A look back at Nils Palmieri and Julien Villion's great victory in 2021

© Alexis Courcoux - 

"When I talk about the finish of the Transat, I am thrilled!" The Swiss skipper Nils Palmieri, who is the current title holder of the Transat Paprec (formally Transat AG2R) with Julien Villion, still seems to be on cloud nine when he talks about his winning transatlantic race in the Figaro Beneteau 3 in 2021. On Sunday 30 May at 18:08 (local time), the two sailors made history when they won the Transat Paprec after 18 days 05 hours 08 minutes and 03 seconds of racing. After a relentless battle, they set a new course record for the only one-design transatlantic race. 

A beautiful arrival

The sun was shining in its evening colors, it was a Sunday, the weather was beautiful, there was just the right amount of wind... The setting was perfect for a great finish celebration, with the locals of Saint Barts out to support the Figaro sailors. In this jewel of the Caribbean, which has a surface area of 21 km², the Transat Paprec always receives a warm welcome – a unique moment for the sailors, as Nils Palmieri explains, "The finish was completely awesome! It was a huge party. It was crazy. I don’t think we really realized it until the finish line, we were so into it, totally focused, right to the end." The celebration at the end was all the sweeter as the race was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed for a year due to the Covid health crisis. For sailors like Nils, this impacted his whole approach to the race. "I was initially due to race with Justine (editor's note: Justine Metraux, also sponsored by Teamwork, now an IMOCA skipper) and then with the postponement to 2021, her program was no longer compatible.” In 2023, when the Transat Paprec will be contested by mixed male/female duos, it also seems unlikely that Nils and Justine will have the chance to race together, while Justine focuses on her qualification for the next Vendée Globe. Speaking on this new innovation for 2023, Nils has a strong opinion: "It's an excellent thing! It's in tune with the times, there's no reason not to do it. I think it's good to force the issue a bit. For the women's projects, the titleholder is ready to take on another edition.”

The toughness of the event

While the Figaro circuit is renowned for its toughness, the Transat Paprec is no exception. For Nils, it was his second transatlantic race, six years after having competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre in Class40 under the colours of Teamwork with Bertrand Delesne. He testified to its toughness: "The race is difficult, it's the only transatlantic race in which everyone has the same boat. On a Figaro Bénéteau 3, you're wet all the time, and there's a lot of noise. It was quite violent! On this boat, when sailing double-handed, you never put on the autopilot. I don't know about the others, but we didn't, and we won!”

That unfailing tenacity paid off, and with Julien Villion, they formed a very complementary duo: "Julien spent more time on the weather and strategy, while I did a lot of steering. But the race is also played out beforehand. We put a lot of heart into preparing the boat with Julien and Laurent, my preparator. We worked hard on the boat, with a few tricks that I'm sure helped with performance: we added a helm seat, a cap to protect the companionway and we also had a spinnaker sock." In offshore racing and particularly in the Figaro, every detail counts!