The Beneteau FIGARO BENETEAU 3 is a revolutionary racing yacht that combines cutting-edge technology with high-performance sailing capabilities. As the first production monohull equipped with foils, this yacht is designed to deliver exceptional speed and agility on the water. With a length of 10.85 meters, it is meticulously crafted to offer a thrilling sailing experience. The hull is constructed from advanced composite materials, ensuring both strength and lightweight performance. The FIGARO BENETEAU 3 features a deep keel and twin rudders for enhanced stability and control, making it perfect for competitive racers. The yacht’s design benefits from the expertise of renowned naval architects VPLP Design, who have incorporated state-of-the-art hydrodynamics to optimize performance. The cockpit layout is ergonomically designed to facilitate efficient handling, while the minimalist interior focuses on functionality without compromising comfort. This yacht is powered by a reliable inboard engine and is equipped with high-quality sailing systems to ensure top-tier performance. Whether racing offshore or cruising along the coast, the FIGARO BENETEAU 3 stands out as a leader in the next generation of racing yachts. With a new price point starting around 200,000 EUR, and used models ranging between 150,000 to 180,000 EUR, it offers competitive pricing for sailors looking to invest in advanced sailing technology.
Length
10.9M
Beam
3.5M
Draft
2.5M
Day Guests
4
Sleeping
2
Cabin
1
Crew
1
Cruise Speed
8KT
Max Speed
12KT
Fuel
40L
Range
250NM
Engine
Nanni Diesel 21 HP
Naval
VPLP Design
Exterior
VPLP Design
Interior
Beneteau In-house
New Starting From
€200,000
High Price Brokerage
€180,000
Low Price Brokerage
€150,000
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She reaches double digit speeds in the kind of breeze that barely troubles most cruising yachts.
Ten to twelve knots of true wind is enough to send her past ten knots of boat speed downwind, a figure that owes everything to VPLP’s foil work rather than raw sail area. Under power a 21 horsepower Nanni diesel gives a modest 8 knot cruise and a 12 knot maximum, deliberately secondary to a sail plan built to do the real work. Testers report a helm that stays light even as she accelerates, needing only small inputs to change course, a trait usually reserved for boats a third her size. That lightness is a design choice, not an accident, aimed squarely at solo sailors who need a boat that tells them the truth about the conditions rather than absorbing it.
Her foils do not lift her out of the water. They pull sideways instead.
Where the Figaro 2 carried water ballast to keep her flat, VPLP Design replaced that entire system with asymmetric tip foils angled inward from each topside, generating lateral force that works alongside the slim fixed keel rather than against it. Less leeway and a sharper pointing angle follow directly, without the weight or complexity of tanks and pumps to fill and empty on every tack. A 21 horsepower Nanni diesel and a straightforward drivetrain complete a boat engineered to remove everything that does not make her faster or more reliable offshore. It is a rare case of a genuinely new idea reaching series production, not a concept boat but the standard platform for an entire fleet of ocean racers.
Nothing on deck is there by accident, and nothing is there for comfort.
A wide, uncluttered foredeck gives a solo sailor room to work sails and foils without a second pair of hands, while broad side decks keep movement fast and secure when she is heeled hard and driving upwind. A narrow companionway hatch, deliberately small, protects the interior from the water she is expected to take on regularly during an offshore leg. Every winch, cleat and control line is positioned for a sailor working alone at night, tired, in a seaway, rather than for a crew sharing the load. It is deck architecture built entirely around the demands of single handed racing, and it shows in how little of it exists purely to look finished.
Two pipe cots and nothing else is the entire accommodation plan.
There is no galley, no heads and no refrigeration on board, a deliberate absence rather than an oversight, since every kilogram left out is a kilogram that does not need to be carried upwind. The two cots below give a solo sailor or a training partner somewhere to rest between watches on a multi day passage, and minimal stowage holds only what safety and the rules of the Solitaire du Figaro require. It is as close as a series production yacht comes to a pure racing hull with a roof, and owners who buy her already understand that comfort was never part of the specification.
Owning a Figaro Beneteau 3 means joining a fleet, not just buying a boat.
Built at 200,000 euros new in a dedicated yard within Beneteau’s racing division, she carries a single cabin, sleeps two on her pipe cots and needs only one sailor to race her, exactly as her class rules intend. VPLP Design’s naval architecture and Beneteau’s own engineering give her a specification unchanged across the one design fleet, so results on the water come down to preparation and sailing rather than equipment. A 250 nautical mile range on 40 litres of fuel covers what her diesel needs to do, which is very little compared with what her sails are asked to do. For a sailor with an eye on the Solitaire du Figaro, or simply the toughest possible measure of solo offshore sailing, she remains the standard against which the class is judged.
Length
10.9M
Beam
3.5M
Draft
2.5M
Guests
2
Cabins
1
Cruise Speed
8Kt
Max Speed
12Kt
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