Born in Geneva, Dominique discovered sailing aged 13 on the waters of Lake Léman. Shortly after he went on to join the elite ranks of Swiss offshore sailors, sailing the Whitbread in 1981 on Disque d’Or owned by fellow countryman Pierre Felhman. He went on to sail two further Whitbreads with Felham (1986 and 1990) and notched up victories in Olympic sailing and as trainer of France's America's Cup team. In 1984 he took on his first solo regatta in the form of the Solitaire du Figaro and from 1990 his solo and double-handed career took off, with two Vendée Globes, the Barcelona World Race, nine transats and four Solitaire du Figaros featuring on his CV.

Michèle Paret began double-handed sailing alongside Dominique in the Figaro Class and in the Transat AGR2 1998, and ever since the pair have sailed together in almost every double-handed regatta undertaken. An elite athlete (long-jump), as well as a keen motorcyclist, windsurfer, climber and mountain-biker, Michèle already had offshore mileage behind her before teaming up with Dominique. She had sailed the Whitbread in 1990 on Maiden and beat the Atlantic record with a female crew on the Royal and Sun Alliance Maxi-catamaran. Dominique and Michèle finished in seventh place in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2001 and repeated that position in the 2003 edition.

Dominique and Michèle together form the most experienced crew in the Barcelona World Race, with over 400,000 miles and eight circumnavigations of the globe between them. They are also the most experienced double-handed crew of the fleet, with two transats and a round the world regatta together. They are also husband and wife.