In August 2001, a Canadian airliner operated by Air Transat experienced double engine failure while traveling to Portugal.

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The Transat began in 1960 as the OSTAR and has become the breeding ground for the world's elite solo sailors.

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And on a larger scale, tour operators such as Air Transat and G Adventures have recently started operating art and culture tours to Haiti.

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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

"I started with plenty of wind, but at one point it died down and I drifted for 300 miles, " says Browning, who also endured a big storm during the Mini Transat's 1, 000-mile qualifying race.

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This, allied to the fact that the Atlantic in mid-November is no place to be hanging around, with freezing water crashing all over the boats, makes the Transat one of the hardest races in the world.

BBC: Transat Jacques Vabre