The new Bella Mente back in the water for team training and racing in the 2018 Annual Wirth M. Munroe Miami to Palm Beach Yacht Race next week! (Photo Credit: Captain Peter C. Henderson)
Link to Race Information: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=5906
During the month of September 2018, Owner/Driver, Hap Fauth has launched his 4th Maxi 72, Bella Mente Racing in Newport, RI USA.
The Final Touches to the new Bella Mente, Maxi 72 at New England Boatworks.
Bella Mente leaves New England Boatworks – September 17th, 2018
Bella Mente Arrives Newport Shipyard – September 17th, 2018 with theinstallation of the new keel at Newport Shipyard – evening of September 19th, 2018
Bella Mente installation of the new Rig at Newport Shipyard – of September 22nd, 2018
A monumental day for Owner/ Driver, Hap Fauth, and then entire Bella Mente Racing Family! Early this morning we launched Fauth’s New Maxi 72! A huge shout out to Captain Peter C Henderson and then entire Bella Mente Design, Build, Production and Shore Team. Great work! We also appreciate the hard work and support from the team at New England Boatworks and Newport Shipyard!
Bella Mente Sea Trials concludes September 2018.
One of the joys of being a photographer is when I consider a boat as more than just an inanimate object. In many cases it’s the manifestation of a life-long passion and dream, brimming with energy and personalities.
I have been photographing Hap Fauth’s series of racing yachts since 2006, when I shot his first Bella Mente (a Judel/Vrolijk Cookson 66) at Key West Race Week. Since that time, it’s been a real thrill getting to experience and document the evolution and growth of thisracing campaign, and his passion for competition and excellence.
Just two years after campaigning the first Bella Mente in ‘06, he built another: the Reichel Pugh 69, later modified to 75-feet for Transpac2011.
The Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpac race had been on Hap’s bucket list for years. It was exciting to capture their start, slippingaround Catalina Island – then disappearing from sight. We waited daily for results as they sped across the 2,225 mile course, and were on pins and needles at the finish, hoping they wouldn’t arrive in the dark. They came screaming in at first light and I got the shot: first to finish, for the Barn Door trophy – after six and a half days at sea.
The following year, this beauty was launched: the 72-foot mini-maxi JV design, built by New England Boatworks. Our October image, in the 2018 Ultimate Sailing Calendar, features Bella Mente in Newport, RI during the Rolex Maxi 72 North Americans and New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta. They won the event.
This photo was a truly lucky catch! It was extremely windy that day and rough on the outside course: my favorite ‘fresh to frightening’ conditions! I was shooting with colleagues Daniel Forster and Stephen Cloutier, on a Protector 28. It was pretty rough and tumble, and I ended up bruised from head to toe! The calendar photo was shot with a Canon 1DX, 70-200 2.8L, Aperture 5.6, ISO 320, Shutter 2,500. We situated ourselves well in front of the boats after they set on their layline and maneuvered so the racing yachts were coming toward the photo boat and then away. It happens very fast and you only have one chance.
It remains one of my favorite photos – showing the sheer power of a state-of-the-art raceboat harnessing the wind, and the dedication and skill of Hap and his crew: the focused driving, skilled trimming, and outstanding crew work that have made them three-time world champions in the Maxi 72 class. It doesn’t hurt that the boat is very photogenic.
The fourth Bella Mente was launched in September of 2018: another Maxi 72 design by Botin Partners and New England Boatworks. Plus, earlier this year, Hap teamed up with Doug DeVos, to announce they would represent New York Yacht Club in the challenge for the 36th America’s Cup!
Hap was quoted as saying, “I’ve always found tremendous satisfaction in bringing together a group of individuals in pursuit of one goal. With a return to a more traditional style of yacht and windward-leeward courses, with which the vast majority of racing sailors are intimately familiar, the 36th America’s Cup represents a unique opportunity to re-engage the grass roots of the sport and re-energize American sailing.”
We wish them good luck and can’t wait to capture the newest Belle Mente on the racing scene in 2019.
Sharon Green has been capturing electrifying images of performance sailing for more than 30 years. Her annual Ultimate Sailing Calendar, featuring the highlights of competitive sailing, is eagerly anticipated by yachting and photography enthusiasts worldwide. Sharon has been published in major boating publications, both locally and internationally, since she first took up a camera while still in high school. In recognition of her extraordinary accomplishments in photography Sharon was awarded an honorary Masters Degree from the prestigious Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California, where she lives with her daughter Michaela and son Kieran.
Sharon is happiest when she is on the water or hanging from a helicopter in search of the elusive image that can be called ‘Ultimate Sailing’. “My greatest satisfaction is when it all comes together: the anticipation, planning, organizing, traveling and epic conditions that combine to create a thrilling photograph. The pursuit of ‘Ultimate Sailing’ images never seems to grow old. Three decades and I still love the challenge of creating memorable images for my clients and the calendar.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Media Pro Int’l, Kirsten Ferguson, kirsten.ferguson@mediapronewport.com, 401-330-7889
NEWPORT, R.I. (February 8, 2018) – Hap Fauth (Minneapolis, Minn./Naples, Fla.) and his team on Bella Mente Racing made their first big splash onto the grand prix racing scene back in 2006, and this year the three-time Maxi 72 World Champions are preparing to make more waves with the launch of a new state-of-the-art Maxi 72 yacht. Designed by Botin Partners and built by New England Boatworks, the yacht is the fourth under the Bella Mente namesake and is set to be unveiled this July in Newport, R.I., just in time to be shipped to Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the 2018 Rolex Maxi 72 Worlds in September.
Hap Fauth at the helm of his previous Maxi 72 Bella Mente last year at Palma Vela (©Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy)
“I’m excited to dive into the development and build of a new yacht again and go through the process of figuring out how to optimize boat speed and get back into competition mode,” said Fauth, adding humorously that his team’s nickname among competitors is “Experimente” due to the in-depth testing and analyzing they perform on the boat each season. “When you’re sailing at this level, even the smallest details can be game changers. As we move forward with this new build, no stone can be left unturned.”
For New England Boatworks, this will be the third Bella Mente that it has built for Fauth. Located in Portsmouth, R.I, the premier boatyard is responsible for some of the world’s most high-performance yachts. The new Bella Mente build began this past December, and the boatyard team, as well as a team of Bella Mente Racing boatbuilders, are working in overdrive to ensure the yacht launches this summer.
“The Maxi 72 represents the epitome of the sport of sailing, so it is very exciting to be leading the charge on a project of this caliber,” said New England Boatworks Partner Tom Rich, adding that the class has gained more and more traction over the years, resulting in the International Maxi Association tightening up the rules in 2017. The class now strictly abides by the owner/driver rule, and all the yachts must fit the 72-foot length requirement. There is also a rating cap that narrows the performance differences between each yacht.
“Although there are very specific guidelines that we as builders and the designers must abide by, there is also quite a bit of room for innovation. Even the most subtle change can make a big difference.”
In addition to working together, Rich and Fauth have been friends for decades. “We have mutual respect for one another, and I certainly enjoy his company. He’s a very good sailor with a great gut instinct, and he’s very interested in getting knowledge out of people. He enjoys all the small and steady steps taken to improve the boat and its performance. “
When it comes to the team, the majority of Bella Mente Racing’s crew will stay the same as the previous year. Fauth will be joined in the afterguard by Volvo Ocean Race champion Mike Sanderson, two-time Olympian Adrian Stead and Tactician Terry Hutchinson, a two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.
“It’s great to be on our way to getting the boat launched and racing to see what we can learn, but it will be a development process for sure,” said Hutchinson, adding that there are six Maxi 72s currently on the competitive race circuit, two of which are newer builds and didn’t hit their stride on the racecourse until either their third or fourth season. “Newer design and newer construction doesn’t guarantee a better result, but it does buy us time to begin the process of developing and optimizing the boat for the future. Our first challenge this year will be to quantify where we left off in 2017 with sail development, and our second challenge is to understand the dynamic of the rig and how the sail program interacts with it. From there, we need to learn the new boat’s mode versus the rest of the Maxi 72 fleet, which is the most critical component. With that said, we certainly have an exciting year on the horizon.”
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The original Bella Mente Racing campaign kicked off in 2006 with Key West Race Week, and since then owner and skipper Hap Fauth has had three additional racing yachts in the program.
Launched in September of 2018, the current Bella Mente is a Maxi 72 designed by Botin Partners in Spain and built by New England Boatworks in Rhode Island.
