2024 IMA Maxi European Championship

Bella Mente Racing

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Practice day

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Today was a good day of looking at sails and sorting out some details in boat systems. We were off the dock around 11 am. I struggled a little to get our new big head main on, but after a few different techniques, we finally found a solution to getting it plugged in. Basically, the main is so big at the head, that the weight and angle of the battens make it very awkward to plug into the headboard car and top batten car. Once the main went up, we looked at our new Fractional 0. This sail is to replace our very successful Fro. This new sail is designed to take advantage of the rating rule for Transpac and make sure we have a good sail for the first part of the race. We also looked at our very large new kites that are bigger and try to take advantage of our longer stern. We came in around 3:30 and then went right into boat work mode. We had a small repair to perform on the headfoil, tighten our bobstay lashing, work on water maker and water storage systems…
Ryan (Super Nipper) has been a huge help to our team. He is constantly working on the boat and taking on an ever growing list of jobs. Guys like him are key to a team to keep getting projects done when the sailors leave the boat.
I also noticed some impressive sail making skills today. Yesterday, part of the main was hitting the lock and forcing the lock to open. So part of the main had to be cut away to solve this issue. Blue (Tomac – those of you who have seen Old School should understand the reference) took a battery operate jig saw, and without tracing or measuring, and ignoring all OSHA rules, held the head of the main in hand, and cut the offending piece of cloth. Pure Skill!

Hap enjoying the once again modified Bella Mente. He's standing, on the new section of boat.

Long Day

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We’ve had a long 2 days. We launched the boat yesterday at 6 am, measured the boat, then worked on it all day. At 6 pm, we headed back to the crew house for a quick bite to eat, a shower, and then back to the boat for a night delivery up to Long Beach. The delivery was uneventful but it was still a long night. We arrived in Long Beach at 7:30, docked the boat, and headed off for breakfast. After that, we headed back to the boat and kept working on it before sailing for a couple of hours in the afternoon. We returned back to the harbor and left the boat at 6 pm. So we were a little knackered.
Good news is we got our new BIG head main up. The top of the head is about 10 ft across. It has definitely powered the boat up. The sail was mainly to check on some mods we had done and make sure everything was safe. Tomorrow is a full crew practice with everyone showing up tonight.

Boat in

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The boat is in the water and measured. It all went pretty smoothly with no issues. We will continue to work on the boat all day and then deliver it up to Long Beach overnight.

rig up

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Good day on the Bella Mente.
Rig went up this morning and we got to our dock tune. The boys have been working hard getting the boat ready after it last mod. The boat is now 5 feet longer and looking big.
We are working hard getting the boat ready for some good downwind sailing.
Doogie

Bella is West Bound!

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Here is an update from the boat captain, Pete “Pirate” Henderson.

After Key West Race Week, the Bella boys pushed hard to delivery the boat back to Palm Beach, get the scoop installed, and then move everything to San Diego. The Wednesday after Key West, the scoop part arrived from NEB (New England Boatworks) in the back of a U-haul box truck. That afternoon we loaded the 20ft container on a flat bed with the bulb and keel. The sail container went on another flat bed and the rig and cradle on yet another flat bed.

These 3 trucks left for San Diego. Sammy “Snowflake” Loughbrah followed them out to California with the Bella truck. Pirate and Sammy met the rig, keel, bulb, cradle and containers in SD and set up Bella’s base at Driscoll’s Mission Bay Boatyard. Driscoll’s will be the base for the next few months as the team preps for the Cabo, Coastal Cup and Transpac Races.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Ryan stayed with the yacht to help Al Fresco Composites install the scoop at Cracker Boy Boat Works. We need to thank these guys for the hot days they spent stuck in a tyvek suit, laminating and fairing inside a very warm shrinkwrap tent.

This past Friday the boat was moved out of the Eagle Eye paint shed at Cracker Boy. The Eagle Eye team did a nice job getting the new part painted and blended in a short time frame. Ryan, John Von and Pirate loaded the boat on a low rider flat bed trailer with some specially built trucking bunks on Saturday. These bunks hold the yacht at a 15 deg angle of heel to allow the width to get inside the trucking maximum width and under the trucking maximum height.

Bob the trucker had to wait until Monday morning because of oversized load restrictions for travel in Florida on the weekends. He left this morning before dawn, and is currently headed across the Florida panhandle. ETA in San Diego is next weekend, for an offload on Monday February 28.

JV is headed to San Diego to help Fitzgerald Racing finish up installing the kelp cutter and putting the bulb and keel back together. The rest of the team will meet this week to get the cradle sorted, the work container offloaded, and prep to offload the yacht from the truck. Early next week we will put Bella back on the keel and into the cradle.

Some of the Team is in Newport for the first part of the week to finalize the deck layout of Bella 72.

Thanks to all those who helped us accomplish so much in so little time.

See everyone in California.

Pirate

About Bella Mente

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.

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Bella Mente has been crowned IMA’s Maxi European Champion. Owner and helmsman Hap Fauth reflected on the journey, stating: “Today marked the culmination of some insightful changes in Bella Mente's internal design. She’s finally starting to reach her potential after five years. It’s truly rewarding for the crew and her owner. We’re looking forward to our next adventure in the SORC regatta!”