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, the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The boat was the official design for the Solitaire du Figaro race from 1990 to 2002. It was replaced by the Beneteau Figaro 2 in 2003.

Production
The design was built by Beneteau in France, from 1990 to 2002, with 140 boats completed, but it is now out of production.

Design
The Figaro is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of solid glassfibre. It has a fractional sloop rig with two sets of swept spreaders. 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 5291 lb and carries 1984 lb of iron and water ballast.

The boat has a draft of 5.92 ft with the standard keel.

The boat is fitted with a Japanese Yanmar 1GM diesel engine for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds 8 u.s.gal.

The design has sleeping accommodation for six people in a minimalist interior. For sailing downwind it may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of 785.7 sqft.

The design has a hull speed of 7.03 kn and a PHRF handicap of 99 to 105.

Operational history
As well as serving as the official design for the Solitaire du Figaro from 1990 to 2002, the boat was used for the first one-design transatlantic race, the double-handed Transat AG2R from 1992 to 2002.

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.