We have been in Key West for 4 days now sailing on the chartered TP 52 Origin.
We had 2 days of very good practice getting our boat handling down and working on our boat speed. The last 2 days however have been frustrating. Yesterday was about 22 knots and we pulled part of the track off the mast that is used for the main cunno. We came in and got that sorted and were promised another good day of breeze today. However damage again today took us out prematurely. This time the main started pulling out a little at the top of the mast at one of the full battens. Upon checking the track after we got in, we found the track to be cracked and in need of repair. Ollie and Thomas have fixed it after a few trips up the rig. The racing will start tomorrow with still a good breeze forecast. We are excited to get out there and race. There will be 8 52s racing and it looks like we will have some good competition. Stay tuned for a report tomorrow.
Doogie
Florida sailing
The team has been plenty busy over the last couple of weeks. We all met up in Palm Beach, FL for a couple of days of sailing and idea exchanges for the new boat. Hap has chartered a TP 52 for Key West. We will be sailing Origin’s old boat. We trained on the boat for 3 days and were supposed to race over the weekend in Palm Beach. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we were not able to race over the weekend.
The 3 days of practice took place in some good breeze and waves and were able to work through quite a few things. It was nice to get the team back together and sailing again. We are all looking forward to racing in Key West. There will be a fleet of 8 52s so it will be some good racing.
The new boat is coming along nicely. Pirate and Rob O have been working hard to nail down lots of the details. The rig is also being constructed at the same time so Pirate is carrying double duty.
Doogie
Bella Mente TP 52 sailing
check out this video of us sailing downwind today off Palm Beach, FL.
We are getting to know the boat and look forward to the racing that starts on Saturday. bella 52
New boat update from Pirate
The Hull came off the mold at the beginning of Nov. All went well and looks great. The Hull is back in the oven, leveled, scanned and the internal patching has been installed and cooked. Bulkheads will begin to go in next week, with just the Mast bulkhead left on the table. The drive unit will go in next week as well. The Hull will remain upside down for all this work, so fairing can occur simultaneously.
Work on the deck continues. Structure has begun to be installed. The forward and companion way hatches have been installed. Thomas has been helping Jon Williams align and install the winch system structure, bases and Pedestals.
The engine arrived last week. We will mock it up on the bench and strip it of any excess weight and learn all we can.
Ryan and JV have been busy reconfiguring container world and helping with the build when possible.
The mold for the keel structure has been CNC cut, built and post cured. A significant amount of lamination begins next week.
You can see from the attached photos that the boat will have a bit more volume than the previous boat.
We continue to work on refining the yacht’s systems. The global rig geometry and laminate design is finished. Hall, Alex and I continue to work refining the fittings.
Rob has done a great job keeping this complicated project moving fwd and on schedule.
Congrats to Hap. Last week the NYYC awarded Hap the Mosbacher Trophy. This award is given to the NYYC Yachtsman of the Year. Well deserved Hap!
Talk to you soon,
Pirate
Bella Mente
The new hull getting overturned.
52
The Bella Mente team has charted the TP52, Origin, for Key West Race Week. The team will meet up in Palm Beach in December for a few days of practice and regatta in order to get aquatinted with the boat. The team will arrive on Nov. 29 and start sailing on the 30th.
Stay Tuned.
Hull Hugging
Hap really is giving it his all!
The hull is coming along nicely. The bulkheads are getting built and the bits are starting to get laminated inside.
NYYC dinner
Here’s a few more photos and info on a very pleasant evening at the NYYC.
http://www.nyyc.org/home/article_1118/
The Gov
Tony Reaper also enjoying the evening at the NYYC.
Hap and son
Hap and his son, Forest, having a very nice evening at the NYYC.
Popped out
Just a quick update from the Bella boys in Newport. The hull has been popped from the mold! We will have more on this soon.
So far, everyone is pleased with the progress.
On the sailing side, we will be chartering a TP 52 for Key West. We are looking forward to getting back together and sailing again. The first sailing on the 52 will be a training session in December. We will use this first session to become familiar with the boat and starting to figure out who goes where. More to come on this subject along with a crew list.
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