Yesterday was our first day of sea trialing. It’s a stressful and exciting time for the team. So what is involved in sea trialing?
Once the rig is in and we have completed all the load tests on the dock, it is time to start sailing the boat. It is very important to go slowly in case something goes wrong, we don’t make it worse.
First action is to hoist the main. At the first hoist of the main, it goes right on the lock. We test the lock and successfully get the main off, but not back on. So a trip up the rig is needed to get it on the lock. Add that to the list but not a major problem.
Once the main is up, it is time to slowly lean on it. All the while, there are half a dozen boat builders and sailors below decks listening for any noises or cracks while on deck the rig team is keeping a close eye on the rig. After some sailing in very light conditions we headed back to the dock to grind away some carbon on the deck at a diagonal terminal. Once on the dock the weather started taking a turn for the worse with rain and wind. So we headed back out a second time to give things another test. It was blowing about 18 knots and we sailed upwind with the main only. We tacked a few times and then hoisted the jib to continue loading the boat. All looked good with the rig with a few turns here and there needed. After some more loading, a crack was heard below at the location of a mainsheet sheave below decks. So back to the dock we go. Not a serious issue but one that needs to be fixed with some proper attention. The boys worked on it last night and again this morning.
If the weather cooperates, we will head back out this afternoon to continue the sea trials and systems check.
Rig Up
Just a quick update. We got the rig up Wednesday morning. The team has been putting in some long days in order to get the boat ready. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but, so far, all pretty standard for a new boat. The hope is to bring the boat to the Newport Shipyard tomorrow evening around the evening high tide. 
We are in the water!
Today was a big day for the team. A little before 4 pm, with all the yard, Hap and his boys watching, the boat hit the water. It was been quite a bit of work to get to this point and everyone is very happy to see her floating nicely at the dock. Tomorrow we will keep working on the boat and rig. The rig is scheduled to go in the boat early Wednesday morning. A very large thanks goes to Pirate, Rob O, Thomas, Ryan, JV, and Kyle who have been putting in some very long hours over the last several months in order to get to this point. The rest of the team will arrive thursday and we have lots of projects to complete before we can go sailing. Wednesday will be a stressful day with the rig going in. This will be the first time the boat sees any serious loads. All ears will be listening to all the little creaks and groans. 
Progress
The boat is coming along. As all new boats, there are delays here and there. But the team is working hard to get the boat in the water early next week. The rig is on location and getting its finally assembly. The work list is long and getting longer. Projects seem to keep popping up but lots of projects are also getting ticked off the list. The finish of the boat looks nice and everyone is looking forward to the next step. The rig will go in right after the boat hits the water. Once the rig is in, we will be doing the dock tune and dock structural tests. These will be nervous times with everyone listening carefully as we load up the boat to full jack pressure.
Stay tuned,
Doogie
The Men in Charge
The Men in Charge - From Left to Right - Tom Rich, Rob Ouellette, Peter "Pirate" Henderson, Hap Fauth
She’s getting there
The boys are working overtime to get her ready. All is going well. As you can see, the boat now has its bowsprit.
Bella Mente 72 update
Hello all,
Time is flying by here in RI. Hard to believe how fast the days go by. The NEB build crew, Hall’s build crew, Jon Williams and the Bella Boys have been extremely busy. As you know the boat was post cured last weekend. This weekend the topsides were painted “Bella Blue”. The stripes get painted this evening.
Prior to the post cure, all the structure had been installed, apart from the Prod. The Keel fin and bulb showed up last week. We will put the fin up on the bulb this week. Then the wetsanding begins.
We are fully into the details and systems install. Sheave boxes, ram foundations, toe rails, stanchions, Winch system, hydro system, steering system, electronics, etc. It seems as soon as we cross something off the worklist, we add 2 more.
On the rig, the internal structure and fittings are underway. The offshore boom came off the mold last week.
Pirate
Vote for Hap!
Hap is up for the sailor of the month at Seahorse magazine. Give him your vote!
http://www.seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month
Post Cure
Here is a quick picture of the new boat. They are post curing it over the weekend. There is still lots to do but it is coming along nicely.
Race day 5, final day
We raced 2 races today in 11-15 knots, sunny, and flat water. Great conditions really. The first race we pushed the start line hard and were off. We rounded in the lead group but struggled on both runs to finish 5th. Vesper worked hard to push us back in the fleet. It was a dog fight for 3rd place. We had a bit of a gybing duel on the first run where Vesper did a good job covering and rolling us. On the second beat, a winch problem meant that we had to tack the jib the “old school” way, with a winch handle.
The second race we had a decent start towards the leeward end of the line after escaping Vesper. John Cutler called a good first beat and we rounded the weather mark in first place. We led all the way around the course to win the race but not without some stress. At the second top mark we had a bit of an override issue hoisting the kite, but some quick action by Matt solved the issue and we finished the hoist on another winch. Then on the last beat, the jib Cunningham system failed below deck. Fongo quickly eased the jib sheet to prevent the jib from blowing out the headfoil. We quickly jury rigged the kite tackline as a temporary jib tack system. It wasn’t pretty but it got us up to the finish line, still holding the lead. 1st for that race.
So we finish 3rd for this regatta. We definitely left some points out on the course. There are a few races we could have won and a few boats we could have prevented from passing us. Quantum won the regatta and sailed very cleanly. They have the most time in this class and it showed. We felt like we improved throughout the event and never gave up. Our regatta was definitely not without incident. Hap did a great job racing a tiller boat. Now the team goes home and starts going into final preps before the new boat comes online. We are all anxious to get our hands on the new Bella.
Doogie
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