Bella Mente has been stationed at Crackerboy Boat Works in Riviera Beach, Florida since early October. Over the past week, the boat’s winch system and hardware were serviced, and the deck is still undergoing prep work for a paint job that will take place the week of Thanksgiving. The team is also making a few more minor modifications to prepare Bella Mente for the 2014 campaign.
On November 1st, we challenged our Facebook followers to help the Bella Mente Racing page reach 1,000 likes. Thanks to our fantastic support group, the page is now at 1,075 likes, and as promised, five fans (listed below) have won a team belt!
Congratulations to…
John A McVeety
Donald Tofias
Mary Watson
J.r. Thomas
Merelita Sera
Once again, we are so happy to have everyone’s support going into our 2014 campaign! There will be another giveaway next month so stay tuned and make sure to follow the team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BellaMenteRacing
Five of these Bella Mente Racing team belts will be going to randomly selected Facebook fans
Earlier this month we challenged our Facebook fans to help get the Bella Mente Racing page to 1,000 likes. Within the first 48 hours of the announcement, we had exceeded that goal and tomorrow (November 13, 2013), at 10 a.m. E.T., we will announce the five lucky followers that will receive Bella Mente Racing team belts. For a chance to win, please make sure to “like” the page before midnight (E.T.) tonight.
Please visit the page at https://www.facebook.com/BellaMenteRacing
Yesterday, Bella Mente was taken off its keel, and the hull was then moved inside at Crackerboy Boat Works (Riviera Beach, Florida). Over the next week, the hull will be stripped of hardware and cleaned to prep for a deck and cockpit paint job taking place at the end of November. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island Bella Mente’s sails are undergoing repairs and updates in preparation for the team’s 2014 campaign.
Triumph for all women crew:
Racing classic returns bigger than ever:
Looking back at the Rolex Fastnet Race – CNN MainSail did a piece featuring the Bella Mente Racing team and owner/driver Hap Fauth. Watch the full video here or at http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/sports/2013/09/12/spc-mainsail-fastnet-race-b.cnn.html
Bella Mente Loading in Olbia, Sardinia
Bella Mente was loaded and shipped from Olbia, Sardinia on September 23rd and arrived at West Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday, October 12th. The following day, the boat was offloaded then hauled at Crackerboy Boat Works. This week the Bella Mente Racing team is setting up shop at the boatyard and will be doing some cleanup and servicing of the boat, and also preparing it for deck and touch-up painting. Bella Mente will be stationed in Florida until early January when it will kick-off its 2014 campaign.
Bella Mente, along with other mini maxis Caol Ila R and Shockwave, in West Palm Beach, Fla. before its haul out at Crackerboy Boat Works
Quantum Key West Race Week (Photo Credit Jesús Renedo)
Bella Mente Racing has wrapped up its 2013 campaign, and here is a photo timeline showing one of the team’s favorite photos from each of the events this year. We are already getting excited for 2014!
RORC Caribbean 600 ( Photo Credit RORC/Tim Wright/Photoaction.com)
GAASTRA PalmaVela (Photo Credit Jesús Renedo)
Giraglia Rolex Cup (Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi)
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week (Photo Credit Rick Tomlinson)
Rolex Fastnet Race (Photo Credit Rolex / Kurt Arrigo)
Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi)
After five days of high intensity racing off Porto Cervo, the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship came to a close today (September 7th) with Bella Mente Racing taking second- and fourth-place finishes in the final two races, resulting in fourth-place overall.
Day 5 of the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Jesús Renedo)
“The crew was outstanding, and this was good regatta for boat development,” said owner/driver Hap Fauth adding that the team worked its way up the ladder throughout the week after a challenging first day of racing. “Overall it was a great event, and we learned a lot about Bella Mente in light air conditions.”
Day 5 of the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Jesús Renedo)
The fifth and final day was comprised of two windward-leeward races, and Race 7 started in eight to ten knots of breeze. Bella Mente got off on the right foot with an excellent pin-end start, and took on Rán 2 in a tactical fight upwind. Rán 2 rounded mark one in first-place, followed by Bella Mente in second-place, and the two teams kept their positions through to the end of the race.
The breeze kicked up to 11 knots for Race 8, and Bella Mente had another great start, but this time from the committee boat end. The team held third-place overall until the last downwind leg, when the fleet compressed, resulting in a fourth-place finish for Bella Mente.
Congratulations to Niklas and Catherine Zennström and the entire Rán 2 team for winning this year’s Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship! We will be back next year to challenge you for it!
Day 5 of the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship (Photo Credit Jesús Renedo)
Do you know the difference between a Supermaxi and Mini Maxi? Check out this diagram courtesy of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup:
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.
