Paul Cayard is the first sailor to be inducted into the Class of 2020 for the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, (BASHOF). Sail Sport Talk will be having a continuing conversation with Paul this year, about his career and about sailing.
June 2, 2020 and Aug 4, 2020 broadcasts: 3 minute spotlight
Paul Cayard has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America’s Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the US Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He has won seven world championships, twice participated in the Olympic Games and seven times in the America’s Cup. In 2002 he was elected into the Sailing World Hall of Fame. All his sailing accomplishments, he counts his 1988 Star Class world championship as his most prized victory.
Cayard is a member of four different yacht clubs, the St. Francis Yacht Club, the San Francisco Yacht Club, the Encinal Yacht Club, and the Yacht Club de Monaco.
Below is an interview with Paul on Jan 28, 2020.
From an early age Cayard showed great promise as a sailor, and by his early teens was successfully sailing high performance dinghies such as the International 505 and Laser. As Cayard grew and became more proficient in sailing, he gained the notice of Tom Blackaller, who invited Cayard to crew for him on his Star class sailboat. Blackaller would become an influential mentor, and the Star Class would become a lifelong passion for Cayard.
In 1984, Cayard was selected as an alternate in the Olympic Games for the USA sailing team. Sailing in the Star Class, he won the silver medal at the pre-Olympic regatta in 2003, going on to finish 5th at the 2004 Summer 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 becoming the first American to win the Whitbread Round the World in 1997/1998 as skipper of EF Language. He beat out ten other yachts for the prize over a course of 32,000 miles (51,500 km).
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 won the final leg into Gothenburg and 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 $2 million in prize money.
In 2009, Cayard joined Artemis Racing, owned by Torbjörn Törnqvist. Cayard was the Skipper of the Louis Vuitton Trophy team and Tactician onboard TP52 Artemis (www.artemisracing.com). Artemis Racing became the Challenger of Record in the 34th America’s Cup in 2010 and Cayard became CEO. https://www.facebook.com/Cayard-Sailing-45154148469/
Paul Cayard competed in the recent Star Sailors League in Nassau reporting from that competition. The Star Sailors League is a sailing competition circuit for professional sailors of the Star class boat. It was formed in 2013 by Xavier Rohart. In October 2017, the Star Sailors League was awarded a “Special Event” status by World Sailing, the governing body of sailing. The Star Sailors League (SSL) is an international regatta circuit designed to promote the athletes and the sport in an innovative and simple format.
Paul Cayard was born May 19, 1959 in San Francisco, California. He began sailing in 1967 at the age of eight. He graduated in 1981 with a degree in business management from San Francisco State University. He speaks three languages: English, French and Italian. He enjoys flying and holds a pilots certification for single engine aircraft.