Question

What is a three-figure bearing.

Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "<I>three-figure bearing</I>" to get these possible sources:

http://www.broadeducation.com/htmlDemos/AbsorbMath/Bearings/page.htm
http://www.sailtrain.co.uk/navigation/bearings.htm
http://www.harcourt.co.uk/shared/Resources/NonSecure/00000000/Ch_6_Sample_Lesson_Plans(Linear).doc.pdf
http://www.channel4learning.net/support/programmenotes/netnotes/section/sectionid100664026.htm
http://marketing.openoffice.org/conference/regicon/presentations/Lynch_ingots.pdf

From what I see, it is a number representing a direction away from a particular point, relating to the 360 degrees of a full circle.

See the sources for more information.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

It is a bearing based from 000 to 360, where 000 is true North. Brearing are measured clockwise (090 is East)
Examples:
030, 270, 065, 295 etc