Check out images from the inaugural Maxi72 North American Championship , which was held in Newport, R.I. from June 11-14. Bella Mente Racing took home the title of champion!
Bella Mente Wins Inaugural Maxi72 North American Championship
The Maxi72 North American Champions (Photo Credit: Sharon Green)
New York Yacht Club, Newport, R.I. — When you’re sailing in a fleet of state-of-the-art 72-footers manned by some of the world’s top sailors, there is never an easy button in sight. That said, for skipper Hap Fauth, tactician Terry Hutchinson and the rest of the Belle Mente team, the inaugural Maxi72 North American Championship, was a very challenging regatta, full of enough twists and turns to keep a professional wind whisperer up for many a night. The four-day championship was part of the 162nd New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex.
“The MOMO guys, and all the teams in the regatta, have really raised their games,” said Hutchinson. “The MOMO and Proteus are both newer designs, and you can see their performance gains in certain conditions. Today, it was who beat who with MOMO. We hung in there, it was always close, they never crossed us once, but we were just continuously battling.
After five buoy races over three days, including one in some gear-busting gusts to 30 knots on Sunday, the fleet was sent on a 30-mile coastal race to conclude the regatta. The track included at least seven distinct legs and, as it was sailed in a dying northerly, more passing lanes than is normal for a race with a lot of straight-line sailing.
This much was apparent from the get go. Belle Mente executed their planned start, tight to leeward of rivalMOMO, skippered by Dieter Schoen, and then sheared away from the other two boats in the fleet thanks to the funky current and wind conditions in Narragansett Bay. Fauth’s team had a strong lead at the top mark, but a half-mile into the long run to Rhode Island Sound it had all but disappeared. This give-and-take flow continued for the next three and a half hours.
“It was never comfortable,” Hutchinson said. “They sailed a really good race. We tacked on them a lot and they kept coming at us.”
At one stage late in the race, the fleet was faced with a tricky convergence zone of little breeze and lots of speculation. During Friday’s Around the Island Race—which didn’t count toward the class’s championship—Belle Mente saw a hard-fought lead evaporate just boatlengths from the finish in a similarly confused bit of breeze. Today, however, Lady Luck provided a little payback.
“Our luck on Friday was horrendous,” said Hutchinson. “But we got it back a little bit today coming under the Newport bridge. [Strategist] Ado Stead was up the rig, and he called some great lines of pressure. Hap and the trimmers kept the boat moving really well. It’s 100 percent a team sport on Bella Mente; 20 people earned that one today.”
While the boats are each unique designs, and there are subtle difference in performance in certain wind conditions and at specific points of sail, Hutchinson says it’s effectively a one-design fleet.
“There’s not enough in it that [anyone else in fleet is] going to sail by you,” he said. “If they go sailing by you, it’s not something they’ve done, it’s you who have screwed up.”
Three of the four Maxi72s, including Belle Mente and MOMO, will lock horns again on Friday when they start the 50th Newport Bermuda Race. While a 635-mile distance race does tend to spread out the fleet a bit, it wouldn’t be surprising to see these boats shadow each other all the way across the Onion Patch, with the winner decided in the race’s closing miles.
North Americans: Day Three
The North American Maxi72 Championship continued today on Narragansett Bay off Newport, R.I. with two windward leeward races. Bella Mente Racing took two second place finishes but still holds onto the lead, one point ahead of MOMO.
Owner/Driver Hap Fauth after an exciting day out on the water today
Owner/Driver Hap Fauth
It was very close racing today for the Maxi72s and we experienced some shifty conditions with a strong northwest breeze. The competition has truly been outstanding in this event, and we are looking forward to some more tight racing in the final day of the event tomorrow, which will be comprised of one coastal race.
North Americans: Day Two
Maxi 72 Bella Mente with Owner/Driver Hap Fauth at the helm during NYYC Annual Regatta on Sunday, June 12
Sunday’s racing at the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex came with a whole new set of challenges for the Maxi 72 Class, with extremely strong breeze clocking in over 20 knots and gusts approaching 30. Bella Mente Racing, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, finished second in the one race of the day and holds the lead going into tomorrow, three points ahead of MOMO. Although the Annual Regatta officially wrapped up today, the Maxi 72s will continue racing through Tuesday as part of the class’ North American Championships.
Sean “Doogie” Couvreux on the bow of Bella Mente during the NYYC Annual Regatta on Sunday, June 12
Mike Sanderson:
I know in the year 2016, we are supposed to be talking about foiling and how exciting that is, be it the AC boats roaring around Bermuda or the Open 60’s getting ready for the upcoming Vendee Globe, but there is still something very special about four Maxi 72 boats going out to do a windward leeward race in 25 knots of wind!
Today didn’t disappoint. It started with a tight lead into a classic drag race with us leading around the top mark in a shower of spray at 20 plus knots. At one point, both MOMO and Bella were clocking in speeds of 20 plus knots within a boat length of each other. MOMO pushed their mark rounding and got away with it, rounding the favored gate mark at the bottom of the course, and then unfortunately for us the breeze never shifted back in our favor to offer any opportunities to our side of the course. We trailed them around the top mark and then pushed hard down the last run, but had to settle for second place. It was a solid team effort and nice boost of confidence when it came to the boat’s reliability. The Mighty Bella is feeling great and that is a nice feeling as we go into the last two days of the Maxi 72 North Americans and then the final prep for the Newport Bermuda race. It’s all good in the world of Bella Mente.
Terry Hutchinson:
It was a solid day on Bella Mente. Hap and the boys executed a good, conservative start in the top-end conditions. We managed to get around the top of the course in the lead, and Bella went away from the top mark sitting on 20 knots of boat speed with MOMO in hot pursuit.
The plan was simple as we were one-and-in to the left gate, but unfortunately we got a little lifted at the bottom and ended up in no-mans-land, which meant we had to douse the kite and reach for three lengths to the gate. This presented the opportunity for MOMO to gain and round, even with Bella.
From there, the second beat did not go Bella’s way. We played the percentages a bit staying in phase, but ultimately MOMO went left into more shift and pressure.
Big nod today to Ollie, Kyle, Ryan, Tony and Marty who represent Bella’s shore team. The conditions were top end and it was great to race the boat with confidence without failure. One hundred percent reliability is one of those things that we continue to strive for and the guys did a great job of delivering a well-prepared boat.
North Americans: Day One
Owner/Driver Hap Fauth at the helm during racing on Saturday (June 11) at the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex (Photo Credit: Daniel Forster)
The weekend started off on a very high note for Bella Mente Racing, with the team winning both races in the Maxi 72 Class at the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. Today’s racing marked the first day of the class’ North American Championship, which goes through Tuesday, June 14.
Owner/Driver Hap Fauth:
Despite today’s tricky conditions, the team prevailed. The boat handling and crew work was excellent and everything went pretty smoothly. However, we still have a lot of time between now and the end of this event and there are always places to make improvements. Our plan is to keep our eyes on the prize.
Terry Hutchinson:
It was a reasonable day onboard Bella Mente today. In race one, we executed Plan B off the start line. We had some solid boat speed, well timed tacks, and consistent boat handling, which gave us the opportunity to lead at the top. From there, it was a matter of staying between the fleet and the finish.
Race two was more of the same. Both Proteus and Momo had better starts, and yet we managed to keep our lane quite well on the first port tack off the line. From there, we picked good times to tack and unlike yesterday things rolled Bella Mente’s way.
It was a solid start to the event but lots of racing in front of us. We need to refine our starting timing tomorrow to have a higher success rate off the line. High marks to the speed team and the boat handling for a great performance today.
Annual Regatta: Around the Island Race
Bella Mente Racing during the Around the Island Race (Photo Credit: Daniel Forster)
Day one of the 162nd Annual Regatta presented by Rolex wrapped up yesterday on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound with the Around The Island Race. The 19-mile race around Conanicut Island in R.I. started on an incredibly strong note for Bella Mente Racing, with the team (led by owner/driver Hap Fauth) crushing the first half of the race, with about a one-mile lead over the other three Maxi 72s competing. However, the breeze evaporated just as the boat was making it toward the finish and Bella Mente found itself struggling against a strong ebb tide.
Mike Sanderson:
Bella Mente Racing was “launched” for three quarters of the race, but then upon re-entering Newport Harbor it all turned to custard as we were going against the tide and transitioning between two breezes. We had survived an earlier transition like this during the race but this time we weren’t so lucky and had to watch as two of our competitors went around either side of us.
However, we had a great start and a great upwind beat in tricky conditions. We then had a solid downwind run that had us with a nice lead on the three other boats we had been fighting against up until that point.
Today is another day and the start of the Maxi 72 North American Championships at the NYYC Annual Regatta. Bella is feeling great and the team is looking forward to some tight competition in windward leeward racing.”
Terry Hutchinson:
Tough day yesterday. Bella got launched early on, with Hap, Doogie, and Soapy executing a good start. We were balancing the current and shifts up the first beat to the corner of Conanicut Island, and our challenges were staying between the other 3 Maxi 72s and managing traffic. The same philosophy applied down the backside of the island and all went reasonably well.
However, the race took a turn for the worse as we rounded Beavertail on the southern corner of the island for a short reach home back into Newport Harbor. The transition zone that we did well on the beat out on engulfed us on the way to the finish. We stuck to our guns on the left-hand side of the track, trying to stay out of the current and push back into the northerly but to no avail.Today starts windward leeward racing and we look forward to lining up with the other 3 Maxi 72s. It’s going to be a great challenge.
