Bella Mente Racing Archives - Page 23 of 56

RYS 200: Bella Mente Wins IRC 1

July 31, 2015 By Bella Mente 1 Comment

Bella Mente Racing has kicked off its European race circuit on the right foot, winning IRC Class 1 in the Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentenary International Regatta, which wrapped up today on the Solent off Cowes, Isle of Wight.

(Photo Credit: Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com)

Owner/Driver Hap Fauth:

We had an amazing week. We experienced a range of challenging conditions; from breeze below five knots to gale-force winds. However, the team ultimately prevailed and won the regatta; the crew did a fantastic job as did our afterguard.

Tactician Terry Hutchinson:

This was a solid start to our European season. Today’s race was an example of great team effort all around.

Hap nailed the downwind start, and Bella crossed the fleet on port. The wind gods were a bit weak on the water today, but Bella was still able to build a large lead on the fleet throughout the course. With nine miles left in the race, we were leading the IRC 1 class, free and clear of Rambler and Leopard, yet the final run to the finish would still determine the overall outcome. At this point, we were sailing against the tide in a light westerly, which was not a lot of fun. We knew that at a certain point the sea breeze would fill in and it did, bringing the entire fleet back into the race and erasing any chance of a win, and our 90-minute lead on TP52 Gladiator dwindled down to a mere 22 minutes.

In less than two weeks, the team kicks off Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week (August 11-15), followed the 603-mile Rolex Fastnet Race (August 16). Bella Mente will conclude its 2015 campaign in Sardinia with the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (September 6-12).

Kicking off RYS 200 with Class Lead in IRC 1

July 28, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Day Two at RYS Bicentenary International Regatta (Photo Credit: Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com)

Bella Mente Racing is off to a good start at the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Bicentenary International Regatta, holding the class lead in IRC 1 after today’s 22-mile race on the Solent off Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The regatta runs through Friday, July 31.

Day Two at RYS Bicentenary International Regatta (Photo Credit: Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com)

“It was a great day in very heavy conditions,” said Owner/Driver of the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, Hap Fauth, adding that the team experienced high seas and winds above 20 knots throughout the day (day one of racing was cancelled yesterday due to the unrelenting winds upwards of 30 knots). “The team execution was excellent and tactics were very good and from there the result took care of itself.”

With yesterday’s unwieldy conditions continuing through to this morning, Race Committee postponed racing until early this afternoon. Even then, gusts of 30 were being recorded when IRC 1 took off across the start line.

“Today was a solid start to the event,” said Tactician Terry Hutchinson. “We got a bit tangled at the beginning of the race, stuck in the wind shadow of a Swan 90, but the guys did good work building up enough speed so that we could pop out from underneath the boat. From there, it was a high-speed reach, with Bella sitting comfortably on 20+ knots of boat speed for the next 15 miles.

“The first leg took us beyond two forts that mark the entrance to the eastern Solent. From there we took a left turn and proceeded to reach, beat, and whip ourselves around a tight race course. The Solent is a challenging place to sail, and guys deserve high marks for their quick execution and high performance; especially since this is the first time we’ve raced Bella Mente since April. It was good to shake off the cobwebs!”

Tomorrow, Bella Mente will stretch its legs with the event’s Around the Island Race, a 50-mile circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight.

Click here for a full report from day two of racing by event organizers

RYS 200: Kicking off Practice in Cowes

July 21, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Maxi 72 Bella Mente dockside in Cowes

The Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentenary International Regatta kicks off next Monday, July 27, and today Bella Mente Racing launched its Maxi 72 namesake, kicking off its first day of practice on the waters off Cowes. The five-day regatta boasts a 72-strong fleet for buoy racing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (7/27,7/28,7/30, 7/31) with Wednesday (7/29) set aside for a separately scored Around-the-Island Race. The team, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, will compete in IRC for the entire event.

Practice for Bella Mente will continue through to Sunday, July 26. Next week during racing, the team will post nightly reports to the website.

For more regular updates, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Hashtag: #BellaMenteRacing

For updates from event organizers, visit http://www.rys.org.uk/. Follow the regatta on Twitter @RYS_Bicentenary

Bella Mente in the UK

May 26, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

After being shipped over 4,000 miles from St. Thomas, Maxi 72 Bella Mente was offloaded in Southampton, UK last week. From there, Boat Captain Peter Henderson along with members of the shore team delivered the yacht to the Endeavor Quay Marina in Gosport to prepare for the team’s European racing circuit, which kicks off in July. So far, the yacht has been hauled and the rig, rudder and keel pulled. Everything was transferred to the marina’s shed to undergo updates and routine maintenance.

Bella Mente’s European Racing Schedule

RYSR Bicentenary International Regatta, July 25-31
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, August 11-15
Rolex Fastnet Race, August 16
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, September 7-12

More photos from the shipyard

Photo Credit: Peter Henderson

Hap Fauth Featured in Naples Illustrated

April 30, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Hap Fauth, owner/driver of Maxi 72 Bella Mente, makes a splash in the April/May 2015 Issue of Naples Illustrated after winning the RORC Caribbean 600 in February of this year.

The team just wrapped up Les Voiles de St. Barth earlier this month and is preparing to head to the UK to kick off its European campaign, which consists of the RYSR Bicentenary International Regatta, Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, the Rolex Fastnet Race and the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. For more media features on Hap and the team, visit our “In The Press” page.

click image to download article PDF

For more updates on the team, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, Hashtag: #BellaMenteRacing

Les Voiles de St. Barth: It’s a Wrap

April 20, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Bella Mente lining up for the start with the rest of the Maxi class on the last day of racing (Photo Credit: Christophe Jouany)

Bella Mente lining up for the start with the Maxi class on the last day of racing (Photo Credit: Christophe Jouany)

After a bullet in Saturday’s race, Bella Mente Racing moved its way up from a fourth to a second place overall at Les Voiles de St. Barth. The team dealt with a few challenging obstacles throughout the week, including a DNS in the first race of the week due to a minor equipment failure.

Owner/Driver Hap Fauth

We had some physical problems the first day, but after that everything was just fine. Like in most series, you always want to win the last race, so we did and the numbers stacked up. Rambler won, but everyone else was tied and so we ended up winning the tiebreaker.”

Tactician Terry Hutchinson

On Saturday, Hap, Doogie and Soapy nailed the start and we sailed a solid first beat. From there it was about boat handling execution. We were consistent enough with our maneuvers that Bella sailed to a solid win. Inevitably though this event was determined on the first day of racing when we had a car failure. Our main focus needs to continue to build reliability into all aspects of the Bella Mente program. After two successful events such as Quantum Key West and the RORC Caribbean 600, we took a step back in that regard here in St. Barth, but the real mistake would be to not learn from this. All in all it has been a reasonable start to the 2015 campaign, and we have plenty of opportunities in the future to continue to develop.”

Crew Boss Mike Sanderson

Saturday was the day that we came to St Barth for. There was a fantastic mix of reaching and windward leeward legs, and long enough legs for the big boys to stretch there legs but enough corners to keep it exciting. We had a solid day with good pace, went the right way and did some nice maneuvers, and so we are very pleased to have come away with a win in that race. From us all, a huge thank you to Hap Fauth for another fantastic event on the ‘Mighty Bella’ and although we didn’t have a lot of close boat-on-boat action this week, I have no doubt that the coastal racing will put us in good shape for our European campaign starting in three months.”

Saturday Photo Gallery

Follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, Hashtag: #BellaMenteRacing