Day six at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (©María Muiña)

After a rigorous five days of racing at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE, Hap Fauth’s Maxi 72 Bella Mente took the win for the highly competitive Montblanc Maxi 72 Class. The 2015 Maxi 72 World Champions and 2016 Maxi 72 North American Champions finished off the marathon week taking a second and first place finish, respectively, in today’s racing.

Hap Fauth

Basically this is a family. I started sailing at seven and competing not long after. I moved out to the Mid West, built my businesses and raised a family and then got back into it. I treat this team like I treat my businesses and my family. This is a non-star program. We win as a team and lose as a team. Everybody is accountable for their part of the team.

This week was a successful one and an incredible team-building experience, especially as we prep for the Maxi 72 World Championships, which kick off next week.

Terry Hutchinson

It was a hard fought day on Bella Mente. For me, it was potentially the best team day we have had in 19 months. The first race was a nip and tuck battle and after getting the side of the start that we wanted from Proteus, we worked really hard to keep them in last. Mission accomplished and so we went into the final race with a two point lead. The only requirement to hold onto our lead was to keep Proteus out of first.

It’s funny how it seems that our sport is sometimes as we felt in complete control of the pre-start right up until the last 14 seconds. We were quite confident that we were pushing Proteus over the line, but a bit of miscommunication on my part let them off the hook. While they did not get away clean, they did start to the right. This error gave Proteus the favorable right hand side and the lead in the race and event at the first mark. In Bella Mente fashion though, we hung tough. A solid dummy gybe 70% of the way down the run got us out of synch with the fleet and allowed us to pass through to the lead. This margin was enough and yet Proteus continually asked the question and Bella Mente responded. It was a hard fought series and really great to see the competitiveness of the racing.

Looking forward to the Rolex Maxi World Championships in three weeks time. We have plenty of work to do, but for the next 24 hours we can enjoy this moment and get back to planning.

Mike Sanderson

Today’s weather forecast was tricky again. After it blew so hard yesterday it was always going to be tough for the Palma sea breeze e to be able to wrap around the corner and give us a nice steady day of yachting.

Mathematically in order to secure the overall win it was all about beating Proteus. Even with two fourths today we would still be ahead of the other two boats, so we just had to pay full attention to Proteus. In the first race, we got a nice start and did our best to not get tangled up with Momo, which was out in front and worked hard to push Proteus back to fight it out with Caol Ila R. That all worked well and we got a solid second place and Proteus took fourth.

In the next race, all we had to do was not let Proteus win or us get third or fourth place, so we engaged them in the pre-start as if it was a match race. It would be fair to say that at the last minute we let them off the hook a little and worse than that, they had the favored side. Around the top mark, Proteus held the first place position while we were stuck in third. But one of the great things about this team is that it just grinds away. The boat was going quick and we were quickly onto the guys in front and then with a dummy gybe we managed to get a split down the run to the side we wanted, allowing us to lead around the bottom mark. Proteus was far from giving up though and on the next beat and run we had a great tussle, but the mighty Bella Mente snuck through for a well deserved win.

We have had fantastic team effort this week. It hasn’t exactly all gone our way, and yet we have just stayed as steady as a rock the entire time. The newer boats are coming at us though for sure and it’s getting tougher and tougher. We are all very much looking forward to the Maxi 72 World Championships next month.

Day Six Photo Gallery:

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Day five cancelled at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

Racing for day five of the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE was cancelled today due to strong winds on Palma Bay, which to 30 knots and averaged about 25 knots for most of the afternoon. Stay tuned for an update tomorrow, the fleet’s final day of racing in Mallorca, Spain.

Day five cancelled at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

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Nightly race reports will be posted to the Bella Mente Racing website

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Day four at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

Day four of Copa del Rey MAPFRE brought Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente and the rest of the Maxi 72 Fleet some of the best conditions yet on the Bay of Palma, with sea breeze clocking in between 14 and 17 knots. The team started off the day, winning the first race but dropped down to third in the second and final race of the day. Bella Mente still holds the class lead, one point ahead of Proteus.

Day four at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

Adrian Stead

Race 6 and Bella got a great start at the boat and controlled the fleet at the first cross to lead round the top mark. There were great waves for the downwind leg, and we found the rhythm first and put four boat lengths between us and Momo to lead around the gate. A solid second lap saw us take the win with Proteus slipping through to second place.

Race 7 and an inch perfect start one down from the boat. Again we rounded the top first, but at the gate an error on the spinnaker drop allowed Momo through. After an exchange of tacks, Momo gifted the lead to Proteus while Bella slipped back to third, where we stayed through to the finish.

We missed out on the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the regatta, and with four races to go we need to keep battling hard to finish with a win.

Mike Sanderson

Today we have come ashore kicking ourselves. We sailed an excellent first race and had a nice win, and again in the second race Hap and the guys got a great start and we sailed a great first beat to lead around the top mark. We then extended down the run with Hap fully locked in, catching waves and extracting every last ounce of pace out of the Mighty Bella. Then at the bottom mark, it all turned to custard. It was just a case of just one small thing getting us behind the eight ball, and it snowballed from there with the end result being a torn spinnaker stuck in the rigging. By the time we freed it, Momo was past us and Proteus was right in the hunt. Momo then decided to pay us a little too much attention and let Proteus off the hook, which without doing anything clever just sailed past us both.

It’s a tough one for us, but a great wake up call. We have to be able to do the stuff we can control perfectly. We have no crystal ball, so we can’t always get the wind shifts right, that’s a percentage game, but we can control getting sails up and down and that is the whole team’s doing. So yes we are grumpy with ourselves, but we will make sure that we learn from it. One thing I love about this team is that I have no doubt that we will never let it happen again…. Tomorrow is another day and it would be fair to say that we are fully pumped up about getting back amongst it already.

Day Four Photo Gallery:

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Nightly race reports will be posted to the Bella Mente Racing website

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Day three’s coastal race at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

Racing took a new tack for day three of Copa del Rey MAPFRE, with the event’s fleet embarking on a longer coastal race instead of the windward leewards it competed in on Monday and Tuesday. Hap Fauth’s Maxi 72 Bella Mente finished the 30-mile race in second place, behind Dieter Schon’s Momo but won today’s protest and ended up taking the first place position. The team holds the overall lead in the class and took home the event’s “Midweek First Place Trophy”. For the final three days of the event, the fleet will return to shorter buoy-to-buoy racing.

Day three’s coastal race at the 35th Copa del Rey MAPFRE (© Tomas Moya)

Hap Fauth

We had some extremely close racing today, and positions changed frequently. We are delighted with our overall finish and the entire crew gets ‘high fives’ for their diligent work on such a hot and shifty day. Team effort was at a full 100 percent.

Midweek Award Ceremony (© Tomas Moya)

Terry Hutchinson

A solid effort on Bella Mente today. The race was roughly 30 miles and primarily windward-leeward orientation.

Hap, Soapy (Ian Moore), and Doogie (Sean Couvreux) nailed the start to windward of Momo on the pin, but we could not hang onto Momo all the way to layline and had to tack three minutes shy. From there it was nip and tuck, and we managed to round the top mark second and proceeded to tussle with Momo down the run. A disagreement on overlap or no overlap at the bottom with Momo found Bella rounding the left gate in third place. For the next 25 miles, we scrapped and clawed our way to Proteus’ transom, with the goal to always stay close and wait for an opportunity.

Fortunately the plan worked. Trailing by a boat length we simultaneously gybed and were able to roll over Proteus. It was a rewarding moment for Bella, as we displayed mental toughness all day.

We had solid results today, however the regatta is only halfway over.

Coastal Race Photo Gallery:

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Nightly race reports will be posted to the Bella Mente Racing website

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