Bella Mente at the 2014 Copa del Rey (Photo Credit: Jesús Renedo)
Bella Mente and the rest of the Maxi 72 Class kick off their European season next week in Mallorca, Spain for the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE. The team, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, is just off winning the inaugural Maxi 72 North American Championship in Newport, R.I. last month, and will put their skills to the test again against the same highly competitive teams at Copa del Rey, scheduled for Monday, August 1 through Saturday, August 6.
Bella Mente at the 2014 Copa del Rey (Photo Credit: Jesús Renedo)
“Bella Mente’s crew includes sailors in all positions from a very high level, and they have also managed to become a real team, standing out over rivals when things get complicated,” said Secretary of the Maxi 72 Class, Rob Weiland, adding that Bella Mente took second place in IRC 0 at the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in 2014 and is the current Maxi 72 World Champion “I have rarely seen the concentration ability that Terry Hutchinson (tactician) has; his skills as sailor, team coordinator and motivator are admirable.”
Bella Mente at the 2014 Copa del Rey (Photo Credit: Jesús Renedo)
Weiland added that the Maxi 72s are very fast and technologically advanced monohulls and in 2014, the owners of these yachts decided to start the Maxi 72 Class as an evolution of the Mini Maxi racer fleet. “They are real racing boats, ideal to compete in either classic 600 mile offshore regattas or in coastal or inshore races. In the offshore format, they devour miles and can sail at full throttle in almost all conditions.”
“Although its dimensions complicate the organization of the logistics, the races are very rewarding. The icing on the cake is that this is an owner-driver class, so the skipper must be the owner himself.”
Bella Mente Racing will be doing nightly race reports Monday through Saturday featuring updates from the sailors. Follow the team on the website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more information on the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE, visit http://www.regatacopadelrey.com/index/index.php and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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