If anyone thought Britain's last America's Cup bid was hibernating one year on from Auckland, they would be wrong. Founder Peter Harrison has endowed it with £4.5 million (€6.5 million) to enable design work and fund-raising to carry on, while tank testing resumes next week.

Furthermore, Harrison has vowed to fund up to 50 per cent of the projected £40 million (€60 million) budget for the 2007 cup while removing himself from the role as figurehead and most visible face of the GBR Challenge.

GBR Challenge Mk II, will have a chief executive - Keith Mills was interviewed before taking up such a role with the London 2012 Olympic bid - and a board of directors. Harrison will have an executive role on the board, but no more than that.

"He was hurt in the 2003 cup by the accusation that we didn't get significant sponsorship last time because of his personal role," explained Leslie Ryan, who, along with design boss Derek Clark, has been running GBR Challenge since the team returned from Auckland a year ago. "Yes, Peter had a dominant role but that wasn't the reason we didn't get sponsors. Rather it was the reverse."

Harrison spent £22 million (€30 million) during the 2003 cup, though included in that were his considerable purchases of river frontage in Cowes, and is prepared to invest a similar amount for the cup in Valencia in early summer 2007.

So does this mean Harrison is the chicken or the egg?

"Peter's investment is a huge benefit to us," said Ryan, who is working alongside outside sponsorship consultants. "The advantage we have is that Peter is prepared to put in his personal money as well as us going out to the market. Sponsors are saying this is good value given the amount being put in but the total is much bigger".

"The title partnership rights [offered at £3.25 million - €5 million - a year for four years] are a very good value proposition." Ryan believes a cup in Spain is much more attractive to one in distant New Zealand.

"The America's Cup coming to Europe does mean there is a global sporting event that companies can't really afford not to be in. They want to hear about it and that's a big difference from last time in Auckland."

Previous GBR backers Land Rover and P & O Nedlloyd seem keen to continue their relationships. For the big money, Formula One is being targeted.

"We are talking to Formula One sponsors who might be dissatisfied with the visibility they are getting relative to what they are putting in," Ryan said.

"We are being told by people who have to raise a hell of a lot more money for Formula One than our budget that the America's Cup is the biggest sporting chance of the century," Clark added.