Just a quick picture of the added scoop John Von is standing in a hatch on the addition. We’ll work on getting John more aerodynamic for the race.

The boat has been lengthened with a scoop and will be shortly be on its way to San Diego. The keel, mast and bulb are already there getting worked on and race ready. Once the boat arrives, it will be a flurry of activity trying to get it all assembled in time. Thomas and Ryan have been working overtime to get the scoop attached, faired and painted. With those 2 guys in charge, we are sure to get a nice result. Thomas is a bit of a perfectionist!
In the mean time, R&D is going well with the new boat. A few of the boys will meet up next week to discuss cockpit layout and systems. We are also working on getting our crew sorted for the 3 west coast events.

Stay Tuned,
Doogie

Take a look at this video of us at the 2010 Maxi Worlds in Sardinia.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=194113867282285&oid=139883939381163&comments&ref=mf

Just a quick update. After Key West, the boat left for Palm Beach by 4pm Friday. The boys get her to Cracker Boy, boat out of the water, rig down and started the work. The rig was disassembled and shipped to San Diego where Pirate and Sammy are there now unloading the mast. The scoop is almost on the boat and nearing completion. Once that is done the boat will follow to San Diego and continue her mods. Bella Mente will be calling Driscoll’s home for the next month or so.
Doogie

We sailed 3 races today in winds of 10 knots and under. To be honest, I can’t remember every race in every detail. Our scores for the day were 2,2,2. So better but not enough to win. We tied for second but lost the tiebreaker so we finished 3rd overall, with Numbers winning and Shockwave in second. We seem to have been able to make the boat go a little better in the light but this is still our weak point. Our mark rounding’s were clean. One leeward mark rounding was a small struggle when we had an issue with the string system. The string system has been quite reliable this week allowing us to take the kite down 1-2 boat lengths from the bottom mark. Our sets also improved this week, which had been a weak point for us. How did we make them better? Lots of little things: better turn downwind, less friction in the kite going up out of the hatch, better sneaks on the bow.
Overall, we sailed better as the week went on but we know we could have done better. A few mistakes here and there cost us a few seconds which in some races was all that kept us from winning.
However, now we are off to distance racing. Pirate and the boys are taking the boat back to Palm Beach right now where it will get modified for the West coast. It will have a scoop added to it and then shipped to Driscoll’s in San Diego. We will reassemble the boat over February and March. The rig will get shipped separately where it will be maintained, checked and reassembled in February. Our first event on the west coast will be the Cabo race in March. We have plenty of work and mods to do before then.
Stay Tuned,
Doogie

https://bellamenteracing.com/bellamente/164/