A NEW Forest team is flying to the US today in a bid to set a new world speed record.

Members of the Lymington based Windjet project are determined to smash the 116mph record for the fastest wind-powered craft on land.

Their revolutionary "land yacht" has already broken the six-year-old record in trials at RAF Waddington, near Lincoln.

However, the team has been unable to stage a run in front of timing officials because the UK weather conditions were never right.

Now they are visiting the Nevada Desert near Las Vegas - where the record was set in 1999 - to challenge the holders on their own soil.

The Windjet craft will be piloted by project director Richard Jenkins, 26, who has already notched up 125mph at RAF Waddington.

He said: "A runway is much harder than a desert run because it's so short, whereas in the desert you've got more time to build up speed."

The Windjet craft was delivered to Southampton docks on February 16 and is due to arrive in Los Angeles on March 15.

Two years ago, the team was forced to abandon an attempt to smash the record for the fastest wind-powered craft on ice.

Mr Jenkins and his fellow adventurers had flown to Canada with high hopes of breaking the 143mph record set in 1938.

They were determined to pick up the baton dropped by speed ace Donald Campbell, whose daughter Gina used to live at Lymington and ran the Bluebird restaurant, which was named after her father's famous craft.

Despite travelling thousands of miles in their quest for international glory, the team failed to find the right combination of wind and ice.

The best speed they achieved was just short of 90mph.