Djemila TASSIN

Born in Santa Cruz de La Palma, there is no way that Djemila Tassin could miss out on this 23rd edition of the Mini Transat, which for the very first time is making a stopover on ‘her’ island. “It has always been my dream to cross the Atlantic from home!” explains the young woman with a dual nationality of Spanish and Belgian who, having discovered sailing as a child on a sports dinghy with her father and then completed a training course at the Ecole des Glénans sailing school in Corsica, took the plunge and hitched a ride on a First 345 when she was 18 years of age.

“Today, doing it singlehanded is an added ingredient in this cocktail of new experiences!” commented the 26-year-old skipper, who views the Mini as a ‘rite of passage’. Her goal: to sail the best possible transatlantic passage. In short: sail intelligently, without breakage and as fast as possible, whilst managing to keep smiling. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time! I hope I can keep my spirits up and stay fit during the race, but also and above all I want to get to the other side!” notes Djemila, who describes herself as both stubborn and competitive. “I’m going to try to make the Top 3 of the ‘pointy boats’, or the Pogo 2s at least”, adds the skipper of Kaïros, who is a trained oceanographer and could really see herself going on to pursue a career in the offshore racing world.