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The first attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by robotic sailing boat is under way. A team of scientists at Aberystwyth 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ designed the 3m sailing boat, Pinta, which was launched off the coast of County Kerry in Ireland earlier this month as part of the Microtransat Challenge, a transatlantic race of robot sailing boats. The vessel is presently heading for the competition finish line just north of the island of Martinique in the Caribbean, but Mark Neal, lecturer in computer science, said he was pessimistic about its chances owing to poor sailing conditions. "At this point it could well turn out to be the world's first robotic sailing boat shipwreck," he said.