France

819 French boats in the governed view. The JPK production fleet, the Figaro tradition, and a close-run contest at the top of the distribution — HEFTLINE just ahead of LEANFORCE, with LEANRUN third, raced across the Channel, the Bay of Biscay, and the Breton tidal gates.

Kinship

Every fleet has a fingerprint.

From the Solent’s tide-lines to the Aegean Meltemia — find your waters.

 Hidden Shape

The hidden shape of the fleet.
The kinds of boat that keep appearing when every hull is measured the same way.

How every French boat clusters, before the results arrive.
Photo: Barbetorte / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Kinship

A production-class density unmatched in offshore racing.

819 French boats in the FleetEdge governed fleet, racing under FFVoile across the Channel, the Bay of Biscay, the Breton tidal gates, and the western Mediterranean.

819
boats
570
events
8
archetypes
21.8%
Farr-designed share
National fleet view · as of 2026-09-02

ORC Authority: Centre de Calcul FFVoile

FFVoile governs the largest production-class density on the FleetEdge map. First 34.7, First 36.7, and the J/99 / J/105 cluster anchor a fleet built around club racing on production hulls — and the JPK and Sun Fast short-handed series sit alongside them as the high-performance edge. The Breton coast adds a tidal dimension found nowhere else in the Mediterranean-dominated ORC world — Brittany's raz, the Chenal du Four, and the Raz de Sein are tidal gates where short-handed crews must read the water with the same precision they read the wind.

France's signature is a close-run leading pair over a deep production base. HEFTLINE leads the fleet at 19.4% — 159 boats of the stiff, level-posture profile — with LEANFORCE a single boat behind at 19.3% (158 boats, the compact-scale profile), and LEANRUN third at 16.4% (134 boats), the profile that reads upwind-neutral in race results. Those three carry just over half the fleet between them — a real center of gravity, not the even spread the archetype count alone would suggest — while all eight archetypes stay populated and the tail runs long. Farr Design anchors the drawing-board ledger at 21.7% — 178 boats, the most-represented design voice across the fleet.

National fleet view · 819 boats · as of 2026-09-02

At a glance

France — structural profile.

Scope
819 boats
454 ORC-rated · 365 mapped-IRC
Top 3 archetypes
  1. HEFTLINE — 159 boats (19.4%)
  2. LEANFORCE — 158 boats (19.3%)
  3. LEANRUN — 134 boats (16.4%)
Eight canonical performance archetypes (the fleet’s eight recurring design types) cluster the fleet by dimensional signature. See the full map →
Top designer cluster
Farr Design
178 boats (21.7%) — the most-represented design voice in this fleet.

Counts and archetype assignments above are measured from the current corpus. Commentary below is interpretive.

National fleet view · as of 2026-09-02
Hidden Shape

The shape of the French fleet.

819 French boats across 8 archetypes — a distribution led by HEFTLINE at 19.4%, with LEANFORCE and LEANRUN close behind it. Here's how they cluster, and what the collective signature reveals about how France races.

The French Fleet Signature

The French fleet reads as a close contest at the top over a deep production base. HEFTLINE leads at 19.4% (159 boats) — the stiff, level-posture profile — with LEANFORCE a single boat behind at 19.3% (158 boats), the compact-scale profile, and LEANRUN third at 16.4% (134 boats), upwind-neutral in race results. Those three carry just over half the fleet — a clear center of gravity rather than the even spread the archetype count alone would suggest — while all eight archetypes stay populated and the tail runs long.

  • HEFTLINE 19.4% · 159 boats
  • LEANFORCE 19.3% · 158 boats
  • LEANRUN 16.4% · 134 boats

Dimension emphasis: Sail Performance · Comparative & Time

In 2026, the French fleet races across a cross-Channel and Mediterranean calendar — Biscay swell, Channel runs, and the tidal gates of the Breton coast — where LEANFORCE's compact-scale platforms, HEFTLINE's stiff, level-posture hulls, and LEANRUN's large, upright-posture profile each find the conditions that suit them.

Complete data Latest published view

HEFTLINE

Compact scale · level posture · stiff reserve — measured upwind advantage in race results.

moderate upwind · moderate reaching · moderate downwind

Boats 159
Share 19.4%
  • J-111
  • Farr 30
  • Cape 31

LEANFORCE

Compact scale — measured downwind advantage in race results.

neutral upwind · neutral reaching · neutral downwind

Boats 158
Share 19.3%
  • Fortuna 9
  • Mat 10.10
  • Aphrodite 101

LEANRUN

— upwind-neutral in race results.

neutral upwind · neutral reaching · weak downwind

Boats 134
Share 16.4%
  • First 36.7
  • J-109
  • First 35

SPARKFLEX

Minimal scale · upright posture · tender reserve — downwind-constrained in race results.

neutral upwind · moderate reaching · moderate downwind

Boats 100
Share 12.2%
  • J-80 OD
  • J-24
  • J-70 ONE DESIGN

KEELRUN

Compact scale · upright posture · neutral reserve — upwind-neutral in race results.

strong upwind · strong reaching · strong downwind

Boats 91
Share 11.1%
  • First 31.7
  • J-105
  • Sunfast 3200

AEROCORE

Large scale · tender reserve — downwind-neutral in race results.

neutral upwind · neutral reaching · neutral downwind

Boats 76
Share 9.3%
  • First 36
  • Bavaria CR 46
  • J-120

AEROFORCE

Large scale · level posture · neutral reserve — measured reaching advantage in race results.

weak upwind · weak reaching · weak downwind

Boats 57
Share 7.0%
  • First 40.7
  • X-43
  • Grand Soleil 40

AEROSTREAM

Towering scale · level posture · stiff reserve — downwind-neutral in race results.

neutral upwind · weak reaching · weak downwind

Boats 44
Share 5.4%
  • TP-52
  • XP-44
  • Farr 40

Event cohort view · 25 boats · as of 2026-09-02

Racing Landscape

French boats compete across the full international and domestic offshore calendar in the FleetEdge fleet. The Rolex Fastnet Race 2025 carries the deepest French entry at 61 boats — the largest single-event French presence in the data — followed by the RORC Cowes-Dinard-St Malo (37), the 2026 Loro Piana Giraglia (24), the Spi Ouest-France BPGO at La Trinité (18 in the 2026 fully-crewed IRC fleet, with the double-handed and 2025 editions close behind), the Armen Race (16), and the RORC Cervantes Trophy (12). The 2026 running of the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, with 25 French entries, is the result presented below.

La Solitaire du Figaro remains the cultural origin point for French offshore talent, but the modern cross-Channel and Mediterranean campaign circuit is where the production fleet meets the international field. The combination of short-handed engineering and fully-crewed campaign racing produces sailors who travel well, and French entries are competitive across rating systems and fleet types.

Selected Race Result

Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2026 — IRC class races

25 of 819 fleet boats competed. 5 races — one for each IRC class, on a single start. The cross-Channel race from Cowes to Saint-Malo, published as class ranks, 3 July 2026 — the newest race in the current published view in which a material French contingent sailed.

Headlines

Where the French entries placed, and what their certificates say.

This event publishes class ranks; FleetEdge computes no pace products for it — the organizer publishes no measured course distance, so no pace board renders here.

Published ranks. Seven of the 25 French entries finished in the top three of their class race. SUN HILL IV, a J/133, was first in class in the IRC 1 race and TOUS A BORD, a J/92, first in class in the IRC 4 race. FARR BRETON, a Mumm 36, was second in class in the IRC 2 race, RAGING-BEE 2, a J/109, second in class in the IRC 3 race, and ABRACADABRA 2, a First 34.7, second in class in the IRC 4 race; L'ANGE DE MILON, an XR-41, was third in class in the IRC 1 race and NUTMEG VI, a J/105, third in class in the IRC 2 race.

Source: published Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2026 class ranks, as held in the current published view.

Event cohort view · as of 2026-09-02

Stories

What the 2026 Cowes Dinard St Malo entries revealed.

Two French firsts, both J/Boats, across the five class races

Two of the five IRC class races were headed by French entries, and both were J/Boats designs. SUN HILL IV, a J/133, was first in class in the IRC 1 race and TOUS A BORD, a J/92, first in class in the IRC 4 race. Eight of the 25 French entries were J/Boats designs — J/92, J/99, J/105, J/109, J/120 and J/133 hulls — and four of the seven French top-three places went to them: the two firsts, RAGING-BEE 2 (J/109) second in class in the IRC 3 race, and NUTMEG VI (J/105) third in class in the IRC 2 race. Farr Design drew six of the French entries — five Beneteau Firsts and FARR BRETON's Mumm 36 — and took two of the seven: ABRACADABRA 2 (First 34.7) second in class in the IRC 4 race and FARR BRETON second in class in the IRC 2 race. A cross-Channel race with the French offshore club fleet at strength, and the J/Boats school at the front of it.

Source: published Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2026 class ranks, as held in the current published view · 25 French entries across the IRC 1, 2, 3 and 4 races.

A HEFTLINE-heavy French group in the race's archetype view

The French boats classified in the published view nearest this race lean into HEFTLINE far harder than the fleet at large. Seven of the 25 French entries carry an archetype assignment in that view, and three of the seven — FARR BRETON HEFTLINE, GWAIHIR VENTURI HEFTLINE and JEAN CLEMENT 4 HEFTLINE — are HEFTLINE, against a 19.4% share of the 819-boat French fleet. LEANFORCE, a single boat behind HEFTLINE at home, sends two of the seven, LOVELACE LEANFORCE and ELENDYL LEANFORCE; AEROFORCE, 7.0% at home, sends one, PEN KOENT AEROFORCE; and SPARKFLEX one, TOUS A BORD SPARKFLEX, first in class in the IRC 4 race. LEANRUN, the fleet's third-largest archetype at 16.4%, and KEELRUN at 11.1% send none of the seven. Across the whole 11-boat event view HEFTLINE leads at three, with AEROSTREAM, AEROFORCE and LEANFORCE at two each. Seven is a small sample, and the race composition is not the fleet composition.

Source: FleetEdge French fleet baseline (819 boats, current view) vs the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2026 archetype view dated 2026-09-02 (11 boats classified, 7 of them French).

Race Archetypes

11 boats classified in the Cowes Dinard St Malo Race 2026.

The race's structural makeup — how the 11 boats carrying an archetype assignment in the published view nearest this race cluster across the FleetEdge archetypes, seven of them French entries. HEFTLINE leads the event lens, with AEROSTREAM, AEROFORCE and LEANFORCE level behind it. This is the event lens, distinct from the 819-boat national Fleet DNA above.

Archetype assignments dated 2026-09-02 — the FleetEdge analysis nearest this event.

HEFTLINE

Compact scale · level posture · stiff reserve — measured upwind advantage in race results.

Boats 3
Share 27.3%

AEROSTREAM

Towering scale · level posture · stiff reserve — downwind-neutral in race results.

Boats 2
Share 18.2%

AEROFORCE

Large scale · level posture · neutral reserve — measured reaching advantage in race results.

Boats 2
Share 18.2%

LEANFORCE

Compact scale — measured downwind advantage in race results.

Boats 2
Share 18.2%

AEROCORE

Large scale · tender reserve — downwind-neutral in race results.

Boats 1
Share 9.1%

SPARKFLEX

Minimal scale · upright posture · tender reserve — downwind-constrained in race results.

Boats 1
Share 9.1%

Classified fleet view · 819 of 819 classified · as of 2026-09-02

Fleet Stories

The French fleet's signature.

Farr Design anchors the French drawing board

Farr Design draws the largest single block of the French fleet — 178 boats, 21.7% of the fleet and the most-represented design voice on the page. More than one drawing board in five carries a Farr line, the clearest design signal in an otherwise broad fleet.

HEFTLINE leads the French fleet — narrowly

HEFTLINE is the largest single archetype in the French fleet at 19.4% — 159 of 819 classified boats — but the lead is narrow: LEANFORCE sits a single boat behind at 19.3% (158 boats), with LEANRUN third at 16.4% (134 boats) reading upwind-neutral in race results. The top three carry just over half of what is still one of the broadest archetype spreads of any national fleet on the platform.

The First 34.7 production backbone

The First 34.7 is the single most common class in France — 88 boats, 10.7% of the fleet, ahead of the First 36.7 (41) and the J/99 (27). The Beneteau First line, with the J/Boats and Sun Fast short-handed series alongside, gives France a club-racing backbone no other national fleet matches for depth.

Popular Classes

The boats that define French racing.

First 34.7 (88)

A Farr Design racer-cruiser — fast, level, and everywhere in French club racing.

First 36.7 (41)

Beneteau's mid-size Farr-designed IRC weapon of the 2000s.

J-99 (27)

The J/Boats short-handed offshore specialist — a Class 40 successor in ORC trim.

Sunfast 3200 (22)

A racer-cruiser from Jeanneau.

J-105 (18)

The J/Boats 35 that built club asymmetric racing.

Continue

Go deeper.

Fleet Overview

The global offshore racing landscape and how France's 819-boat fleet fits within it.

Platform Scale

How FleetEdge measures racing across geographies and fleet types globally.

Join the world's offshore racing teams.

Historical weather meets hull physics — every fleet, every leg.

See France Racing — Mediterranean Championship See Fleet Overview