Peter Isler, who led one of four...

Peter Isler, who led one of four designated American defense syndicates for the 1992 America’s Cup, dropped out because of funding difficulties.

“The cost of mounting a top-level campaign exceeds $20 million,” Isler said. “Time is so short that rather than compromising our campaign’s chances of victory, we have decided to withdraw.”

Isler had signed only one major sponsor: Hewlett-Packard. The America’s Cup Organizing Committee had set a deadline of Oct. 1 for defense syndicates to show they had secured $6 million in sponsorship.

The other defense syndicates remaining are headed by Dennis Conner and Larry Klein of San Diego and John Bertrand of Newport Beach.