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Bella Dives Back in with NYYC Annual Regatta

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In less than two weeks, Bella Mente Racing will hit the ground running for the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. Scheduled from June 13-15, it will be the team’s first event since suffering from a mast failure at Les Voiles de St. Barths in April.

Bella Mente at the 2012 NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. It was the first event that the team competed in on the current boat. (Photo Credit Billy Black)

Bella Mente at the 2012 NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. It was the first event that the team competed in on the current boat. (Photo Credit Billy Black)

“We plan to get Bella Mente back on track as quickly as possible,” said the team’s crew boss Mike Sanderson adding that the 72-foot maxi is currently being worked on at the Newport Shipyard and will be equipped with a new keel and a newer mast before the weekend classic. “It is a really interesting race and what we are looking for is a smooth and slick performance from our whole infrastructure. 

The team has its work cut out for them with a slew of challenging competitors also racing in IRC, including the IRC favored TP52s Constellation, Hooligan, Interlodge and SLED and rival mini maxi Caol Ila R which they have been constantly swapping positions with all season. Caol Ila R to took the class win at Les Voiles de St. Barth while Bella Mente won the mini maxi class at Key West Race Week (Caol Ila R came in second) and finished second overall and second in the IRC Z class at RORC 600.

“The ratings on Caol Ila R and the TP52s make them tough to beat so we need to make sure to keep our distance,” added Sanderson. “If they are beside us then they are winning.”

Bella Mente at the 2012 NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. It was the first event that the team competed in on the current boat. (Photo Credit Billy Black)

Bella Mente at the 2012 NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. It was the first event that the team competed in on the current boat. (Photo Credit Billy Black)

Following Annual Regatta, the team will embark on the Newport Bermuda Race the next week (June 20) before heading across the Atlantic to embark on its European circuit, which includes the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in August, the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship in September and the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October.

“Between now and this fall we will constantly be switching from inshore to offshore mode. We are very privileged to have such a wide range of events and we need to focus on winning them. That road is going to start at the Annual Regatta.”

Follow the team on Facebook and Twitter. Nightly updates during events can be found here.

Bella Mente: Arriving Home Soon!

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Bella Mente loaded up next to fellow mini maxi Caol Ila R and TP52 Near Miss. The hull is enroute to its homeport of Newport, R.I. where the team will compete next month in the New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex and the Newport to Bermuda Race before heading across the Atlantic to race in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for the Copa del Rey in August and then Porto Cervo, Italy for the Mini Maxi World Championship in September.

PHOTOS: LVSB Day 1 and 2

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Click here for full Bella Mente Racing photo gallery

Les Voiles de St. Barth: Day 2

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Hap Fauth helms Bella Mente upwind in light air during the second day of racing at Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit Amory Ross)

Hap Fauth helms Bella Mente upwind in light air during the second day of racing at Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit Amory Ross)

The weather played tricks on the mini maxi class at Les Voiles de St. Barth this afternoon, but that didn’t stop Bella Mente Racing from finishing first in both of day two’s coastal races. The team heads into the latter half of the week holding the division lead.

“It was a challenging but fun day on the water,” said team strategist John Cutler, adding that although the two 17-mile courses that Bella Mente sailed today were identical the experience on each couldn’t have been more polarized.“Conditions were really shifty and influenced by waves and quite a lot of rain in the first race. That moved the breeze around about 20 to 30 degrees, and at the same time we were going around different points so there was a big shift there. For the second race the rain was replaced with beautiful Caribbean sunshine, and although it was the same course as the first go-around it felt like a completely different race.

“Overall it was a complicated day and we kept just looking forward and waiting for the next shift to come our way.”

Bella Mente Racing, along with the entire Les Voiles de St. Barth fleet will enjoy the event’s traditional lay day tomorrow on Baie Saint Jean and pick up racing where they left off on Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th.

“It is looking like there will be a little more breeze Friday and Saturday so we will see what happens,” added Cutler.

Check out team tactician Terry Hutchinson in LVSB interview yesterday: 

Les Voiles de St. Barth: Day 1

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Day One – Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit: Christophe Jouany)

After 28 miles and approximately three hours cutting through Caribbean waters, Bella Mente Racing crossed the finish line off Gustavia to take second place in the first race of Les Voiles de St. Barth. Alexander Schaerer’s Caol Ila R holds the lead going into day two of the event.

“It was a great day of racing in St. Barths but the light southwesterly winds made for a challenging jungle course,” said owner/driver Hap Fauth who, like most of the sailors onboard Bella Mente, is marking this as his first time competing at the event. “Caol Ila R sailed an excellent race, but tomorrow we hope to steal the lead.”

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Day One – Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit: Christophe Jouany)

The team of 22 is stacked with impressive professional sailors from around the world, including Strategist John Cutler, Alternate Helmsman Mike Sanderson and Tactician Terry Hutchinson who join Fauth in the afterguard.

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Bella Mente Racing’s Tactician Terry Hutchinson Les Voiles de St. Barth (Photo Credit: Christophe Jouany)

“It [Les Voiles de St. Barth] has been quite spectacular,” said Hutchinson to event organizers today. “It’s quite a tricky course for navigators – we’ve spent a lot of time after our practice sessions out on the rubber boat measuring different areas and finding rocks. We sailed across a rock yesterday that was charted in 120 meters of water, and we saw it a boat length off and sailed around it. We went back out in a chase boat later and found out we would have run aground had we sailed across it. That makes you a bit apprehensive…but as you can see, the sights around are pretty spectacular and I’m quite thankful to be here.”

The seven boats that make up the Maxi division will see a similar coastal course tomorrow, before taking a mid-week lay day on St. Jean Bay, Thursday, April 17th. Racing will continue Friday, April 18th through Saturday, April 19th.

Stay tuned for updates on the team via Facebook and Twitter and nightly updates here. For event coverage, please visit http://www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com/site/ .

About Bella Mente

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.

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