The structure of the Figaro 3 is a big step forward from its predecessor. The interior is opened up with the absence of water ballast containers with their plumbing and tacking equipment. The foil sockets sit between the two forward bulkheads. The halyards run aft to the cockpit through these tubes – first introduced on Michel Desjoyeaux’s (who else?) 2008 Vendée Globe winner Foncia. Hull longitudinals offer good footing moving around at sea


Figaro 3 is definitely a step-up from its predecessor in terms of deck equipment). A hundred or so detail modifications


generally forgiving, to get the best perfor- mance you must work harder to maintain the right heel angle while steering and trimming your boat to sail at the optimal angle of incidence for the hull and foils.’ This demand for a high standard of


precision sailing will make the new boat more interesting for two-handed crews than the last boat, which was relatively easy to sail once you knew the numbers. For solo sailors it just adds to the challenge. According to Vincent Lauriot-Prévost,


the chistera foil has a philosophy very dif- ferent from that of DSS or even the Dali foils of Imoca. ‘This boat is not as fast as the bigger boats – there will be many times when it will be sailing between 6 and 9kt, because you are sailing upwind or because there is less than about 11kt of wind. ‘It will, therefore, sail below the speeds at


which a foil develops vertical lift: that is why we focused so much on having foils that would minimise leeway – for just these cir- cumstances. By comparison DSS provides only dynamic stability, and foils like the Imoca Dalis deliver very little anti-leeway resistance, not to mention their scale requires great care when manoeuvring in port.’ Tests of the new boat included removing


one of the two foils. ‘Without the leeward foil, by 25kt of true wind the boat has become very hard to hold under a large spinnaker – at a TWA of 130°; trying to go any higher is unthinkable,’ says Lauriot- Prévost. ‘Put the foil back in and now it remains completely under control, to the point that we considered increasing the spinnaker area even more.’ According to Thomas Cardrin, boat


captain of the prototype, sailing upwind in a seaway the foil also plays a useful role in damping pitch – something the Imoca skip- pers are familiar with. In a way the chistera foil has an auto-stabilising characteristic: the more it sinks, the more lift it generates. ‘It is certainly less efficient at certain speeds than a horizontal (DSS) foil, which is cap - able of developing a lot more lift,’ admits Lauriot-Prévost,


have a second degree of freedom.’ A 12-part purchase allows the skipper to rotate his foil by a few degrees on its vertical axis, and thus change the angle of incidence of the section. ‘For the record, the range of adjustment


is made deliberately greater than is needed for optimal operation of the foil in order to dissuade attempts to “bypass” class mea- surement controls [this is the big Nacra 17 issue, where forcing a foil even slightly out- side the designed operating range can mean a big performance benefit].’ Vincent Lauriot-Prévost insists that the


foils of the Figaro 3 are not ‘grafts added to an existing hull’, but that the whole boat is a single homogeneous solution with the foils an integral part of that solution. While much of the external attention is


focused on the more exotic, and more obvious, elements on the new boat, the normal areas of optimisation are definitely not being overlooked. Everything practical was done to lower the overall centre of gravity (not to mention its L-bulb sits 2.50m beneath the waterline). Freeboards are low (80cm at the transom,


105cm at the bow) and maximum head- room below is only 1.70m – the big guys will have to get used to a rather small living space when crossing the Atlantic. The boat is also likely to be wet, with a wide foredeck ready to send green water back into the cockpit – the Figaristes hope, however, that they will finally be able to hoist their chutes straight out of the cockpit rather than fumbling around with a sailbag on the bow as they are used to. Sail controls pass aft either side of the


‘but this arrangement


operates more homogeneously while work- ing in a very different way from a true foiler. ‘Unlike the first Imoca foils that basically went in and went out, those on the Figaro 3


34 SEAHORSE


coachroof (a coachroof-mounted piano is quite difficult for a singlehanded skipper on a small boat) and the halyards run in tunnels through the cabin. This arrangement not only allows the weight to be kept lower but it puts all four winches within reach of the helm station – very important when sailing with a jib tacked to the bow plus a big asym- metrical spinnaker flown off the 1.20m sprit. Too bad if the hoisting of the spinnaker now becomes more physical and less fluid. The jammers are from Lewmar, with


levers opening from front to rear, freeing up a little more space for the winches. All the other hardware is from Harken (the new


were made after the early tests of the first prototype, from the distribution of anti-slip to the siting and operation of the lateral jib tracks and the various tackle systems, to the curvature of the edges in the interior, the power of the runners, and the location and control of the cassettes for adjusting the foil. The one-design principle extends as far


as stipulating one model of performance and navigation instruments as well as the autopilot (the French brand NKE is already preferred by most Figaristes). In the draft class rule the only significant freedoms left are choice of sail manufacturer (sail measurements are very precise) and choice of software for navigation and routeing. Bénéteau are determined to maintain a


high level of consistency across their new fleet. ‘Of the four hulls that we have completed so far the maximum weight difference is 8.5kg,’ says Eric Ingouf. ‘The choice of a PVC foam sandwich (replacing the rather absorbent balsa core of the current monotype) also reduces the quanti- ties of resin used and allows us better control of the finished weight.’ The keel fin is high-quality cast iron,


carefully manufactured to keep fairing to a minimum. The carbon foils are being built in female moulds at Multiplast, who have great experience of one-design manufacture having been part of the Volvo build consor- tium for the VO65. Bénéteau’s goal is to produce between 30


and 40 units of the Figaro 3 during 2018, which will then be delivered to the sailors in one go by drawing lots. Already the boat has been declared of ‘noble birth’! In a thinly veiled allusion to Bénéteau’s disap- pointment with some of their other recent small models, particularly the ambitious but unloved twin-rudder First 30, Ingouf says he is ‘blown away by the level of delivery on the original design promises. The foil works as advertised by the designers, the boat itself works as promised. This is not so common, it deserves to be emphasised.’ For Figariste representative Yoann


Richomme the first tests were better than he had hoped for. ‘In 10-12kt of wind our new toy is lively, fast and pleasant, she has a real “mouth” on her and she promises to be exciting in the breeze.’ Now we have almost a year to wait


before we see the Figaro 3 in action as a class, before we discover how the very different characteristics of Yoann’s new toy will change the keys to performance in the Classe Figaro.


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