Transat Jacques Vabre competitors sail in the opposite direction to the coffee trade route of the 19th Century, leaving Le Havre in France and heading for Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

BBC: Transat Jacques Vabre

According to a leaked parliamentary report, several cadets on the Gorch Fock were reluctant to climb the mast in November following the death of a 25-year-old student - known only as Sarah S - during a stop-over in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

BBC: Germany investigates alleged Gorch Fock mutiny

To see just how hard that can be, consider the case of Salvador de Bahia, for two centuries until 1763 the capital of Portuguese Brazil.

ECONOMIST: Brazilian cities