Welcome to Cayard Sailing.

On April 2nd the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of Golden Gate Yacht Club so now the two billionaires; Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison, will have their one on one grudge match in unlimited multihulls sometime in 2010. The rest of the sailing world will just have to wait. What a shame when you think back to the great event we had in Valencia in 2007. Such is the reality of the America's Cup and until one of these winners has the foresight to petition the court to change the Deed of Gift and implement an independent entity to manage the event, the self serving interest of the current winner will continue to prove to be the Achilles heel of the Cup. That decision put an end to my relationship with the Spanish team and I am now looking for another project.

I just spent the weekend in Boston with the Volvo Ocean race fleet and a lot of friends. Knut Frostad, CEO of the VOR is doing a great job leading the event management of this adventurous race. Several innovations in media, stopover layout and cost savings measures have been announced which all build the commercial value of the event. Furthermore, with the announcement of Alicante as the starting port for the next three editions, sponsors like Volvo, Telefonica, Puma and Ericsson all committed for the next event, the VOR is building continuity like no other in our sport.

This year, I am going to race the Transpac onboard Flash, a TP52 skippered by Tom Akin of Tiburon and both of my kids, Danny and Allie, will be amongst the crew. After last year's adventure in the Pacific Cup, racing to Hawaii every July could become a family tradition.

I have also accepted an invitation from Howard Hamlin to crew in the 505 Worlds in San Francisco in August. The last time I sailed in this class was 1979 in Durban as crew for 505 legend Dennis Surtees. I loved those boats as a kid and last weekend on my "try out" I found them to be just as exhilarating. But with three races a day on Berkeley Circle in August, physical stamina will be at a premium. Off to the gym again!

I will be sailing a few professional races this summer on the TP52 Artemis and the RC44 Cereef at the end of May. It is always good to stay involved with those top level professional circuits.

Upcoming events on my calendar: On May 19 I will give a motivational talk for Italian energy giant Enel on the island of Hvar, Croatia, on June 3rd I will present the National Collegiate Woman Sailor of the Year Award in San Francisco and on June 12 I will be the guest speaker at the West Marine Challenged America Regatta in San Diego.

Paul