Final Race Results for the 2019 Copa del Rey MAPFRE. Congratulations in the Mallorca Sotheby’s IRC Class to Cannonball and Dario Ferrari. Bella Mente will be back racing late this summer the 2019 Rolex Maxi Worlds.
2nd in race today. All additional racing abandoned. #bellamenteracing #mapfrecopadelrey2019
By John Clarke
The American sailor Matt Cassidy, 40, generally works at the pointy end of the boat as a bowman. At this year’s Les Voiles de St. Barth, he helps with midship duties on board the owner and skipper Hap Fauth’s fourth edition of Bella Mente, a 72-foot Maxi yacht. Cassidy, who sailed in the 2017 America’s Cup and could be on the United States team again in 2021 in New Zealand, returns to Les Voiles de St. Barth for his second tour.
The following interview has been edited and condensed.
You raced in Les Voiles de St. Barth before. What brings you back?
I sailed the race in 2013 on a J class. But St. Barths is St. Barths. It speaks for itself. It’s a great location, awesome weather and awesome racing. It just gives us a chance to get a regatta in on Bella Mente. Our goal is to get a Maxi win in Sardinia [the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship]. Any chance we get to race against boats similar to us or as a team is a step forward to getting better for that event. St. Barths is one of those.
How’s your crew looking this year?
We have 18 guys on the team. Owner and skipper Hap Fauth drives, Terry Hutchinson is on tactics and Ian Moore navigating. There are so many talented guys in every position. From bow to stern, these guys are just a bunch of rock stars. It’s a really cool boat. It’s one of those things where you don’t worry about the other guys on your team and just take care of your job, and the other guys are doing theirs. It makes for fun racing.
You and other members of the Bella Mente crew are involved in the American effort to win back the America’s Cup in New Zealand in 2021 on the boat American Magic.
We have quite a few guys who will be on American Magic. It’s another opportunity to sail together. And it’s another opportunity to get Hap out racing, and we’re here for him. This boat is brand-new, and we want to see what she can do. Of course, any chance we get racing with the guys on American Magic is great. The more time together we get, the better off we will be once we start racing.“You’re constantly moving and anticipating what the next sail change will be,” said Matt Cassidy, who is working midship.CreditOracle Team USA
What have you learned working with Fauth?
He’s a great guy. You get that when he sits down, starts talking to you and lights up a cigar. He’s one of the boys. He loves the racing but also just loves hanging out with the guys. He’s obviously a very successful businessman and takes that same approach to his racing team. Everything is done first class. We have a job to do and set goals for each day and have a plan. We go out and enact that. The main thing is to do the simple things right and not make any major mistakes. From there, we slowly fine tune. Each day, the goal is to get better. He reiterates that every day and tells us to go out and do the basics right, and the rest will come. And he’s right — it does.
What’s your job like on Bella Mente?
I’m midbow, the guy second to Doogie [Sean Couvreux]. We work together. It’s a 72-foot boat, so the sails are big and heavy. You’re moving the sails around the boat and race the boat hard. There’s a lot of pressure to get things done quick. You’re constantly moving and anticipating what the next sail change will be and need to be ready. You talk with the navigator and strategists and discuss what sail to use next. Down below, I just make sure the next sail is ready and not buried beneath the other ones. Our goal is to be invisible. If the guys in the back call for a sail to go up, it should go up without issues. A good day on the water for us is when the guys on the back never know we’re there. That’s what we want.
Communication plays an integral part.
Yes, you have to be clear. Any minor miscommunication is a major problem on a bigger boat. Things are much more loaded, and mistakes can cause damage. You can make a mistake on a smaller boat and kind of manhandle her a bit. But you can’t just get by on these big boats. We had a 10-day training session on this boat in Fort Lauderdale, where we talked about that and what it takes to make all the different sail changes and maneuvers on this boat. We’ve refined that, learning things like needing 45 seconds instead of a minute for a setup so the guys in the back can push it closer. The clearer the communication is, the better the boat goes around the tracks.
You’re used to professional, high-stakes sailing. Is it hard to adjust to the fun and social aspect of regattas?
We’re here to win it, but we are also here to have fun and make sure Hap has fun. Hap has fun when he’s winning. You have to go out and hit the beach bars. The Caribbean is a beautiful spot. We’re here for the racing but have to embrace the local culture, too. Hap likes to go down to one of the bars and let loose on the day we have off. But the next day, it’s all about racing again.
by Laura Muma 14 Apr 18:44 PDT14-20 April 2019
Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille 2019 © Christophe Jouany
After two days of registration, practice and final preparations, the 1,000 sailors in the 10th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille are now ready for racing, which begins tomorrow, Monday, April 15 at 12 pm EST.
The signature eastern trade winds are solidly established, promising to deliver 15 – 20 knot winds for a spectacular week of racing. Even before the first warning signal sounds tomorrow, some great on-water battles are shaping up across all nine classes: Maxi 1, Maxi 2, CSA 1, CSA 2, CSA 3, CSA 4 and CSA 5 (Caribbean Sailing Association), ORCmh (Offshore Multihull Association) and IMHRR (International Multihull Rating Rule).
“The week should be perfect,” said Pierre Casiraghi, this year’s ambassador who will also be at the helm of the Maxi 72 Sorcha, a boat he knows well from racing on her previously in Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “This is my first time on the island. The place is amazing and I cannot wait to start racing tomorrow, even though we unfortunately lost a big competitor yesterday, Bella Mente.”
Bella Mente was forced to withdraw from racing after the top two meters of its mast broke during practice on Friday. For Casiraghi, it’s a big loss. “I would have loved to measure myself against them and see how it turns out. But regardless, the fight in the Maxi 1 class promises to be very competitive!”
Another major competitor missing in action this year from the Maxi class is Proteus, the winner of the last two editions of the event. Unfortunately, they dismasted earlier this year in the Caribbean 600 RORC.
Defenders Return to Les Voiles
Across the other classes, four other defending champions return to fight for the 2019 crown: Christian Guyader’s Guyader Gastronomie; Stephen Cucchiaro’s Flow; Nelson Moore’s Windfall; and Claude Granel and Marc Emig’s Crédit Mutuel – SGS; in IMHRR, ORCmh, Maxi 2 and CSA, respectively.
“Having won in our class in 2018, we felt obliged to return to defend our title!” laughed Guyader. “We know, however, that it will not be easy because the bar is very high in multihulls, including many competitors having, like me, participated in the Route du Rhum.”
In fact, many of his former opponents of the famous transatlantic race will be at Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille such as Olmix, the winning boat at the Rhum Multi, who will have on board the very experienced Charlie Capelle; Jean-François Lilti’s L’Avocet; and Alain Delhumeau’s Rayon Vert.
“It’s going to be quite a fight,” promises Guyader. And this should be true in all classes: Raphael Magras’s Maëlia Caisse d’Epargne Cepac Antilles; Raymond Magras’s Speedy Nemo; Sergio Sagramoso’s Lazy Dog; Sir Peter Harrison’s Sojana, which is the largest yacht in the 10th edition at 115′; or Frits Bus’s Team Island Water World, which conversely is the smallest boat in the fleet at 24′.
There are also a multitude of “newcomers,” determined to upset the regulars, so it is anyone’s guess who may top the leaderboard next Saturday. No doubt the competition will be close, much to the delight of sailing fans and sailors who relish the perfect blend of tight racing around the beautiful backdrop of St. Barth, and the friendly camaraderie on shore, a signature blend from Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille’s beginning 10 years ago.
Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille 2019 – photo © Christophe Jouany
In brief:
Five days of competition begins tomorrow, Monday, and continues Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday is the team favorite “Day Off”.
There will be six starts that include the nine classes, with the smaller boats beginning first.
CSA 5 will be the first start, followed by CSA 3 and 4; then CSA 1 and 2. Next up are Maxi 1 and Maxi 2; and finally the multihulls — ORCmh; and then IMHRR Multihulls.
For this 10th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille, Race Director Luc Poupon and Race Committee Chairman Jean Coadou have developed 26 possible courses for competitors (between 10 and 47 miles).
“For the first time we will be offering two start zones and two possible finish lines, in Gustavia and Saint-Jean, which will allow us to launch for some classes up to two races per day,” said Coadou.
Sixteen nationalities are represented in 2019 from Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom. The two most represented nations are France and the United States with 14 and 12 boats, respectively.
Quotes:
François Tolède, Director of the Organization:
“We are very proud to organize the 10th edition of the event. It has grown from year to year and is now fully established in the international landscape, known for the great sailing conditions. For this edition, we have once again have created an incredible benchmark to rise up to, and are looking forward to hosting an incredible event. Unfortunately, we have lost a few competitors due to technical issues, such as the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, but as we all know, that is sailboat racing. The 60 teams competing this week are extremely high quality and we are honored they will join us for this very special anniversary edition.”
Caroline Desrivas, Communication Manager for Richard Mille:
“We have been in the adventure for 10 years now, when we joined forces with François Tolède and Luc Poupon from the beginning. We are obviously delighted. The setting is extraordinary, and more and more boats come to participate in the event. It is always a very wonderful time to share with all the teams at each edition. At Richard Mille, we are partners of many very specialized events and we like to be at the beginning of a project, build it and see it grow. It’s really our logic of work within the brand and it’s clearly what we managed to do with Les Voiles organization. In addition, we are pleased that Pierre Casiraghi, one of our partners at Richard Mille, has agreed to be the sponsor of the competition. He is a very passionate sailor who is very involved in the world of offshore racing. It made sense for us to be able to link our partnership with Pierre with that of Les Voiles de St. Barth, an event that delivers the perfect blend of a very relaxed atmosphere on shore and great competition on the water.”
For more information visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com/us
An unfortunate circumstance today occurred while practicing on Bella Mente where the top 2 meters of the spar broke, forcing us to withdraw from Les Voiles de Saint Barth. We are taking the appropriate measures to learn why this happened. The crew are all safe. We look forward to sailing this summer in Europe.
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.
