The rig assembly has begun. We have plenty of work to do. Today we got the spreaders on and part of the shrouds connected. Tomorrow we will check and adjust the spreader angle and continue to assemble the rest of the rig. The bowsprit is on the boat, painted and looking great. We will continue to work on everything and probably step the rig on Saturday. I’ll get some pictures up tomorrow.
Doogie

Well, the time has come and our new rig is en route to San Diego. We assembled the rig in Bristol last week and it left Thursday. We will be receiving the rig in San Diego on Wednesday where we will be assembling it and stepping shortly thereafter. Pirate has coordinated quite a bit of work on the boat. The new prod is on and longer than ever! The new Hall rig with Future Fibers Carbon rigging also look good. We are really all looking forward to getting this thing back together and on the water.
Speaking of that, we will be getting the boat into the water before long and start going through the paces. We have to trial the rig, bow sprit, and a long list of other upgrades.

https://bellamenteracing.com/bellamente/242/

I was in Newport on Monday to get a quick visual check on the rig. It is coming along nicely and we are looking like we are on schedule. The team at Hall is doing a nice job on our rig with the little time they have had. We will soon do a factory rig assembly and then prepare it for getting trucked across the country.
In the mean time, Pirate has been busy with the upgrades going onto the boat in San Diego. The new prod is on and getting laminated and hopefully the boat will go on the keel in the next 2 weeks.
Rob has also been very busy with the new boat with the final decisions getting made and the mold building process started. These are busy times!
Doogie

I know we have been slow on the news lately but we are working on the “behind the scenes” stuff. In the works are a new website and equipment so that we can update the blog during Transpac.
We should be able to get daily updates on the site and the occasional photo up while we are racing.
On the boat front, Pirate has been real busy keeping the work progressing on the Bella Mente in San Diego. The construction of the new rig is coming along nicely. In a few more weeks we will be able to start getting our hands on it for some assembly and getting familiar with it.
When going offshore it is good to have different people familiar and comfortable with different systems on the boat. So Pirate and I will know the rig inside and out as well as all the rigging on the boat. John Von has the winch systems down. Thomas, is our composites and general fix it man. The list goes on like this. This allows us to maintain and repair items as we race.
The new boat is also coming along. The decisions are finally coming to a close and the first signs of construction are visible.
Stay tuned,
Doogie

The team has been keeping heads down in an effort to get the boat ready for transpac. Lots of effort is being put into the new mast being built for TP. The worklist is daunting but things are coming together. The boat is sitting at Driscoll’s, off the keel, while it is getting worked on. As if this wasn’t enough we are also sorting out deck layouts for the new boat. So we almost need 2 different mind sets.