Cayard’s EF Language Wraps Up Whitbread

Paul Cayard, a 38-year-old San Franciscan, became the first American skipper to win the Whitbread Round The World Race when he sailed EF Language into La Rochelle, France early Sunday morning.

One leg remains--a mere 450 miles nautical miles to Southampton, England starting Friday--but EF Language’s sixth-place finish on the eighth leg boosted its point total to 744, 115 more than its nearest rival, Swedish Match, with a maximum of 105 available for winning the final leg.

The Whitbread is being scored on points rather than total time for the first time in seven runnings. EF Language’s edge is about 5 1/2 days after more than 115 days at sea. EF Language’s worst finish in any leg was sixth.

Despite having secured the title, Cayard indicated his crew would go all out on the last leg.

“We have to complete the last leg according to the rules and we will try to finish the Whitbread as we started,” he said.

EF Language won the first, third and fifth legs, a surprise for a crew rated only 8-1 in pre-race odds. Cayard and five other Americans on board had never raced a Whitbread.

“I know I am lucky to win this the first time out,” he said. “I have a great crew and a great boat, [and] we do know how to sail even though we are novices at ocean racing.”

Dennis Conner’s Toshiba, the race favorite, won the eighth leg by 2 1/2 hours over Britain’s Silk Cut to salvage some satisfaction after a race marked by crew upheavals and rules violations that dropped it to seventh overall.

“We have to take our hats off to Toshiba, which sailed a perfect leg,” Cayard said. “Toshiba made about five correct decisions in a row on a very tricky leg.”

Toshiba crewman Sean Clarkson of New Zealand said: “The crew fights on . . . not only for our personal peace of mind, but for our fans, sponsors [and] for Dennis.”

EF Education, the only all-woman boat that had been last or next to last on every leg, was fourth in the eighth leg.

Points standings, with eighth leg positions: 1. EF Language, Sweden, 744 (6); 2. Swedish Match, Sweden, 629 (7); 3. Merit Cup, Monaco, 593 (5); 4. Chessie, U.S., 583 (3); 5. Silk Cut, Britain, 560 (2); 6. Innovation Kvaerner, Norway, 552 (8); 7. Toshiba, U.S., 478 (1); 8. Brunel Sunergy, Holland, 375 (9); 9. EF Education, Sweden, 255 (4).