Top US yachtsman Paul Cayard is joining Desafío Español syndicate as a coach and adviser.

Seven-time sailing world champion and two-time Olympian, Paul is a five-time America's Cup veteran. He won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1992 and Citizen Cup in 1995, hence sailed as helmsman in two consecutive America's Cup finals.

Paul Cayard was the first American skipper to win the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1998 on EF Language. In 2005-06, Paul skippered the Disney entry, Pirates of the Caribbean in the Volvo Ocean Race, placing a commanding second overall.

Paul Cayard will supervise the preparation and finetune of ESP 97, the second Spanish new boat, during a period of two months prior to the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2007. After that period Cayard and Desafío Español will discuss the possibilities of further cooperation, although there are no concrete plans right now.

Agustín Zulueta, general manager of the Spanish challenger, stated that ESP 97 would leave the King Marine boatyard on December the 20th.

It will then be fitted out inside the team's base in Port America's Cup for approximately a month and Zulueta was confident the first structural tests could start on January the 22nd, early next year.

America's Cup

2000 - AmericaOne (Skipper)
1995 - Stars and Stripes (helmsman)
1992 - Il Moro di Venezia (Skipper/Manager)
1987 - USA (tactician)
1983 - Defender (Sail trimmer)