Beneteau Figaro

The Beneteau Figaro, also called the Figaro I, the Figaro Solo and officially designated as the Figaro Beneteau, is a French sailboat that was designed by Groupe Finot and Jean Berret as a one design, single-handed, off-shore racer especially for the Solitaire du Figaro race and first built in 1990. The boat and the race are both named for the sponsor of the race, Le Figaro. It was also used for the first one-design transatlantic race, the double-handed Transat AG2R from 1992 to 2002.

Production

The design was built by Beneteau in France, from 1990 to 2002, with 140 boats completed.
It was replaced by the Beneteau Figaro 2 in 2003.

Design

The Figaro is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of solid glassfibre. The hull has a raked stem, a reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel with a swept, weighted bulb. It displaces and carries of iron and water ballast.
It has a fractional sloop rig with two sets of swept spreaders.
The boat has a draft of with the standard keel.
The boat is fitted with a Yanmar 1GM diesel engine for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds.
The design has sleeping accommodation for six people in a minimalist interior. For sailing downwind it may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of.
The design has a hull speed of and a PHRF handicap of 99 to 105.

Reception

Sailboat Lab notes, "the Figaro Solo Beneteau is a light sailboat which is a very high performer. It is stable / stiff and has a low righting capability if capsized."
Reviewer Philippe Joubin noted in August 1990 in Seahorse International Yacht Racing, that the adoption of the boat for the Solitaire du Figaro, making it a one design race, would transform the race and give it new credibility.