The Beneteau Figaro 3, officially called the Figaro Beneteau 3, is a French

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

-equipped

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by

Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost VPLP Design (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently ...

as a

one design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing series (also ...

racer specifically for the

Solitaire du Figaro The Solitaire du Figaro, previously called the Course de l'Aurore, is a solo multi-stage sailing race created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and . The unique character of the race, the presence of great solo sailors and its being open to amateu ...

race and first built in 2018. The boat and the race are named for the race's sponsor, the French newspaper

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

. The design is the first foiling, production, monohull, sailboat and replaced the Beneteau Figaro 2 as the boat for the Solitaire du Figaro race.

Production

The design has been built by

Beneteau Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motorboat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, with its holding company (Groupe Beneteau) now also holdin ...

in France since in 2018. it remains in production.

Design

The Figaro 3 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of a vacuum infused

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

glassfibre Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

foam sandwich. It has a 9/10 fractional sloop rig with a square-topped

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. T ...

. It has a deck-stepped mast, two sets of swept spreaders, a

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

and

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

boom and a fixed

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar (sailing), spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestay, forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create ...

. The hull has a reverse stem, a plumb, open transom, dual internally mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

s controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

with an extension and a fixed

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

with a swept, weighted iron and lead bulb. The keel may be removed for ground transport. It is equipped with two midship, independent, manually controlled, retractable, carbon fibre, Chistera hydrofoils. It displaces and carries of ballast. It is also equipped with an autopilot. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel. The boat is fitted with a French Nanni Industries N3

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

of for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds . The design interior is normally minimal, consisting of two 2 canvas bunks with aluminum frames, but can be equipped to suit. For reaching and downwind sailing the design may is equipped with an

asymmetrical spinnaker An asymmetrical spinnaker is a sail used when sailing between about 90 and 165 degrees from the angle of the wind. Also known as an "asym", "aspin", "A-sail", or gennaker, it can be described as a cross between a genoa (jib) and a spinnaker. It is ...

of flown from the bowsprit. The design has a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to- ...

of .

Operational history

The design was named the 2019 ''Sail Magazine Best Performance Boat 31 ft and over'' as well as the 2019 ''Sailing World - Boat of the Year: Overall Winner''. In a 2017 review for ''Sailing Magazine'',

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

Robert Perry wrote, "This boat is all about horsepower per pound and using it to the fullest. The SA/D, using the specified light displacement and all of the square-topped mainsail is 35. This is about double what you would have found in the racing boats of the mid-1960s. A fixed sprit allows you to fly either a hounds asym or a near masthead asym chute. Note how far aft the mast is stepped ... I'd love to go for a sail on one of these boats." In a 2016 ''Yachting World'' review, Toby Hodges wrote about the foils, "These novel looking foils are designed to replace the traditional weighty ballast tanks used on past Figaro models. Described as 'asymmetric tip foils' they work by creating side force to supplement the skinny keel and reduce leeway while causing minimal drag. An important factor is also that they are able to retract within the boat’s maximum beam. In short foils can herald a step-change – a Figaro 3 with foils working is expected to be up to 15 per cent faster than its predecessor." In a 2019 review for ''Yacht Style'', Darren Catterall described sailing the boat, "taking the helm was a pleasant surprise. The Figaro 3 is incredibly light and very sensitive for a yacht this size. She responds like a dinghy, quickly and happily going wherever you want her. As she was designed for single or double-handed racing, the light helm is necessary to ensure the auto-helm system is not overstressed during long offshore races ... The Figaro 3 is built for speed, not for comfort, and is best offshore where she is going to excel in tough conditions and remind sailors what it is to be alive."

Events

The success of the class is due to the competitive events the boat is eligible for which include. *

* La Transat en Double (Two Person - Bi Annual - Trans Atlantic Race from Concarneau - Saint-Barthélemy) * Solo Maitre CoQ * Tour de Bretagne à la Voile * Sardinha Cup * Solo Guy Cotten * The Rolex

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after th ...

- Class Start

References

External links