Bella Mente Racing, along with the rest of the 105 boat fleet, experienced extremely light conditions in today’s Around-the-Island Race portion of the New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. A breeze of 3-4 knots quickly dissolved after the start of the 19-mile race (around Jamestown, R.I.) and the race committee was forced to shorten the course to a finish at the Jamestown Bridge on the west side of the island.
Photo Credit: Rolex / Daniel Forster
“Today was always going to be tough,” said the team’s crew boss Mike Sanderson. “One thing I always love about racing in Newport is that Rhode Island has lots of active weather so you often see a wide range of conditions. Today was one of those days where we got a bit of everything.
“It was a massive game of ‘snakes and ladders’ in extremely light and fickle winds,” added Sanderson,
“and unfortunately for us we finished halfway down a “snake” just ten minutes before the race committee shortened the course, though we had been leading on the water. Tomorrow is another day and we are looking forward to racing. Fingers crossed for some lovely sailing breeze.”
The team will hit the water again for Saturday’s and Sunday’s combined series of races, which officially constitutes the 160th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex.
Throughout the weekend Bella Mente Racing will be posting updates via Facebook and Twitter and blog posts nightly. For event coverage please visit www.nyyc.org.
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