Sailing/Admiral's Cup: Ireland's participation in the Admiral's Cup hangs by a thread today as the sponsorship trail has reached its concluding stage.

A promised decision by a British backer was 24 hours overdue at lunchtime yesterday and with all other roads in the hunt for an overall title sponsor now exhausted, only an 11th-hour reprieve could reverse the likely withdrawal of the team.

"We're in limbo right now and no decisions will be made until we receive the outcome of this final sponsor negotiation," David Nixon said last night. "I don't plan to proceed with a half-baked campaign, not at this level."

He confirmed that there was no expectation that owners would be asked to fund the shortfall in campaign costs.

Team hopes were boosted last weekend at the annual Red Funnel Easter Regatta, a coaching and training series that saw Irish boats to the fore once again. Eamonn Conneelly chartered Farr 52 Team Tonic to win Class Super Zero with his core team for his Transpac 52 Patches, the Irish Admiral's Cup Team big boat.

Such was their performance on the Solent last week and given the expectations of the new boat currently in build, the Galway TP52 is already ranked as one of the top boats for the cup even before her launch.

Running parallel to the sponsorship problems for the Irish team is the lack of a British squad despite the extension of an RYA selection deadline.

There are suggestions that the British are waiting to see what happens to Patches if the Admiral's Cup squad is withdrawn.

For the last four seasons, the British offshore scene has been dominated by the Farr 52-footers with Bear of Britain the best-known of these. However, Team Tonic is sailed less often and usually out-performs Bear. Along with last weekend's result, the state-of-the-art TP52 is considered the best challenger against Australia's Wild Oats, the exotic big boat sailing for the defending cup-holders.

As Conneelly's Patches is certain to be the first of the 20 or so European TP52's ready for the early season, speculation is rife that an approach will be made to secure the Galway boat to sail for the lead British team if Ireland is obliged to withdraw.

Meanwhile, Irish Star class hopefuls Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks are to break from competition for a least a year following a disappointing result at the World Championships in Argentina.