The countdown is on for the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, which kicks off racing next week (September 1-6) in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Tomorrow, the 72-foot custom mini maxi, with owner/driver Hap Fauth at the helm, will embark on four days of practice before the grand-prix event. The five-day regatta is part of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which marks its 25th year highlighting the exquisite design and performance of the world’s most impressive monohull yachts.

Image Credit: Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship

“It is a boat that rewards good teamwork, and a boat that rewards good development and a good development path,” said world-class sailor Terry Hutchinson when asked what he thought drew sailors to the mini maxi class. Hutchinson will join Fauth along with Mike Sanderson and John Cutler in the afterguard.  “There are many parts that go into the success of these boats. It’s not just about sailing well. You have to understand how to rate these boats and also understand the performance of your boat with that rating;  that is a really big deal. There is also lot of tweaking that goes on, which is inherent to the mini maxi design, and that is so fun because when you get it right you get rewarded.

Bella Mente at the 2013 Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi)

“The Bella boys have worked incredibly hard to get the boat to where it is now, and it is a far more refined piece of equipment than it was last year,” said Hutchinson adding that the boat suffered a rig failure at Les Voiles de St. Barth earlier this spring, but came back in full force earlier this summer breaking the monohull record in the Mount Gay Rum Around Jamestown Challenge and winning the NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. Following that, the team took extremely narrow second place finishes to George Sakellaris’ Shockwave in both the Newport Bermuda Race and the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE. (Earlier this year Bella Mente won its class at Key West Race Week and claimed line honors at the RORC 600.)

“After the rig incident, it took an impressive amount of effort to get the boat on the starting line, but with all hands on deck, the team made it possible and now we are all reaping the benefits of that hard work and research.”

Bella Mente at the 2013 Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi)

Hutchinson has been part of the Bella Mente family for almost a year, as he came onboard for the 2013 Maxi Rolex World Championship. “Last year we sailed a really good regatta after the first coastal race,” said Hutchinson adding that the team was crowned World Champion in 2012, but lost the title in 2013 to Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran 2 after a tough first half of racing in Porto Cervo. This year, the team will battle Zennstrom again, but this time on his newly built Ran 5. His former Ran 2 will also be on the racecourse, now competing as Robertissima III and helmed by Roberto Tomasini Grinover. Many other fierce competitors will also populate the waters, including Bella’s most recent rival Shockwave and Andres Soriano’s Alegre, which debuted at The Worlds last year and took second place.

“If I had to pick a competitor that was favored for the win this year’s Mini Maxi Worlds, I would say that the field is wide open, which is the most exciting part.”

Next week, Bella Mente Racing will be posting photos and daily race reports from Porto Cervo so stay tuned!

Bella Mente and its team of 30 sailors and shore crew are expected to arrive in Porto Cervo, Sardinia early next week to prepare for the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, which kicks off September 1 and continues through to September 6. With owner/driver Hap Fauth at the helm, Bella Mente Racing will embark on four days of practice next week to prepare.

Bella Mente at the 2013 Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi)

“This year’s Mini Maxi Rolex World Championships will probably be the tightest racing the class has ever seen,” said Mike Sanderson who will join Fauth along with Terry Hutchinson and John Cutler in the afterguard onboard.

Sanderson added that the regatta is the team’s pinnacle event annually because of its strong turnout of other extremely competitive mini maxis. In 2012, Bella Mente Racing was crowned Mini Maxi Rolex World Champion, and it hopes to steal back the title from Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran 2, which won last year and will be returning again next month with a new boat (Ran 5). Zennstrom’s former boat will also be competing as Robertissima III with Roberto Tomasini Grinover at the helm.

Bella Mente at the 2013 Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi)

Bella Mente Racing will once again be faced with George Sakellaris’ Shockwave, which it narrowly lost to at the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE earlier this month in Palma Mallorca (Shockwave and Bella Mente took first and second place, respectively, in IRC 0).

“We were very happy with how the boat was going at Copa del Rey and feel that we can win races,” added Sanderson. “The team has worked hard to make the boat as ‘rating efficient’ as possible without, hopefully, costing us any raw speed. Overall, the boat is feeling better than it has ever felt and the team is more settled and prepared than ever. We are ready to put our heads down and fight.”

Check out photos below of Bella Mente being prepared for Sardinia (Photo Credit: Peter Henderson)