Quantum Key West Race Week 2014 Archives

New Year, New Goals

January 14, 2016 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

After wrapping up a highly successful 2015 campaign, Bella Mente Racing is at it again, diving into the New Year with an even more ambitious race program ahead. Led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, the team of 27 sailors will take on seven high-profile regattas in the U.S., the Caribbean and Europe aboard its Maxi 72 namesake.

Bella Mente at the 2015 Quantum Key West Race Week, where the team won its class. (Photo Credit: Sharon Green)

“Our team is great, which is the reason we achieved our goals last year,” said Fauth adding that in 2015 the team won not only the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, but also their class at the RORC Caribbean 600, Quantum Key West Race Week, the Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentenary International Regatta and Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. “We are going to have even tougher competition on the racecourse this year, because we are competing in events that are part of the Maxi 72 Class Circuit for 2016, and the class is stacked with very good teams.”

Bella Mente Racing kicks off its 2016 program with Quantum Key West Race Week (January 18-22). The team will then head to the Caribbean for the RORC Caribbean 600 in February and Les Voiles de St. Barth in April. From there, the boat will be shipped to New England for the month of June, where the team will compete in the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex and the Newport Bermuda Race. After that, the team will head across the Atlantic to Spain for the Copa del Rey MAPFRE in August followed by the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship in Sardinia in September.

“You are either going forward or going backward, so we are consistently fine tuning Bella Mente to make sure she is progressing with a competitive edge,” said Fauth, adding the Bella Mente Racing’s shore team keeps the Maxi 72 in fighting shape. “To simply get out on the water is difficult; we have to be fully operative or we’re not leaving the dock.”

Then there is the matter of the on-water sailing team, which is comprised of world-class sailors from around the world. “We are always trying to upgrade in every position. Once our team is together for the season, we tell the grinders, trimmers, etc. – even if they’ve been doing what they do for a very long time – that we have to get a little better,” added Fauth. “Each of them has to get better at their respective discipline.”

The team aspect of Bella Mente Racing is what keeps Fauth energized and excited about what he is doing, especially forward- thinking to what might boost race-winning potential in the 2016 racing season. “Our nickname amongst competitors is ‘Experimente,’” laughed Fauth. “We are halfway through the alphabet in sails, but it’s the only way, after wind tunnels and VPP tests, that you can continue to work theory into practice. Sail shape changes are very subtle now, but that’s what you do to get to optimal boat speed.”

Tactician Terry Hutchinson added, “I would expect that Bella Mente’s 2016 season will be defined by our ability to continue to develop consistent teamwork on and off the water. Last year is a distant memory. Now it is about refining what we have learned, improving, and putting our best foot forward at every turn.”

For more information, visit https://bellamenteracing.com/. Follow Bella Mente Racing onFacebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Sponsors for Bella Mente Racing include TSI, ESC, Tekran, DICKEY-john, Churchill Yachts,Worthington Aviation, Worthington Ag Parts and New England Boatworks.

Key West Race Week: Day 3

January 21, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Quantum Key West Race Week Day 3 Update:

Photo Credit: Mike “Moose” Sanderson

“We grounded her [Bella Mente] this afternoon, but tomorrow is another day,” said owner/driver Hap Fauth.

A full update on the boat will be posted tomorrow.

Key West Practice

January 15, 2015 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

Bella Mente Racing kicked off its four-day practice session today in Key West. The team is preparing for Quantum Key West Race Week (Jan. 18-23), which will be the first event of its 2015 campaign. The crew focused a majority of the afternoon doing rig, systems and sail checks. Stay tuned for more updates on practice and racing throughout the weekend and next week.

Bella Mente Racing Setting Her Bar High

April 2, 2014 By Bella Mente Leave a Comment

With two successful regattas in its wake, Bella Mente Racing moves full steam ahead toward the next seven events on its 2014 calendar. First on the horizon for the sailing team of 22, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth (Minneapolis, Minn./Naples, Fla.), is Les Voiles de St. Barth later this month (April 14-19).

Bella Mente and other IRC competitors starting at the RORC Caribbean 600 in February (Photo Credit: Tim Wright/photoaction.com).

Bella Mente and other IRC competitors starting at the RORC Caribbean 600 earlier this year (Photo Credit: Tim Wright/photoaction.com).

“In order to stay on top of the competition we need to be constantly improving our game,” said Fauth who earlier this year raced his 72-foot Judel/Vrolijk Bella Mente to a mini maxi class win at Quantum Key West Race Week and then outran expected frontrunner, the 90-foot Rambler, to claim line honors at the RORC Caribbean 600. “We are currently experimenting with different elements to get faster from both a crew and boat standpoint.”

This will be Fauth’s first time competing at Les Voiles de St. Barth, and although Bella Mente Racing has already proven its skill in buoy-to-buoy and distance racing this year, the six-day event will put the team’s coastal racing skills to the test.

Bella Mente during the 2014 Quantum Key West Race Week where the team won the mini maxi class (Photo Credit: Onne van der Wal)

“We use the phrase ‘sailing with ourselves,’ and that applies tactically and strategically on a coastal racecourse,” added Fauth. “If we sail well and don’t make any mistakes the outcome will take care of itself. But, like any regatta, you’ve got to practice to get everyone back in sync.”

When he’s not racing, Fauth is at the helm of numerous business ventures covering a spectrum of industries – from agriculture to aerospace – and applies the same mentality on the water that he does in the boardroom: “There is no such thing as status quo. If you’re not going forward you are going backwards.

“Onboard Bella Mente, we always choose to go forward and as a result we are in a constant state of motion, trying to get better: better speed, better chemistry, better execution, better focus and better commitment to winning.”

After Les Voiles de St. Barth, Bella Mente will head north to Newport, R.I. for the month of June to race at the 160th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex and start the 635-mile Newport Bermuda Race. Later that month, the team will race in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Annual Regatta before shipping Bella Mente to Europe for the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in August, the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship in September and the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October.

More about Bella Mente Racing
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 two additional racing yachts in the program. Launched in Spring 2012, the new Bella Mente is a 72-foot Mini Maxi designed by judel/vrolijk yacht design and built by New England Boatworks. Notable features include a Hall Spars mast; Southern Spars eC6 carbon rigging; running rigging supplied by T-E-C, winches and drive system by Harken and Stay in Phase; hydraulics by Navtec and Cariboni; most sails built by North Sails along with specialty Doyle Sails.

For more information, visit https://bellamenteracing.com/ or “Like” Bella Mente Racing on Facebook or “Follow” on Twitter.

Sponsors for Bella Mente Racing include TSI, ESC, Tekran, DICKEY-john, Churchill Yachts, Worthington Aviation, Worthington Ag Parts and New England Boatworks.