{"id":69108,"date":"2018-10-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=69108"},"modified":"2023-05-06T22:47:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T02:47:39","slug":"figaro-beneteau-3-2019-boat-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/sailboats\/figaro-beneteau-3-2019-boat-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Figaro Beneteau 3, 2019 Boat of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Figaro Beneteau 3, 2019 Boat of the Year<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

There is no such thing as the right boat for everyone, but there is the right boat for the right time. For today\u2019s fervent offshore racing soloists and doublehanded teammates, that boat \u2014 right here, right now \u2014 is the Figaro Beneteau 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

This pint-sized ocean racer isn’t just another cruisy crossover from Beneteau<\/a>, the powerhouse of production boatbuilding. There is zero intent of comfort below its low-slung deck, unless your idea of luxury is a white, wet and noisy fiberglass cavern. It’s not just a beastly Class 40 type, either. For righting moment and power, it doesn’t rely on hundreds of pounds of seawater sloshing ballast tanks. For Figaro Beneteau 3, there are two unmistakable arcing carbon side foils projecting from slots in its topsides. The foils are no gimmick. Beneteau, nor Figaro face fanatics, don’t do gimmicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The foils don\u2019t necessarily \u201clift\u201d the 2.9-ton platform completely free of the surface, as do the foils of modern multihulls and extreme craft like the soon-to-be AC75. The foils are there for a hint of lift and a pile of righting moment, which ultimately means a faster, smoother ride into the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The boat is built exclusively for the Solitaire du Figaro race, what Gianguido Girotti, Beneteau\u2019s general manager says is, \u201cthe unofficial world championship of singlehanded sailing.\u201d The Figaro Beneteau 3 will not get much love from international handicapping systems initially, or possibly ever, but that is beside the point. It\u2019s a one-design class boat, plain and simple, with a guarantee from Beneteau that they\u2019ll be the same from prod to stern \u2014 give or take a few kilos here and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The sport\u2019s best shorthanded sailors spawn in the harbors and ports strung along France\u2019s Atlantic face. They arrive on the scene as hungry rank-and-file dreamers with a sponsor or two and eventually the best of them emerge as round-the-world solo racers in anything insanely fast and crazy. The stage onto which all rookies, past and present, must step is the Solitaire du Figaro, a multi-stage late-summer race that runs the length of the coast, covering nearly 2,000 nautical miles over two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Figaro <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Figaro Beneteau 3, Sailing World<\/em>‘s 2019 Boat of the Year is designed for shorthanded racing utilizing side-foil technology, providing lift, righting moment and a smoother, faster ride as the boat gets higher into the wind range.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

When the race was first held in 1970, entries varied in size and shape, and as editions passed, the boats grew bigger, more complex and more expensive. Stakeholders of the race made a strategic move in 1990, transforming the event into a one-design talent showcase, putting success \u2014 and failure \u2014 into the hands of the sailor instead of the caliber of his or her equipment. Enter the Figaro Solo 1, a stout 30-footer built to handle an occasional pasting in the Bay of Biscay. A decade\u2019s worth of Vend\u00e9e Globe Race legends emerged from these contests, including the likes of Yves Parlier, Michel Desjoyeaux, Dominic Vittet, Jean Le Cam, Philippe Poupon, Franck Cammas, and Pascal Bid\u00e9gorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The Solo 1\u2019s use-by date ushered in the Beneteau Figaro II, a robust double-rudder, symmetric-spinnaker design that delivered yet another generation of offshore greats, Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Charles Caudrelier, counted among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

For 16 years, pros and amateurs alike put \u201ccrazy amounts of mileage on the boats,\u201d says Beneteau product manager, Luc Jo\u00ebssel, before the class and competitors agreed enough is enough. It was time to elevate the official Figaro class \u2014 and the race itself \u2014 higher, mirroring the groundbreaking foil-assisted 60-footers of the IMOCA 60 Class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the top design offices answered to the call,\u201d says Jo\u00ebssel. Ultimately, the firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Pr\u00e9vost got the nod. Beneteau, with its longstanding relationship with the race, remained as builder of choice. They now have the monumental task of delivering a fleet of precisely matched offshore one-designs. Introducing side-foils was a big deal for involved, as well as a big investment in the necessary tooling. Reliability is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Figaro <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The cavernous interior of the Figaro Beneteau 3 provides the bare essentials for shorthanded distance racing; not much time will be spent belowdecks, as the boat will want to be pushed hard from start to finish.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

“The philosophy of the class,” Girotti explained to Sailing World’s Boat of the Year<\/a> judges, Chuck Allen, Tom Rich, and Greg Stewart, “is that if 50 boats start, 50 must arrive at the finish for the good of the event. In offshore sailing, too many boats don’t finish.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Girotti also points out that in the previous edition of the Solitaire du Figaro, not only did every boat finish, but the first 20 competitors finished the first 500-mile leg within 20 minutes of each other. \u201cThese guys are maniacs with their trimming, they do it 24-7 because it\u2019s in their DNA,\u201d says Girotti. \u201cThey are always stuck to each other, which must make them push that much harder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Beneteau built a Figaro 3 prototype with input from a few of the race\u2019s past and present champions, as well as French composite companies typically associated with grand-prix builds like the Ultime 100-foot trimarans and IMOCA 60s. To deliver a strictly-measured one-design to every competitor, says Jo\u00ebssel, \u201crequired us to ensure tolerances remain negligible as each completed boat rolls off the assembly line in Chevine, France. The intent is to give to the sailors a boat that will require less time illegally modifying and more time sailing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Beneteau <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n With a combination of a Code Zero and just a little bit of pressure, the Beneteau Figaro 3 glides across Narragansett Bay during Boat of the Year sailing tests in Newport, Rhode Island.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Any discussion or concern of how the boat and its unique side foils will be handled by handicap rating systems is inconsequential, says Girotti. Again, that\u2019s not the point. The Figaro Beneteau 3 is built for the race, and for aspiring sailors who have no intentions of ever making the Figaro race\u2019s start in Le Havre. Take, for example, Charles Devanneaux and co-skipper Matthieu Damerval, who doublehanded the prototype in the 2018 Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii \u2014 finishing only three days behind 70-footers, with an elapsed time of 11 days, 4 hours and 24 minutes (racing under an experimental rating).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Demand for entry the June 2019 La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro is high and by February 2019, the first 50 boats will be delivered to awaiting skippers (assigned by lottery), measured and ready to race. The \u201ccontrolled\u201d released is intentional, says Jo\u00ebssel, a ploy to ensure the playing field is level and prevent them from pushing the inevitable measurement edges too soon. From this first batch, Beneteau\u2019s plan is one boat per week to reach 100 by the close of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The Figaro Beneteau 3\u2019s price (as sailed and presented for Boat of the Year) is $250,000, which includes a six-sail North Sails inventory, electronics, cordage, all the race-required safety equipment and a shipping\/dry storage cradle. Construction is polyester infusion with a mixed use of CoreCell and balsa cores, placing more structure where it\u2019s required most and less where it\u2019s not, to help get its overall weight to 2.9 tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Boat <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Boat of the Year judge Chuck Allen, helming, praised the Beneteau Figaro 3\u2019s overall performance and handling; control lines are easily at hand for easy sail changes, and the foils were hardly noticeable when the wind went light. In the day\u2019s stronger breeze, says Allen, the boat responded instantly to subtle tiller movements.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Finalizing the deck layout was a complicated exercise, says Jo\u00ebssel, as controls need to be centralized around the cockpit in order to minimize the competitor\u2019s exposure on deck. \u201cAfter hours and hours working with all the guys on the mock-up,\u201d he says, \u201cit was all validated on the prototype.\u201d The most complicated piece of the puzzle, however, was with the foils and their adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In conjunction with Multiplast, which has built many of the best big rigs in high-speed ocean sailing, Jo\u00ebssel says they invested substantially in a complex set of molds in order to maintain strict tolerances through the use of several measurements and jigs. \u201cEverything is measured and weighed straight out of the molds,\u201d he says. \u201cSo far, the maximum discrepancy is 40 kilos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Should there be any funny business with pre-race tampering, he says, they have the numbers for everything before any of it gets into the hands of the sailors. The same is true of the carbon-fiber rigs. So far in the first 20, says Jo\u00ebssel, 50 grams is the variance, and \u201cthere\u2019s less than a kilogram in the rudders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The 2.5-meter keel is cast iron with an iron-encased lead bulb. There is no fiberglass shell for protection, but there\u2019s a reason: \u201cEventually, a fiberglass shell will leak, which will then lead to repairs and once you get into that, modifications will happen,\u201d says Girotti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

By now, one should see the pattern: they take the Beneteau 3\u2019s one-design reputation seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cTolerances in other classes today are unbelievable,\u201d says Jo\u00ebssel, \u201cto the point where they\u2019re not really one-design. Ours is a more rigorous approach to making sure everyone has their opportunity on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is essentially Beneteau\u2019s grand-prix division,\u201d says Stewart. \u201cI like the launch idea of 50 at once. It allows them to find little issues if they\u2019re there and apply them to the following boats before they go out the door. I think them going after the market where two young sailors can conceivably campaign this boat is great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"BOTY\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Sailing World<\/em>‘s 2019 Boat of the Year offers great versatility in small package. Boat of the Year judges praised the boat on all points of sail.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

While the tolerances are reportedly minimal, Boat of the Year judge Tom Rich, a custom boatbuilder, says the Beneteau 3\u2019s build quality matches its purpose. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a bit rough on the finishing touches,\u201d he says after crawling through the innards of the boat, \u201cbut it\u2019s a raceboat with a lot of structure. The standard boat is white, white, white. There\u2019s nothing exotic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The interior isn\u2019t meant for lounging with Ros\u00e9; it\u2019s more like crashing in a state of exhaustion and fatigue, coddled in a bean bag chair or atop a pile of sails, wedged between ring frames, and still dressed in foul-weather gear. Two adjustable Class A-compliant piper berths, will mostly likely be used for gear stowage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While the below decks may be standard and simple, the thoroughness in the deck and hardware layout, the judges say, is thorough but straightforward as well. Feel on the helm is smooth all the time. \u201cIt sure feels like a big boat,\u201d is Rich\u2019s first assessment after a walkthrough with Beneteau representatives at the doc before sailing. \u201cThe stability is unbelievable. I thought it was really stiff upwind, especially when you feel the leeward foil bite. The rig is the right size for the boat. It\u2019s plenty big with a really wide shroud base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In roughly 10 knots of wind for the sail testing, Stewart, a naval architect, and Allen, a sailmaker, immediately recognized the Figaro Beneteau 3\u2019s most important trait: a sensation of lift and righting moment from the active foil. \u201cAs soon as you feel it load up, the boat rises and just starts crushing it,\u201d says Allen. \u201cIt\u2019s like a baby Comanche [the 100-foot VPLP record machine built for American yachtsman Jim Clark).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Figaro <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Figaro Beneteau 3’s sidefoils are adjustable fore and aft, but not under load.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper\/Sailing World<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Stewart\u2019s assessment is that the boat has \u201ca nice feeling upwind, with a really positive grip. The toe-in was set perfect and there was no noticeable wake off the transom. The foils don\u2019t lift the boat, but rather straighten it upright. The lift component is pushing against the displacement, and there\u2019s your righting moment increase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The foils, both of which are fully-deployed once the boat is off the dock and sailing, are adjusted independently through a block-and-tackle purchase led to the cockpit. They adjust fore and aft, with about five-inches of total adjustment. In light air, the judges say, it would be neutral to forward, and as the wind builds, they would be incrementally adjusted aft (but not under load). \u201cWhen the foil is working the boat lightens up and feels really amazing,\u201d says Allen. \u201cWhen you start cracking off and going downwind, you can feel the bow rise. With the rig back and all that buoyancy forward, it will surf, for sure. The bow will pop out and you\u2019ll be loving it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Stewart says there\u2019s \u201ca lot going on with the hull shape,\u201d that makes it all work, notably its full bow section forward, which will prevent the boat from tripping over itself in a seaway. \u201cWith such a powerful sailplan, the power steering you get from the twin rudders is awesome,\u201d says Stewart. \u201cIt will sail like a boat longer than 35 feet with all that volume in the ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The class sail inventory includes a 440-sq.ft. North Sails 3Di square-top main, J2 and J3 jibs, a furling code zero, and A5-sized and A2 Airex spinnakers. With such a quiver, and with most of the sail-handling business conducted in the back of the yacht, there\u2019s multi-colored spaghetti pouring into the cockpit at all times, requiring vigilant housekeeping. Foil-adjustment lines lead to winches, tack lines and halyards snake through banks of jammers. The gear layout is comprehensive, and the judges each agreed all control systems work flawlessly. Sets and douses, tacks and jibes were easy with four hands or two and an autopilot, which means more efficient downwind maneuvers for Figaro competitors used to jibing a symmetric spinnaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Faster, easier maneuvers may end up being one undesirable side effect of the Figaro Beneteau 3. If competitors think the racing is intense now, just wait until the sailing becomes elevated. And while on the topic of elevated, the judges unanimously agreed that while all of this year\u2019s Boat of the Year candidates were of extremely high quality and execution, it was the Beneteau 3s innovation that makes it stand out above the field.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Designed and purpose-built for solo sailing\u2019s proving ground, the Figaro Beneteau 3 puts offshore sailing trickledown into the hands of aspiring soloists and double-handers everywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Dave Reed","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20181004","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"160","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The Figaro Beneteau 3 is Sailing World's 2018 Boat of the Year.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Figaro Beneteau 3: 2018 Boat of the Year %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"H4VEC2GC3SGQ4CWNCV7QIKHKVE","arc_website_url":"figaro-beneteau-3-figaro-forward-with-foils\/","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar-full-header","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[418,173,443,164],"class_list":["post-69108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sailboats","tag-beneteau","tag-boat-of-the-year","tag-boty","tag-sailboats"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}