To Volvo or not to Volvo

Since being sidelined by Oracle, Paul Cayard tells Ed Gorman he is considering his options

Paul Cayard is hedging his bets and having to be fairly non-committal about the immediate future since his recent and sensational sidelining from Larry Ellison's Oracle Racing America's Cup team. But you only have to hear him talking about it, to realise that he is very interested indeed in joining the Volvo Ocean Race.

Officially the top American skipper who won the last Whitbread hands down when leading EF Language, will only say he has a 50-50 chance of taking part in the current race, but one suspects the real chances are much higher and rising.

Cayard will not elaborate on why he has been left cooling his heels at home in California while the rest of the Oracle sailing team continues its winter training in Auckland. He says he is still employed by the syndicate and is "working from home". However it is clear a fundamental breakdown with Ellison or others has occurred and Cayard appears not to see any future for himself with that team.

This has come as an unexpected blow, to say the least. In an exclusive interview with madfor sailing, Cayard reflected on his enforced idleness at a time when he could have expected to be busier than ever as a potential skipper of one of the big guns in the next Louis Vuitton Cup.

"I've been around the block a few times and it is a shame to me," said the man who was beaten at the helm of AmericaOne in the challenger finals last time by Francesco de Angelis and Prada. "I'm saddened by it - I guess that might be the word. But I'm a realist and I know there are a lot of issues that people deal with at the top of any corporation and that's really what this is. These types of things happen. I don't take it personally - I have a lot of confidence in myself and in my abilities and I know I have the respect of my teamates on Oracle, so I'm not at all in any kind of depression."

Cayard says he is going to give the Oracle situation another month to sort itself out before he starts taking decisions on his future himself. In the meantime negotiations or contacts are underway with at least one Volvo syndicate. Cayard confirms he has been talking to one but will not identify it. However, the likelihood is that it is Assa Abloy, a team he has always tipped for honours and one which includes some of his key collaborators from four years ago, among them Mark Rudiger and Magnus Olsson.

Until the breakdown in relations with Oracle, Cayard had accepted in his own mind that he probably had more to lose by getting involved in the Volvo than to gain. But this perception is changing. "If things don't work out for me in the America's Cup arena I may become more interested in the second half of the Volvo because I like the race and I think it's an awesome event and, provided the right opportunity arises, I might be interested," he said.

It is clear that the "right opportunity" is not that far off. Cayard agreed that joining the race in Sydney was unrealistic but Auckland or Rio were possibilities. "I'm not particularly close to jumping on any of the Volvo boats - it's not imminent," he explained. "I seriously doubt I'll be in Sydney for the start of that leg. Auckland or Rio are more the timeframe I am looking at, if I choose that path, but that depends on how things simmer along over the next 30 days."

One potential complication is Cayard's business relationship with Nautor - he is on the board of the company. But he says he has already been in touch with Leonardo Ferragamo, the Nautor chairman, and explained what may lie ahead. "I just let Leonardo know that my situation had changed and that sailing in the Volvo may become something I'm interested in and I told Grant Dalton the same thing."

But could there be a conflict of interest? "Nobody's going to prohibit me from going sailing - if they need me, they'd let me know," said Cayard who does not believe what he called his "long-term relationship as part of the Nautor family" would be adversely affected by his joining a rival Volvo syndicate.

But what about motivation? How easy would it be to come in so late to any campaign with all the big decisions long since made and with up to half the race already run? "I guess that is a little bit of unknown territory," said Cayard who went on to recall that even with EF he joined fairly late in the build-up when the construction phase was almost finished. "I'm pretty comfortable with myself and my track record so everybody's going to have the facts surrounding my involvement with any team," he added.

Continued on page 2...