LAST year, Johnny Caulcutt and Richard Matthews - two of the UK's highest-profile yacht owners - brought a couple of boats to Skandia Life Cowes Week that were to change the course of recent British yacht racing history.

Britain had not been involved in the America's Cup for 14 years but the two wealthy businessmen decided they had to do something to generate interest in kickstarting a project.

Caulcutt went out and bought Il Moro di Venezia IV, the fourth of the five boats built for the Italian syndicate for the America's Cup in 1992.

He named it Right Time just for the Cowes Week regatta.

Matthews, who owns Oyster yachts in Ipswich, already had Crusader, the boat built for the last British America's Cup syndicate in 1987. He called his boat About Time and sailed it in a series of America's Cup exhibition races with Right Time, both men making a clear statement.

After last year's Skandia Life Cowes Week, the rumour mill was grinding harder than ever but in January this year, Peter Harrison, another wealthy businessman, stepped forward and unveiled his plans to back a British America's Cup campaign for 2003.

The efforts of Caulcutt and Matthews played their part in getting the result that everyone in the UK yacht racing fraternity so dearly wanted.

Both men are back this year racing their boats.

Right Time is now High Voltage and - when the weather permitted - has been one of the most-photographed yachts in the Class 0 fleet.

Caulcutt took delivery of his boat shortly before Cowes Week last year but, in the intervening 12 months, he and his crew - helped by one of the world's best match- racers, Chris Law - have become expert boat handlers, coming fifth in the Hoya Round the Island Race and second in the recent Qantas America's Class Cup.

Since the 1992 Cup, the former Il Moro de Venezia IV, which was sailed in 1992 by Paul Cayard, has been based at the New York Yacht Club with the Young America syndicate who sold it on to the British yachting enthusiast.

Caulcutt, an old Harrovian, owns the £30m media services specialist company Watermark, based near Bishop's Waltham in Hampshire.