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.
Today it was announced that Bella Mente Racing’s Tactician, Terry Hutchinson, has been named US Sailing’s 2014 Rolex Yachtsman of the of the Year. A total of ten men had been shortlisted for the honors based on nominations submitted by members of US Sailing.
Picture taken at Maxi Yacht Rolex World Championships 2014. Hutchinson pictured left and owner/driver Hap Fauth pictured right. Photo credit to Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi.
2014 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year
Terry Hutchinson has been named the 2014 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in recognition of a year that saw him atop the leaderboard at major regattas more times than any other American sailor. The 2014 award is Hutchinson’s second; he previously earned the honor in 2008 following his win of the TP52 World Championship.
Terry Hutchinson (Photo Credit: Daniel Forster)
One member of the selection panel remarked that Hutchinson “has this magic; he is the lead figure in campaigns for a lot of different classes,” while another noted that he is “committed and passionate about being at the top of his game.”
As tactician on Alex Roeper’s Plenty, Hutchinson won the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, capping a successful season that also saw him win the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship and the California Cup and take class honors at the Rolex Big Boat Series. He also reclaimed the World Championship title in the TP52 class, collecting a class win at Quantum Key West Race Week as well as the TP52 U.S. Championship title. His success in one-design classes did not stop there. In the RC44, he won the Oman Cup as tactician; in the J/70 class, he drove to the win of the Fall Brawl in his hometown; and he finished second at the Melges 32 Gold Cup, again as tactician.
“Being honored for this award is just an incredible feeling,” said Hutchinson. “It is acknowledgement of the hard work done in 2014. Knowing that 99% of my season was as a tactician, it also represents the team concept and the process that goes into winning. I am incredibly fortunate to have the support of family and great team mates; not much separates those two entities. In 2014, as always, we were only as smart as we were fast and that comes at the hand of some great helmsmen in Alex Roepers, Ed Baird and Doug Devos.”
“Being awarded the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award for a second time is quite humbling,” added Hutchinson. “It puts me into a group of American yachtsman that I have always respected and admired for their achievements on the water. I am struggling to find the words, as I am incredibly appreciative of those around me. Quite honestly, I am a bit blown away.”
Hutchinson’s record stands best in the Farr 40s and TP52s, among the premier pro-level monohulls in the world. With a transition to the Maxi 72 class, via the Bella Mente Racing campaign, he will soon have that end of the sailing spectrum covered as well. The 46-year-old father of three is a native of Annapolis. He learned to sail at age three in a Dyer Dhow that was attached by a line to his parent’s Concordia yawl. Going back and forth on the end of that line set him on a course to becoming a college star at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.) where he earned Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All-American honors four times (1987, ‘88, ‘89, ‘90) and was twice recognized as College Sailor of the Year (’89 and ’90).
It is “all systems go” for Bella Mente Racing this year as the team dives into another exciting sailing campaign aboard its namesake Maxi 72. With owner Hap Fauth (Minneapolis, Minn./Naples, Fla.) at the helm, Bella Mente and its team of 26 sailors will take on seven of the year’s most esteemed regattas, incorporating new crew talent and rig modifications into the program.
Bella Mente Racing Owner/Driver Hap Fauth at the helm during the Copa del Rey MAPFRE 2014 in Palma de Mallorca (Photo Credit: Jesus Renedo)
“We’ve made some significant changes to the core crew,” said Fauth, adding that Terry Hutchinson has signed on with Bella Mente Racing for the entire year and has brought with him renowned professional sailors Skip Baxter, Brian MacInnes, James Dagg and Jim Turner. “Terry has been the key ingredient for a number of very successful programs. He brings great discipline as well as a winning point of view. I speak for the team when I say we are very excited about the fresh perspective these sailors will bring to racing.”
Bella Mente at Quantum Key West Race Week in 2014 (Photo Credit: Onne van der Wal)
Fauth, a business entrepreneur, runs a number of high-profile companies, and his management skills on the water closely resemble those in the boardroom. Last November, his success with Bella Mente Racing was recognized when the New York Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Club together presented him with the coveted John B. Thomson Award for campaign excellence.
Bella Mente at the start of the 2014 Newport Bermuda Race (Photo Credit: Onne van der Wal)
“There are three very important components to running a campaign,” said Fauth. “First, you need to be continually working to build the strongest team. It’s more than just professional resumes; it’s about guys that have good chemistry together. Second, you have to have a well thought-out campaign each year, with objectives for each race and objectives for the whole season. Third is logistics management. Everything from plane tickets and room accommodations to onboard food provisioning needs to be completed in a regimented fashion.”
Bella Mente racing fellow Maxi 72s at the 2014 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Sardinia (Photo Credit: Jesus Renedo)
Bella Mente Racing took to the water in December to practice with the new team members and test out its new Southern Spars mast with C6 rigging by Composite Rigging. Racing will kick off next week in Florida with Quantum Key West Race Week. 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, Bella Mente will be shipped to the United Kingdom where the team will take on the challenging waters of the Solent for the RYS International Bicentennial Regatta and Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week before starting the world-class Rolex Fastnet Race in August. Bella Mente Racing’s pinnacle event, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Sardinia, will conclude the season in September.
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 current Bella Mente is a 72-foot Mini Maxi designed by judel/vrolijk yacht design and built by New England Boatworks.
Follow Bella Mente Racing on Facebook, 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.
Happy Holidays from Bella Mente Racing! We hope your day is merry and bright! See you all in the new year.
Photo Credit: Peter Henderson
(Photos Courtesy of Beyel Crane and Bella Mente Racing’s Peter Henderson)
After concluding a four-day practice session in Fort Lauderdale last week, Bella Mente returned to Cracker Boy Boat Works in West Palm Beach on Thursday evening, where the team hoisted the hull out of the water and pulled the rig to preserve it for the 2015 campaign. From now until mid-January, the team will be making some final updates to the boat to ensure that it is race ready for Quantum Key West Race Week later that month.
For more updates on the team, follow Bella Mente Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Bella Mente Racing spent Thursday’s practice session tuning the rig and doing sail checks in Ft. Lauderdale
Bella Mente Racing wrapped up its four-day practice session in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this morning. The team, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, focused a majority of the time tuning the rig and doing sail checks in preparation for its 2015 Campaign.
Bella Mente Racing off Fort Lauderdale during this week’s practice session (Photo Credit: Bella Mente/Kirsten Ferguson)
“We have a bunch of new systems in place,” said Bella Mente Racing’s tactician Terry Hutchinson adding that the Maxi72 has a new Southern Spars rig and some new Quantum Stratis sails. “This week was about not only practicing with the team, but also understanding our equipment onboard and developing confidence in it. Three days ago, we sailed down the Gulf Stream, from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, in 20 knots of breeze which was a really great test of everything, especially the mast.”
Tactician Terry Hutchinson taking Bella Mente on a “code zero” reach from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale (Video Credit: Bella Mente/Rob Ouellette)
The team also welcomed eight new sailors to the crew, and used practice to get acquainted. “Our expectations are high going into 2015,” added Hutchinson. “I am not yet sure what our outcome will be, because we have so many new moving pieces, but I am confident that we have very good people with us that are committed to Bella Mente’s cause. Having everyone pointed in the same direction and working hard to get there, that in itself is worth its weight in gold.”
Bella Mente Racing during today’s light wind sea trials (Photo Credit: Bella Mente/Kirsten Ferguson)
After the holidays, the team will head to Key West to kick off its 2015 campaign at Quantum Key West Race Week.
For more updates on the team, follow Bella Mente Racing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
(Photo Credit: Peter Henderson)
The deck of Bella Mente underwent a paint job last week, and now the team is hard at work reinstalling the winch and hydro systems along with other deck hardware. The boat will have its new Southern Spars mast stepped tomorrow in preparation for next week, when the sailing team meets in Fort Lauderdale to start sea trials.
More Photos by Peter Henderson
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.
