Bordeaux-based sailor Noémie Catalano is moving into a Figaro Beneteau 3 for the 2026 season with her sights set on the Tour Voile and other major circuit events.
Catalano will take delivery of her new boat—”Ninita,” the former Figaro of accomplished sailor Charles Caudrelier—in January 2026 after returning to France from her mini Transat campaign. The boat will be based in Lorient, marking what she and her team see as a significant year for her offshore racing career. Caudrelier’s track record with the boat adds considerable credibility to the vessel’s racing history.
Partnership and Ambition
Catalano continues her collaboration with Hugo Cardon, a skilled regatta sailor who took line honours in the second stage of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec 2025. The pair have worked together for three years and now plan to campaign three headline events: Tour Voile, Figarmor, and the National Figaro championships. This extended partnership—unusual in its consistency—reflects a deliberate strategy to build depth and understanding rather than rotate through different crew combinations.
Beyond the 2026 season, their partnership has a longer-term goal: preparing for a mixed-double transatlantic race scheduled for 2027. That offshore challenge will demand complementary skills and trust, the kind the two sailors are deliberately cultivating now. The transatlantic represents a significant milestone in professional offshore racing, where mixed crews are increasingly taking centre stage in major competitions.
Mixing Strengths, Sharing the Helm
Catalano framed her approach to the partnership as a philosophy. “The objective is to demonstrate that diversity and complementarity can be genuine drivers of performance,” she said. “Hugo brings technical expertise and his background as a regatta racer, while I bring offshore experience and communication skills.”
That balance—pairing Cardon’s precision and circuit racing knowledge with Catalano’s ocean-going fluency—represents a deliberate shift in how double-handed offshore racing can be structured. Rather than simply adding crew to existing models, the two are building a framework intended to leverage their different strengths and prove that mixed crews can be competitive at the highest level of the sport. Catalano’s emphasis on communication and Cardon’s regatta background create a synergy designed to optimise both tactical decision-making and the practical demands of long-distance sailing.
With the Figaro Beneteau 3 fleet gathering momentum and the Tour Voile 2026 looming as the season’s flagship event, Catalano and Cardon’s debut together promises to be one of the racing circuit’s most closely watched partnerships.
