Yachting: Raising funds toughest part of job

Paul Cayard tells SUZANNE McFADDEN that dialling for dollars is most stressful.

Paul Cayard's goal from now until the America's Cup is to earn $US100,000 a day - not on the water, but on the phone.

He needs to raise another $US8 million for what he has planned for his AmericaOne syndicate.

It's a job he dislikes intensely. He says he takes it too personally.

It has now come down to asking friends and yacht club mates to give him money.

"I've never been in this situation before. I sit in the office all day dialling for dollars instead of sailing or watching the boats being built," he said.

Cayard, skipper and CEO, is not afraid to admit he has been getting stressed.

He says he has found 75 per cent of his budget - with some quick maths, that means he probably intends to spend around $US32 million on this two-boat campaign.

"Two months back, I was about to sign a corporate deal for $5 million, when they withdrew on me. One of the top guys had retired or got fired. It was like 'goddamn it, are we doing a bad job with this?'

"Then I realised that other American syndicates haven't found it easy either.

"It's definitely the most challenging job I've ever had. I've been in charge before [with Il Moro de Venezia in 1992] but I never had to stress over where the money was coming from.

"When I'm really swamped and stressed I wonder is it really worth it?" His answer is always yes.

It seems odd that Cayard, the consummate professional, says he it took it "too personally" asking people he knew to help fund the campaign.

"I took it as though these people would think they were giving Paul Cayard their money. But they know they're giving it to AmericaOne - none of it goes in my pocket."

There was a feeling just short of adoration for this man at the launch of AmericaOne's first boat in San Pedro, California, last weekend.

More than $US7 million has been poured into the campaign coffers by members of the St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, where Cayard started sailing as a kid. These people get up and speak about doing it for Paul - he, of course, plays it down.

Speaking of himself in the third person, as a lot of yachting superstars do: "There are 75 people here who don't get the limelight, but are just as good as Paul Cayard."

One of the New Zealand crewmen on the boat, Morgan Trubovich, describes Cayard as a down-to-earth guy and a brilliant skipper. "There are no egos here," he says.

While Cayard is punching the phone keys, he has handed over the sailing reigns to tactician John Kostecki and design to Bruce Nelson. "They're both world champions at what they do, so I know they're doing the best job."

More than any other skipper in this America's Cup, Cayard has a point to prove. The five-time cupper has been the losing finalist twice in a row - with the Italians in '92 and Dennis Conner in '95.

"I've been the last boat standing on the racecourse for the last two times. This is one of those times you don't want to be the last guy standing," he says.

"This time I'm doing it for my yacht club, my city and my country. The stars are all lined up. It's the right time for me to win."