Virgin Atlantic Challenger, 65 ft twin-hull, with two 2,000-horsepower engines, berthed at Hornby Dock, Liverpool, prior to be loaded on a trailer as Ro/Ro and taken by the Atlantic Container Line (ACL)to New York in May 1985.
The Virgin Atlantic Challenger departed New York in June 1985 and surviving rough weather, was fatally damaged by striking a submerged object 100 miles from Bishops Rock,the intended finishing line and sank in heavy seas.
The challenge was to beat the Trans-Atlantic crossing record set by the cruise liner United States in 1952.