Pirate Update-June 19, 2006

An act of Piracy was committed on the waters off Gothenborg Sweden around mid day on June 17th. As good Pirates would, and should, we stole first place on Leg 9 from ABN2, just 20 miles from the finish line.

And what a treasure to steal! It was the biggest leg finish of the whole race, in every sense. There were 7000 boats on the sea, the first of which joined us half way between Denmark and Sweden. The shore was lined with a further 200,000 spectators. As we gybed our way down the ever narrowing channel into Gothenborg, the spectator craft became wall to wall. You could have walked the last ten miles of the leg..hopping from one boat to the next. Military boats tried to keep the main channel clear for us but they had little success. I was initially concerned that the disturbance to the water and wind could cost us first place. In the end, I was enjoying the chaotic atmosphere and celebration that Sweden put on for all of the Volvo fleet.

To win the last leg or the last race of any event is a great way to go out. You leave on such a high.no regrets. Let’s be honest.we were lucky. The kids on ABN2 had a 15 miles lead in the race with 15 miles to go. They parked there in the early morning and we came with the new wind. We sailed right up to them and when they finally got going, we were even. It was a dog fight for about 8 miles to the last turning mark of the course; gybing in 3 knots of wind with one knot of current against us. In the end, we turned the mark 1 boat length ahead, and that was all she wrote. We stretched from there because our boat is a better light air machine.

The end of this great adventure has come. In looking back over the 13 months, I would say that this campaign has been every bit as satisfying as when we won 8 years ago. Satisfaction is derived from exceeding expectations. In 1998, we put a lot of time in preparations, over a year, and we expected to do well. This time, we sailed the boat just 18 days before the first leg started. Third overall would have been a good result. Then we did not even sail Leg 1. In Cape Town we were in LAST! Then the come back started in Melbourne. The shore team got the boat fixed and the crew gained confidence in the Pearl and we finally began to race.

The Pirates became a model of consistency; 11 podium finishes out of 16 races. Gaining second place overall in New York City was a dream for the American boat. Timing is everything. The Big Chief, Bob Iger came and sailed the Pearl in New York harbor. Bob has become one of our biggest fans and as he did, so did many others at Disney and Buena Vista. It was very satisfying to see this global company, who had little knowledge of our sport, get hooked.

13 months ago, when I met with Donald Evan and Grant Palin in Burbank, I could envision the boat and team as it looked at the finish in Gothenborg. I fell in love with that vision. Against all my experience and judgment, that told me we were far too late to start this campaign, I went for it. It could have been a big flop for Disney and for Paul Cayard. But it wasn’t, and I am thanking my lucky stars for that. You have to acknowledge when luck comes your way and I am more than happy to do so in this case.

I did try to give us the best chance of success because I knew the mountain we had to climb was high. I surrounded myself with excellent people all the way around. They solved the technical issues, they cooked the best meals, they operated in the most efficient way, they sailed the boat to the highest professional level, in short, they exceeded what I could have asked of them. My hat is off to each and every Pirate. You guys are the best!

So it is with satisfaction, pride and a touch of sadness, that we close this great adventure. Appropriately, it was the best ride of my life.

I am taking a break for a few weeks here in Sweden with my family. This summer I will sail two Transpac 52 regattas on George Andreadis’ boat Atalanti with Russell Coutts and the team. I will sail with my kids in California and Oregon, in their boats this summer. I will sail in Sardinia with Leonardo Ferragamo on his Swan in September. I will sail my Star in the World Championship in San Francisco at the end of September. I will keep CayardSailing.com updated with reports from these races.

Thanks for following us and being a part of this great adventure. Remember, the richest people on the planet are the one with the best experiences!

Captain Paul Cayard

Pirates of the Caribbean

In the most thrilling of finishes, Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard/USA) finally crept past ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) in the closing moments of leg nine and crossed the final finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 in Goteborg, Sweden, today at 13:44:06 GMT (14:44:06 local time) to a rapturous welcome by thousands of onlookers cramming the race village in Lindholmen.

On this beautiful Swedish summer’s day, thousands of spectators lined the islands and surrounding shoreline as well as taking to the water to applaud the Pirates as they scored their first win of the event and in so doing, secured their position of second place overall in the event. ABN AMRO TWO finished in second place at 13:48:56 GMT, just four minutes 50 seconds after the American boat.

After leading for most of leg nine, Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) finally crossed the line at 14:32:15 MT to take the third podium position, and confirm her third place overall. This is a fantastic achievement for Brazil who has never had a team represented in this race until now.

On finishing, Paul Cayard said:

“This couldn’t have been scripted better by anyone in Hollywood.

“I feel bad for the ABN AMRO TWO guys, but at the end of the day, we were racing to win, so we had to take advantage of the situation.

“This is the best welcome into any port that I have ever seen. Gothenburg couldn’t have welcomed us any bigger and you can’t go out on a higher note than that.

“We were one of the most consistent boats with 11 podium places. That’s smart sailing. We were in last place a couple of days ago and we got lucky.

“It’s all over now. We have a great group of guys, we’ve had our down moments, but no one quit and we just did what champions do and pull together.”

Race patron HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden was waiting on the dockside to welcome the Pirates and to present the trophies to Paul Cayard and his team for winning this leg and also to Sebastien Josse for finishing second. Joining the Prince were Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation and Leif Johansson, president of AB Volvo.

Paul Cayard and The Black Pearl, the last of the racing yachts to be launched, initially took the offshore option in the opening stage of leg nine, but as the inshore route appeared to be more favourable, the team took the expensive decision to cut their losses yesterday and head towards the Danish coast, leaving Ericsson (Neal McDonald) and ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) out to sea. Their reward came slowly, but surely, as they started to overtake, first Brunel (Matt Humphries) and then Brasil 1.

For the young team on ABN AMRO TWO, the final few hours of leg nine could not have been more intense. As they ghosted to a halt at the head of the fleet, just 16 miles from the finish, they could only look over their shoulders as the Pirates bore down on them. Cayard’s team maintained their speed and crept past the Dutch yacht, taking the lead at just after midday, GMT.

ABN AMRO TWO snatched the lead from Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) yesterday at 1600 GMT, and initially took a six mile lead, which, by 2200 GMT had stretched to 15 miles. Overnight, the team still managed to average 10 knots, but as dawn rose, the wind died leaving the team in a nail-biting situation, with a much deserved win slipping through their fingers as the crew was left powerless.

After getting punished by the right, we finally bit the bullet hard and went into the right corner. We left Ericsson and ABN Amro One and actually sailed on the un-favored board by 20 degrees for an hour.

The reward is that we have caught up and just recently passed Brunel and now Brasil1 is the boat in front of us. We are in a position that works for us for now.

That was an extremely frustrating episode this morning, one without much reason, but we are passed that hurdle.

The wind is nothing at all like the forecasts. In fact, it is about 180 degrees out and has been for most of this short race.

For now, we look good on ABN Amro One and Ericsson and ABN Amro Two has done a very nice job. However, this is definitely one of those race that will not be over until the Fat Lady sings.

I think the wind is going to completely collapse up here at the next corner in about 40 miles. The little bit of wind we had today was created by the Danish coast and now that is evaporating.

It could be a long night without much wind. I suppose it will be the last night of this race.

Paul Cayard

Pirates of the Caribbean