Lymington's Ben Ainslie is on a quest to lead a British team to a first America's Cup victory in its 164 year history. 

It all began off the coast of the Isle of Wight in 1851, where the American schooner took victory.

Since then there has been a series of unsuccessful challengers, but Ainslie, the four-time Olympic champion, is aiming to lead the Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing team to Britain's first triumph.

Below, is a timeline of the twists and turns that makes up Britain's efforts to win the auld mug.

1870 – At a New York Harbour course the first of James Ashbury America’s Cup attempts saw his schooner, Cambria, defeated by nine boats of a 14-strong fleet.

1871 – He was back again a year later on Livonia, another schooner, and was defeated 4-1 in the series. The New York Yacht Club had a selection of four boats, selecting different ones according to conditions preferable to the boat. Asbury won once because his opponent lost steering.

1885 – Genesta, owned by Sir Richard Sutton, lost the event 2-0 to the Mayflower.

1886 – A cutter called Galatea, which had was used for cruising and belonged to Lieutenant William Henn of the Royal Northern Yacht Club, was defeated.

1887 – A Scottish boat called Thistle was built in secrecy to win the crown. The attempt failed.

1893 – Lord Dunraven’s first challenge, Valkyrie II, was beaten 3-0 by Vigilant, although the last race was very close. Dunraven left the USA complaining about the spectator fleet.

1895 – Dunraven, this time on Valkyrie III, returned and was pointing fingers once more. He accused the Americans of shifting ballast to increase the waterline on their boat. This would help speed.

1899, 1901, 1903, 1920 and 1930 – For five successive America’s Cup Sir Thomas Lipton, the creator Lipton’s tea brand, challenged for the trophy alongside the Royal Ulster Yacht Club. The 1899 attempt, Shamrock, ended in 2-0. Shamrock II fared worse with a 3-0 defeat, while Shamrock III recorded another 3-0 loss in 1901.

Shamrock IV had made the journey across the Atlantic as war broke out, but World War One stopped racing. The boat was kept ashore until 1920. Lipton was defeated again, but took victory in the first two races. Shamrock V was beaten in four races ten years’ later.

1934 – Endeavour, headed up by Sir Thomas Sopwith, who was a aviation pioneer as well as seafarer, took a 2-0 lead but opponent, Raindow, outwitted Sopwith to claim victory.

1937 – Sopwith’s second attempt failed miserably with a 4-0 defeat.

1958 – Post World War Two the size of the boat was reduced. In a 12-metre class, Britain’s challenger Sceptre lost 4-0 to Columbia from the New York Yacht Club.

1964 – In a further slump to British attempts to win the America’s Cup, Sovereign, headed by Tony Boyden, lost it 4-0 to Constellation, the American racing yacht.

1980 – With their tales between their legs, Britain didn’t return to challenge for the cup until 1980. The competition had changed dramatically in that time and now had elimination trials to pick the direct challenger. Boyden, on Lionheart, lost 4-2 to France in the semi-final of the qualifying stage.

1983 – Better progress was made by Peter de Savary’s Victory, but lost the finals of the challenger series with a 4-1 defeat to eventual winner Australia II.

1987 – In Britain’s last challenge for 16 years, White Crusader progressed no further than sixth of 13 in the qualifying rounds.

2003 – Skipper Ian Walker could only reach the semi-final stage of Louis Vuitton Cup (the Challenger Series) and that marked the end of the challengers until Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing’s introduction in 2013.

Sir Ben Ainslie and crew will hope to challenge at the finals of the competition in Bermuda in 2017.