ENTREPRENEUR Richard Branson set off on his second attempt to claim the transatlantic crossing record for Britain on June 26, 1986.

Mr Branson and his team left New York at dawn on their 72ft powerboat Virgin Challenger II for the 3,000 mile (4,828 km) voyage.

If they were to reach Bishop's Rock, off the Isles of Scilly, by 9pm on June 29 they would recapture the Blue Riband for the UK – held by liner SS United States since 1952 for a crossing in three days and 10 hours.

The millionaire businessmen tried to break the record last year, but his boat sank just 138 miles (222 km) from the British coast.

Mr Branson said he was confident they would succeed this year.

"The boat's ready, the crew are ready and the weather forecast is reasonable – hopefully we'll be there for Sunday lunch," he said.

A spokesman at the Virgin Challenger London headquarters said the team had almost reached Nova Scotia for the first of three refuelling stops at 09.00pm and was two hours ahead of schedule.

After taking on more fuel, the £1.5m boat was to head across the ocean on the "great circle" route – the quickest course across the Atlantic.

BBC Tomorrow's World presenter Peter Macann was on the Challenger and said conditions had been perfect.

"The only point of excitement was when I was driving and a whale surfaced about 50 m (164 ft) from the boat – I just managed to swerve to avoid it," he said.