GBR Challenge supremo Peter Harrison knows the next 12 months could be make-or-break if he is to realise his dream of competing in the next America's Cup.

The entrepreneur shelled out about £22m on Britain's first America's Cup challenge for 15 years. The team eventually lost to Dennis Conner's experienced Stars and Stripes team in the quarter-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland in November 2002.

Harrison is desperate to have another crack at what he calls the "World Cup of sailing", and says he is willing to finance at least another year of the campaign. But he admits he may walk away if no other sponsors come forward to share the cost of the project.

"At the moment I've put all the key things in place as if we are going forward," Harrison told BBC. "It doesn't make sense to shut up shop. "It's going to be a tough decision but at the end of 12 months I'm going to have to question whether I go through it all again on my own or say 'I'm not going any further'."

When GBR Challenge crashed out of the Cup, the majority of the sailing team were released to pursue other projects. But Harrison is injecting a further £4.5m into GBR Challenge in 2003 to keep a core team of designers working on developing the boats in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

He will also consider buying in top designers from outside the GBR Challenge set up. "It is a technology race. You have to have competent crews and fit people, and you have to get the tactics and the weather right," he said. "But you still have to have a speedy boat and we were just a little bit off the pace."

Meanwhile, he will resume his search through the business world for partners.

"Second time around we'll have a much better chance, though I'm not saying we'll win," said Harrison. "It could be a long haul and I don't know whether I'll be up for that. "But if we can get sufficient partners with us I'll feel reenergised to go forward."