Bella Mente Racing Archives - Page 24 of 56

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

Les Voiles de St. Barth: Race Day 3

April 18, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Hap Fauth and his team onboard Maxi 72 Bella Mente go into their final day of racing at Les Voiles de St. Barth today. Yesterday’s racing was comprised of gray skies and fair-weather winds and the team along with the rest of the Maxi class sailed a long 32 nautical mile course that hooked almost completely around St. Barth in a counterclockwise direction, before turning back for a clockwise rounding of the island and to a buoy set just downwind of the finish. The team came in fourth place on corrected time.

Video Onboard Bella Mente During Day 3 of Racing

Mike Sanderson:

We had high hopes for yesterday and for a good forecast, so that the race committee would have the opportunity to get two races in for our fleet. However, the morning donned rain, which is never a great sign for a steady day when you’re in the Caribbean. Sure enough, a huge cloud soaked us pre-race and there was a massive shift in the breeze, which gave us a sign for what sort of day it would be (shifty and changeable). Hap and Terry did a nice job with the start and again we had a strong first beat, which set us up for a good first leg and a couple nice sail changes as we worked our way around the island, and we were in good shape holding a strong corrected position in the race by the half-way mark. But the ‘fickle finger of fate’ got us the second a big black cloud rolled across the racecourse and got us good, and we went from being right in the hunt to drifting down the last run with the Melges 24 class. The boat is going well though and the boys are sailing well, so we took it on the chin and look forward to getting out there today.

Terry Hutchinson:

We had a good race yesterday, but it all went pear shaped in the last three miles. A rainsquall engulfed the fleet at the last turning mark, leaving us dead stopped in the water for the better part of 45 minutes. It was a bit tough but we raced hard all the way through the finish. Today is a new day.

Photos of Bella Mente During Day 3 of Racing

The team kicks off the final day of racing this morning on a 28 nautical mile course.

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

For event updates visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com. Follow the regatta via social media on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest, Hashtag: #LesVoilesdeSaintBarth

Les Voiles de St. Barth: Race Day 1

April 14, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Bella Mente Racing unfortunately was unable to race today because of an equipment failure that occurred only a few minutes before the start.

We had a hiccup today, but you can bet we’ll be out there and ready to race tomorrow,” said owner/driver Hap Fauth.

The team will pick up tomorrow for day two of racing, which begins at 10 a.m.Follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, Hashtag: #BellaMenteRacingFor event updates visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com and follow the regatta via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest, Hashtag: #LesVoilesdeSaintBarth

Les Voiles de St. Barth: How to Follow

April 9, 2015 By Bella Mente 2 Comments

The on-the-water action will be nonstop next week, when Hap Fauth and his team aboard Maxi 72 Bella Mente take on some heavy hitters in the Maxi division at Les Voiles de St. Barth. Racing will take place Tuesday (4/14), Wednesday (4/15), Friday (4/17) and Saturday (4/18), during which time the team, along with the rest of the 80-boat fleet (to-date), will compete in a variety of challenging coastal courses that weave through and around the reefs and smaller islands surrounding St. Barth.

The Les Voiles de St. Barth Fleet off Gustavia last year (Photo Courtesy of LVSB Website)

Follow the Team and the Regatta

Practice for Bella Mente Racing starts Saturday, April 11 and goes through Monday, April 13.

Nightly race reports from Bella Mente will be posted on the website during racing. For more updates during practice and the regatta, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, Hashtag: #BellaMenteRacing

For event updates visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com and follow the regatta via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest

Bella Mente during the 2014 Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit: Jouany Christophe)

Les Voiles de St Barth 2015 Video Teaser

Bella’s New Website is Here!

April 2, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

The new Bella Mente Racing website has been unveiled! Get details on the team and the boat here. Follow the team via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

Website Quick Links

2015 Regatta Calendar

Crew Bios

Press Releases

News Updates

Press Placements

Photos

Contact Info

Hap’s Bella Mente Wins 2015 RORC Caribbean 600

February 27, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

The team at the docks after racing (Photo Credit: RORC/Ted Martin)

Hap Fauth’s Maxi 72, Bella Mente has been declared the overall winner of the 2015 RORC Caribbean 600. Although several yachts are still racing as of this morning (Friday, February 27), none of the remaining teams have the ability to better Bella Mente’s corrected time under IRC. Third time proved to be the charm for Bella Mente as the Maxi 72 has finished second overall for the past two years. Bella Mente was also the winner of the highly competitive IRC Zero Class and retained the Bella Mente Trophy as the first IRC Yacht to finish that is wholly manually powered, without either variable or moveable ballast.

A delighted Hap Fauth spoke about the achievement and was full of praise for both the race team and shore crew:

Friday, before the race start, we had a structural problem with the boat and limped home from practice to assess the problem. We took the boat apart and for two days the shore team set up a temporary boat building workshop and did a great job just to get us to the start line. Throughout the race we had no problems at all and my hat goes off to our ground crew.

This is the third go at winning this race and three is the beauty! This is the third Bella Mente since 2006 and the majority of this team have been with me for at least five years – it is an outstanding group of guys. They like each other, we have a good time together – they are all mates. Everybody puts safety first, that’s the way it should be offshore but after that we push to the limit.

This race is a series of sprints and every leg is different, you are trying to get out of the blocks at the start of each segment and as soon as you get going, you are looking to get to top speed without increasing the distance sailed in that quest for boat speed. We try to make a couple of minutes up at every corner – with 12 corners if you save three minutes a corner then that makes a real difference to your finish time. Everybody works together, it is our big strength; the crew did a phenomenal job.

We knew that the wind direction would flick to the south east just as we were arriving at Guadeloupe and, although we were looking at the current situation, we had pretty much made the decision to take our chances by going inshore. In the past, we have had some bad experiences going offshore, if you run out of wind you can get trapped for a very long time. I would give Bella Mente’s performance in the wind shadow a solid nine out of ten, we did really well but we had to fight for it and use all our skill to keep the boat going. Moose (Mike Sanderson) was driving, Terry (Hutchinson) and Ado (Adrian Stead) had their eyes out of the boat and I was just giving them the numbers and I believe that combined tactical sailing knowledge got us through.

Bella Mente during the 2015 RORC Caribbean 600 (Photo Credit: RORC/Tim Wright/Photoaction.com)

Nicknamed the ‘Guadeloupe Casino’, the wind shadow of Guadeloupe can make or break a performance as the largest and tallest island on the course can be an unforgiving trap. Bella Mente’s British navigator, Ian Moore, spoke about a crucial part of the course:

We knew that the wind direction would flick to the south east just as we were arriving at Guadeloupe and, although we were looking at the current situation, we had pretty much made the decision to take our chances by going inshore. In the past, we have had some bad experiences going offshore, if you run out of wind you can get trapped for a very long time. I would give Bella Mente’s performance in the wind shadow a solid nine out of ten, we did really well but we had to fight for it and use all our skill to keep the boat going. Moose (Mike Sanderson) was driving, Terry (Hutchinson) and Ado (Adrian Stead) had their eyes out of the boat and I was just giving them the numbers and I believe that combined tactical sailing knowledge got us through.

Hap Fauth had left nothing to chance in his quest to win the RORC Caribbean 600 and brought a team of world class sailors to run the afterguard which included Volvo Ocean race winning skipper, New Zealand’s Mike “Moose” Sanderson, current Rolex US Sailor of the Year, American Terry Hutchinson and British America’s Cup tactician, Adrian Stead, who has been on the winning team for the RORC Caribbean 600 on three occasions. Mike Sanderson spoke about Bella Mente’s victory:

It was a great race at the end of the day and we had Maserati to race with some of the time. To be boat-on-boat with a Volvo 70 was a nice surprise. We have worked on the boat very hard since we were here last year. Hap loves this race and it was very pleasing for us sitting on the dock feeling that we didn’t leave anything on the table. This was one of our best overall performances. We have two big races this year; the RORC Caribbean 600 and the Rolex Fastnet and we have produced a sail programme that covers the range well for those races. At one point we went through the lee of Leopard, reaching with a jib-top. Leopard is a fast 100 ft canting keel boat, so we are really excited at how well Bella is going with its new mast and new sails. We have done a lot of work on the aero-package and the boat feels great and she is going quick but we are really ringing its neck. To be honest the boat is pretty cranky and very physical. It is some of the most physical keel boat sailing that we do because you are muscling a windward leeward orientated boat around a reaching course, so it is tough on the wheel and there is a lot of grinding for the big boys.

Bella Mente has become the third Maxi 72 to win the race overall and the fifth American owner to win the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy. The RORC Caribbean 600 Prizegiving will take place on Friday 27th February at the Antigua Yacht Club.

Bella Mente Crew: (Owner) Hap Fauth, Thomas Allin, James Baxter, Michele Cannoni, Carlo Castellano, Sean Clarkson, Sean Couvreux, James Dagg, Federico Giovanelli, Peter Henderson, Terry Hutchinson, Keats Keeley, Brian Macinnes, Craig Monk, Ian Moore, Michael Sanderson, Matt Smith, Adrian Stead, Morgan Trubovich and Jim Turner.

More photos from the docks after racing (Photo Credit: RORC/Ted Martin)