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Starting in 2028, La Solitaire du Figaro will no longer be contested on identical monohulls, but on a smaller fleet of Ocean Fifty trimarans. The race will retain its format as a solo, stage-by-stage, time-based competition. Everything else?or almost everything?will change.
The announcement made on July 17, 2026, by the Figaro Group and OC Sport Pen Duick goes beyond simply replacing one boat with another. It changes the way the race routes are designed, the profile of the sailors at the start, the logistics of the port calls, and the event?s place within the French offshore racing scene.
And while the organizer is preparing this new format, the Figaro Beneteau Class is already working on another solo race. Starting in 2028, the Solitaire?s sporting legacy could therefore be split between two series.
A Solitaire du Figaro Without Figaro Beneteau
The first change is almost in the name itself. The Solitaire du Figaro will continue to exist, but it will no longer be sailed on Figaro Beneteau 3s after the 2027 edition.
Founded in 1970 as the Course de l'Aurore, the race was taken over by the Figaro Group in 1980. The one-design series subsequently became central to its sporting identity. Generations of sailors have learned to hold a close-hauled course, take advantage of tidal currents, execute a series of maneuvers on autopilot, and stay alert after several restless nights.
With the Ocean Fifty, this technical continuity comes to an end. The name, the organization, and certain racing principles remain with the Figaro Group and OC Sport Pen Duick. The one-design class, the Figaro Beneteau 3, and the focus on training remain with the Figaro Beneteau Class.
This distinction raises a simple question: What really defines the Solitaire? Is it its name, its stage-by-stage course, or the head-to-head competition on identical boats?
Starting in 2028, each side will present its proposal regarding water.
Faster trimarans and routes that are further from the coast
The Ocean Fifty is a 15.24-meter trimaran designed for offshore racing. It sails at speeds that are incomparable to those of a Figaro Beneteau 3 monohull. This difference will necessitate a new layout for the race legs.
The courses are expected to include more offshore sailing and fewer coastal passages, close-hauled runs, and tactical maneuvers around rocks. The announced legs will generally last two to three days but will cover longer distances.
The speed of multihulls also opens up the possibility of expanding the competition area. Holding an event in the Mediterranean is now easier to envision, whereas transport times and distances made this option more complicated with the Figaro Beneteau boats.
For skippers, the change in boat type will be significant. On a trimaran, managing power, choosing sails, monitoring the floats, and controlling acceleration require a different on-board organization. The margin for error narrows as the boat accelerates, especially when sailing solo and in choppy seas.
The standings will be determined by time. However, the Ocean Fifties are not one-design boats. While their performance is governed by a class rule, each boat has its own characteristics, age, appendages, and development history.
The analysis of race performance will therefore be different. On the Figaro Beneteau 3, a performance gap is primarily due to the sailor?s decisions, speed, and the quality of his maneuvers. In the Ocean Fifty class, the analysis will also need to take into account each trimaran?s specific potential.
A fleet limited to eleven boats is changing the face of the race
The organizer expects a maximum of eleven Ocean Fifties at the start. A comparison with the 36 Figaro Beneteau boats entered in 2025 illustrates the scale of the change.
A small fleet is easier to follow on an individual basis. The positions of each skipper, the gaps between them, and their route choices are easier to follow for an audience unfamiliar with offshore racing. But from a competitive standpoint, a fleet of eleven boats offers less depth than a field of thirty or more.
A breakdown, a withdrawal, or a boat being out of commission can quickly reduce the number of competitors still in the race. The density of buoy roundings, the variety of racing lines, and the battles in the middle of the pack will also differ.
The decision to use the Ocean Fifty class is primarily driven by a financial constraint highlighted by OC Sport Pen Duick. The organizer has noted a decline in village attendance, media coverage, and interest from certain partners. This decline complicates the financing of the event, as well as that of the skippers? campaigns.
Trimarans offer more opportunities during stopovers. They can participate in crewed races and host partners outside of the legs that count toward the overall standings. Coastal races can also be organized off the coast of cities.
For local communities, this approach brings more visible activity to the water. But it also involves certain port-related constraints. An Ocean Fifty takes up more width at the dock than a standard monohull. Ports of call will need to have suitable berths, sufficient maneuvering space, and logistics capable of accommodating the technical crews.
The end of the one-design class closes a door for young skippers
For a long time, the Solitaire served as a stepping stone between early offshore races and major ocean-crossing programs. The one-design format allowed sailors to compete on a level playing field, without having to fund the development of a prototype.
This model had its limitations. Competing in a full season in a Figaro Beneteau already required a budget, a crew, and sponsors. But the number of boats available and the existence of training programs made it even easier for new skippers to get started.
Access to the Ocean Fifty follows a different logic. The fleet is limited, and the projects are run by pre-established professional teams. The entry fee, technical costs, and skills required to maintain a trimaran automatically reduce the number of spots available.
The future Solitaire will therefore no longer be a training event in the same sense as the current race. It will become an event reserved for a select group of sailors who have already mastered ocean-going multihulls.
OC Sport Pen Duick believes that training can now take several paths, including the Mini Class, the Class40, and the Figaro circuit. This view reflects recent trends in careers, with some skippers moving directly from a Mini 6.50 to a Class40 without spending several seasons in the Figaro series.
But the French Sailing Federation and the Figaro Beneteau Class take a different view. They believe that one-design racing remains a key tool for identifying, training, and ranking sailors before they move on to the IMOCA, the Ultim, or 50-foot multihulls.
The Figaro Circuit is organizing its own solo race
The Figaro Beneteau 3 will not be discontinued after 2027. The Figaro Beneteau Class has announced that it will continue its racing series and is preparing a new solo race to begin in 2028.
The format presented incorporates the traditional elements of the series: identical boats, multiple legs, a time-based ranking, and a race that is part of the French Elite Offshore Racing Championship.
The French Sailing Federation has confirmed its support for the championship beyond 2027. The 2027 schedule will still include the Solo Guy Cotten, the Transat Paprec (mixed doubles), the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile, and the final Solitaire du Figaro to be contested on the current boat class.
This transition period should allow the teams to chart their course. The Ocean Fifty projects will prepare a new annual solo race. The Figaro organizations, for their part, will need to develop an event, come up with a name, identify stopover cities, and find an organizer and partners.
Two years won?t be too long. After all, an offshore race involves more than just marking a few points on a map. You have to book ports, set up safety measures, coordinate maritime resources, organize technical inspections, and create a schedule that works with the other events.
Two sporting legacies will now go their separate ways
The change in 2028 does not mark the end of the Solitaire du Figaro. It marks the separation between the race?s identity as an event and its historic role in training sailors.
As for the Ocean Fifty series, the goal is to put racing back at the heart of the stopovers, with more visible boats, coastal sailing, and a fleet of pre-selected skippers. The format remains an annual, solo race, contested in stages and on a time basis.
For Figaro Beneteau, the priorities are equal equipment, the number of competitors, and the sailors? progress. The Class intends to keep a major solo race as the main event of the French Elite Championship.
For the public, the situation will likely result in two distinct events. One will feature fast trimarans and a smaller fleet. The other will continue to use identical monohulls and feature a larger field of competitors.
It remains to be seen which one will best capture the spirit of long, sleepless nights, tight standings, and finishes where just a few minutes separate several days at sea. In 2028, the answer won?t come from a press release. It will be seen on the tracking screens, and then on the docks.
