Cayard - master of acrobatics in Auckland
Paul Cayard is juggling – fast. In any one day at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland, he could be calling tactics on the capricious waters of the Waitemata Harbour, rallying his crew as skipper of the Swedish team Artemis, or making a decision in the running of the World Sailing Teams Association in his new role as chairman.
And in the bigger picture, the evergreen American hopes he is playing a hand in moulding the future of the world’s oldest sailing prize.
Cayard, 50, seems to be taking it all in his cowboy-like stride. At some point he knows he may have to relinquish some of his responsibilities, but right now, he’s relishing them all. “I need to have some mix,” he says. “But I need a month or two to figure what I’m going to do, what I’m going to let go of. There are a lot of roles that need a lot of attention all of a sudden, and I’m just taking the temperature of all the different projects before I make a decision.”
Sailing still ranks right up there. The former America’s Cup skipper returned to the big boats in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice last November, shooting straight to the top of the mast for the first time in his sailing career, as Artemis’ strategist and windspotter. As tactician in the crew reshuffle for Auckland, Cayard is just enthusiastic back down on deck.
“Sailing these boats again is fairly second nature…but I’m kind of into new experiences. As you get older, you take age-defying actions, but hopefully not too desperately; hopefully nothing that’s ridiculously beyond your abilities. I went to the Olympics at 45 years old, and that was cool too. A lot of the athletes I was mixing with, divers and track runners, were the same age as my kids. It’s cool,” he says.
As skipper, Cayard is absorbed with the challenge of uniting the star-spangled Artemis crew, after the disappointment their seventh placing of eight in their Nice debut. “Nice was our first event, and we are building our team step-by-step. We trained a little bit for this one and I think we are better prepared - we’re looking for a better result,” he says.
“Within our Artemis team, and all the teams, having the 33rd America’s Cup over with, we can all look forward to getting on with it again. Being excluded from the competition was the impetus for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. The event is not just a space holder or a filler, and I think it will continue in the future.”
And as chairman of the WSTA, Cayard feels he can make a difference. He believes the WSTA and the Louis Vuitton Trophy have more of a sense of purpose now that a multi-team America’s Cup event is on the horizon. “Larry Ellison and BMW Oracle are shareholders in the WSTA, and we know they share the vision of what we have done to date and what we can do together in the future. So it’s an exciting new start.
“Now we have a company owned by many of the competitors who have ownership of this series. It creates a balance between the America’s Cup and these events that didn’t exist before, when everything was under one guy’s thumb.
“The WSTA gives challenging teams a say, an input, but also a start to their programme. People might not be ready to dive into spending 20m euros a year. But for 2 to 3 million euros a year, you can get involved in the Louis Vuitton Trophy races. That’s the operating budget you need for those events. It’s good for not only a say, but a way to get involved.”
Before the last America’s Cup, Cayard and BMW Oracle CEO Russell Coutts worked together on an idea to set up a World Sailing League. “Russell has a huge say in what’s going to happen in the future and we’ve shared a common vision about what sailing could do to evolve itself to a more high profile sports property. So there’s an opportunity, now that he and Larry have control of sailing’s most prestigious trophy, to collaborate with them and come up with a good game plan for the next three, and then maybe six, years. That could be quite interesting to me at this stage of my career.
“We have to work out with Russell and Larry the ongoing role of the WSTA and the Louis Vuitton events. I have already talked to Russell and they’re very supportive. They really want the WSTA and these events to continue and have a bearing on, and a relationship to, the America’s Cup.”
- SUZANNE McFADDEN
