For the 1992 America's Cup, Cayard was manager and skipper of "Il Moro di Venezia" from Italy, a syndicate backed by Raul Gardini. In 1991, he won the first ever International America's Cup Class world championship. Over the months long challenger selection series, Cayard's team beat out seven other teams from six other countries to win the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup and gain the right to challenge for the America's Cup. Part of the challenge included protests where Cayard successfully protested the employment of a bowsprit on the New Zealand challenge.