, 'we want to use the best Cayard can give us and we fully trust in the crew we now have'.

Cayard was the first American to win the Volvo Ocean Race and skippered a team in the last edition; he has raced in Olympic Games and won seven world titles.

Cayard's last America's Cup involvement was as skipper of AmericaOne in 2000. In 1995 he was helmsman aboard the Defender, Stars and Stripes/Young America and is a protege of the late Tom Blackaller. He was forced to sit out the 2003 America's Cup after being contracted but not required by the then Oracle Racing team.

Source:www.americascup.com