Cayard joins Spanish team

SYDNEY, Australia – Leading American sailor Paul Cayard on Tuesday joined the Spanish America’s Cup team as a technical adviser.

Cayard has won seven world championships and the Volvo Ocean Race. He has also sailed in five America’s Cups, winning the 160-year-old trophy in 1992 as skipper of the Italian entry Il Moro di Venezia.

Agustin Zulueta, sporting and technical director for Spain’s Desafio Espanol 2007, said the team had signed an agreement with Cayard and with the Cayard Sailing Company to use his technical expertise as it prepares for the America’s Cup regatta off Valencia in mid-2007.

“We are trying to raise the level of our crew. We want to use the best Cayard can give us and we fully trust the crew we now have,” Zulueta said.

Reports from Valencia said Cayard would be involved with the Spanish team for two months, providing technical advice and steering its second boat in trial races with its Cup entry, ESP-97. The possibility of an extended contract would be discussed after that period.

Cayard last sailed in the America’s Cup for the AmericaOne syndicate in New Zealand in 2000. He was to sail for the San Francisco-based Oracle team in the 2003 Cup, but was out after a dispute with syndicate owner Larry Ellison.