Helping young sailors enter the Figaro Bénéteau class
At the beginning of 2022, the Figaro Bénéteau Academy was born, with the objective of facilitating the entry of newcomers into the Figaro class. Many of the great names in ocean racing have passed through the circuit before moving on to bigger boats, leaving vacant places for the new generation. But this solid reputation of "maker of great sailors" is also a pressure for new sailors in the making, especially young people coming from the Olympics, attracted by one-design and mythical races. The objective of the Figaro class and the FFVoile is to help these young people get their foot in the door by supporting them.
To introduce the class to a new race
The experience of the first season of the Academy circuit revealed the lack of a one-off event to introduce this new generation to the Figaro, in the company of sailors from the circuit. By launching the Tour Voile in 2023, the idea is to allow young people to participate in a race, without necessarily taking part in the entire Championship. Through this, they will be able to discover the circuit, discover ocean racing, while being valued and helped, and decide if they want to join it permanently. The name Tour Voile, formerly Tour de France à la Voile, has been taken over by the FFVoile, the historic event having stopped due to a lack of participants.
The Tour de Voile, Figaro 3 version, organized during the first two weeks of July, will be based on existing events of the French Elite Ocean Racing Championship, notably for financial reasons. Thus, the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile 2023 will be divided into two events: a traditional double-handed division counted for the Championship and a four-person crew division, including one woman and two crew members under the age of 26. This first week, completed in Quiberon, will be followed by a second week in the Vendée and Charente-Maritime. The idea, according to the organizers, would be to stop over in 3 cities, with night courses, banana style constructed courses or coastal courses.
If the specifications have been given to several race organizations selected by the French Sailing Federation, the model has yet to be invented. The files must be submitted before December 14, 2022.
Figaro Bénéteau 3 for rent
To meet the needs of Figaro Bénéteau owners and to provide boats for newcomers, the class has set up a three-month rental rate. This formula will allow newcomers to have a boat to train and participate in this Tour voile.
