Competitors in the Mondial Assistance race from Cherbourg in northern France to Tarragona in eastern Spain will call on a variety of skills over the 3,000-mile course.

The yachts must first navigate their way out of the tricky confines of the English channel before hitting full speed during the 1,000-mile sprint out to the Azores archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The race is non-stop so there will be no chance to enjoy the sunshine on Sao Miguel. Instead, the yachts turn straight back for home, this time heading through the notoriously unpredictable Straits of Gibraltar and up the Mediterranean to Tarragona, a city about 50 miles west of the Catalan capital Barcelona.

>> More Challenge Mondial information from the BBC Weather Centre