AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- There was no silver spoon or super yacht.

Paul Cayard's sailing career began humbly on shore. His father, Pierre, a Parisian cabinetmaker, knocked together Cayard's first boat in the family garage.

	Paul Cayard, center, has competed in five winless campaigns since 1983.

"I went sailing by chance because a schoolmate's family sailed. I liked it a little bit," said Cayard, chief executive and skipper of the AmericaOne syndicate in the challenger finals of the America's Cup.

"Some guy who worked with my dad had a little pram, like an Optimist (dinghy). When they weren't using that, I could borrow it, and I sailed that a few times. Then my dad saw how much I liked it so he built me a boat in my garage."

He may have been only 9, but his talent showed within a year when he was winning regional championships. By 14, he was winning North American titles.

He's won six world championships, the Whitbread round-the-world race on his first attempt, and has sailed in five America's Cups.

There is no doubt Cayard is the biggest asset in Auckland for the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco.

"The thought of bringing the America's Cup home to where I grew up, it's almost unimaginable," he said. "But I'm old enough to realize it's a possibility."

He comes with perhaps the world's best tactician, clubmate John Kostecki. Together the two will provide Prada with more than enough trouble in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger finals beginning Jan. 25.

Cayard's boat led the semifinals with eight wins from 10 races. He is intent on victory after sailing in finals for the Italian challenger Il Moro di Venezia in 1992 and defender Stars & Stripes in 1995.

"It's the most important thing in the world to me right now for sure, other than my family," he said. "From my career standpoint, it's very dear to me. I'm doing it for my home yacht club this time, which is a bit of a different story than when I did it for the Italians or for Dennis (Conner)."

Cayard wants to change the structure of the cup format, removing the role of the defenders and all other competitors in organizing the event. To change anything, though, he will first have to win the cup.

"There's too many shenanigans going on," he said.

Cayard is referring to the array of organizations representing various aspects of the challenger series and the defense. He also is troubled by the selling of sponsorship rights. which has led to a number of legal battles around the Viaduct Basin in Auckland.

Cayard said the conflict of interest is too great to have a defender -- be it Team New Zealand or anyone else -- organize the event and many of the rules for sailing.

Team New Zealand disagrees with Cayard. Executive director Alan Sefton points to the willingness of Americans to change the event now that it is out of their control.

He said Prada's relief at not having to race a sailoff against Stars and Stripes for the second finals berth last week spoke volumes.

"I would have expected, out of that team, they wouldn't need any help from anybody. These guys aren't solid as a rock," he said. "The (finalists) boats are pretty similar, and my guess is it's the sailors who will make a difference."

While Prada's Luna Rossa has sailed for six months, AmericaOne's second boat USA61 has only sailed for 30 days. Cayard said that left plenty of room for the boat to reach its potential.

"We're taking bites at it all the time, we have something planned even for the Cup finals," Cayard said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was doable, but I recognize it will be a very tough job.".