The 2001 Mini-Transat Race started September 22, 2001, at La Rochelle, France. The distance for Leg One, from La Rochelle to Lanzarote, Canary Islands, to approximately 1,500 nautical miles, and took the fleet across the stormy Bay of Biscay, around the Iberian peninsula, and south to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.

Leg Two, from Lanzarote to Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, began on October 11, 2001, and covered approximately 2,750 nautical miles. For the first time in the event's history, this leg crossed the Equator, and required the competitors to meet the challenges of sailing through the Doldrums, where periods of flat calm often are interspersed with violent squalls.

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