Robin Lovelock, from Sunninghill, has been working on the project since 2008 and made the first attempt to sail it in November 2012. Despite the latest setback, he remains determined he and his team will be the first to send a model boat across the ocean using an on board pre-programmed computer.

In the latest attempt, Mr Lovelock’s boat, the ‘Snoopy Sloop’, lasted just 27 hours in the water after being launched on Saturday, September 6, off the coast of Barton-on-Sea. It was recovered from the Isle of Wight. Mr Lovelock said: “The truth of the matter is when you look at the difficulty of what we’re doing we have as much chance as anybody at making it work.

“We learn each time we do it. We took a chance this time as the wind was in our favour.” Mr Lovelock, who worked as a scientist for NATO for 10 years, enlists the help of friends to try to sail the Snoopy.

The ninth version of the boat, saved from the sea after the group’s second attempt in October 2013, had a major rebuild in March this year with everything from the rudder to the paint updated, and the group were hopeful their latest launch would be more successful.

They are in competition with teams around the world trying to achieve the same thing who have far more resources. Their boat, a one-metre long vessel named after Snoopy the cartoon dog, weighs just 45kg and has been blown off-course on each of its three journeys, despite being fitted with a GPS system to help it navigate.

It also has solar-powered electronics on board to help steer it to its final destination, which Mr Lovelock hopes will be the east coast of America. Testing to put the boat through its paces prior to sailing is done on Bray Lake near Maidenhead and Mr Lovelock said: “If we do anything different next time it will be on the same boat but we may launch from a few miles further west.” The Snoopy will make a further attempt at the epic journey in November. For information about the Snoopy Sloop’s progress, visit Mr Lovelock’s website, www.gpss.co.uk