Foiling sailboats

A semi-foiling production boat is going to be first in to Hawaii in the Pacific Cup. It is finishing as I write this.

Say all you want about Beneteaus, you gotta hand it to the new Beneteau Figaro 3. The design was largely done by Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost (VPLP), the same folk who perpetually win in the IMOCA class and came up with the stunning Comanche. The Figaro 3 A Fond le Girafon will be the first boat to Hawaii. It helped she started in the doublehanded class days before the fastest boats, but there’s no denying that this foiling boat has plenty of speed.

From what I can tell of the design, and reading Bob Perry’s Sailing Magazine design review, it seems that the foils are basically there to provide some lift and reduce leeway. There is a standard bulb keel, and while it draws over 8′ it’s less than 2500 lbs. Whatever design alchemy they’re using, it’s working.

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.