Sailing’s glamor tribe and the downsides of paradise
‘Stressful’
On the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, owned by Minneapolis businessman John “Hap” Fauth, the permanent crew of four swells to 20 for racing.
Updated 0913 GMT (1713 HKT) August 31, 2017
(CNN) If the lifestyle of a professional sailor seems implausibly glamorous, that’s because it is, but there are downsides to working in paradise.
On the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, owned by Minneapolis businessman John “Hap” Fauth, the permanent crew of four swells to 20 for racing.
Published on August 30th, 2017
Competition is set to be the tightest ever at next week’s Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, taking place once again as part of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. This annual event is jointly organised by the event’s hosts, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, this year celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the International Maxi Association, the body sanctioned by World Sailing to represent the Maxi classes.
Five custom-built Maxi 72 racers are taking part ranging from the older, but heavily revised and optimised, to the newer, potentially faster, but less refined boats.
So far this season, Italian Dario Ferrari’s brand new Botin Partners-designed Cannonball claimed Sail Racing PalmaVela in May, while George Sakellaris’ Proteus took honours in the brand new Corfu Challenge on his home waters in early July. The 36 Copa del Rey MAPFRE, in Palma in August, was won by German Dieter Schön’s MOMO.
With three different winners already this year, competition in the Maxi 72 class is currently wide open.
As Proteus’ George Sakellaris explains: “All the boats now are evenly matched so anyone can win and there is very good competition. We all fine-tune our boats so well that the game for everyone has come up.”
Defending World Champion is Bella Mente of International Maxi Association Vice President Hap Fauth (also President of the Maxi 72 Class). He agrees that the game in the Maxi 72 class has changed. While possibly his US-based team was favourite the last two times they won the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, this is distinctly not the case this year, maintains Fauth: “Everybody has made improvements and is either equal to, or faster, than us at the moment, which will make this really interesting. Our boat is six years old now.
“This year we have not been as quick as either MOMO or Proteus and, in a lot of cases, Cannonball – they are still figuring out the buttons on that boat, which takes about a year, but they have great flashes of speed. This season we have been at the bottom of the fleet – we get great starts, but if you don’t have legs on that first windward leg you are at the back of the pack.”
Fauth confides that since Copa del Rey they have made some modifications to their keel foil and are hoping that this will provide the boat speed boost they sorely need. “We’ll see if that works. I love sailing in Sardinia, even if we have had a not-so-good season.”
Maxi 72 Class Manager Rob Weiland says the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship will see a continuation of the close competition they have enjoyed at their three regattas so far this season in the Mediterranean. “It is open who is going to win. Cannonball is slowly getting stronger and stronger and MOMO is better than ever and Bella Mente isn’t bad and Proteus is always near the top. The only unknown quantity right now is Caol Ila as this will be her first encounter with the others this year.”
As to why they repeatedly return to Porto Cervo, Weiland says that the Maxi 72s are particularly appropriate for racing along the magnificent Costa Smeralda: “The Maxi 72 is one of the few classes set up for both windward-leewards and offshore/coastals. They have all the specialist reaching sails, which makes them a more complete package and quite honestly more interesting to race in Porto Cervo than boats and classes primarily set up for windward-leewards.”
The Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship takes place as part of the annual Maxi Yacht Rolex Club. The Maxi 72 class is one of two classes affiliated to the International Maxi Association along with the J Class. The Wally class is also associated to the International Maxi Association.
Racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship takes place from September 4th to the 9th with a layday scheduled for Thursday September 7. Fifty yachts are currently entered.
Class details – Event details – Entry list
Source: IMA
Bella Mente is wrapping up our spring and summer season in Palma De Mallorca, Spain! The cradle and containers are all packed and have departed for Porto Cervo. Bella Mente goes back in the water this morning and depending on weather the shore crew will depart for Sardinia this Saturday! The 2017 Maxi 72 Worlds start on September 3rd, 2017 in Porto Cervo, Italy. (Photo Credit: Captain Peter C Henderson)
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CONTACT: Media Pro Int’l, Kirsten Ferguson, kirsten.ferguson@mediapronewport.com, 401-330-7889
PRESS RELEASE: Porto Cervo, Sardinia (August 23, 2017) — The Maxi 72 World Championships are quickly approaching and Hap Fauth and his Bella Mente Racing team are going hard at it, working to improve boat speed with the goal of defending their title of World Champion for the third consecutive year. The regatta – scheduled September 4-9 in Porto Cervo, Sardinia (Italy) – is the final and most important event on Bella Mente Racing’s calendar. It will host the most competitive Maxi 72 teams from around the world, and this year, the playing field is more stacked than ever.
“Our 2017 campaign has been challenging and mercurial from the get-go, and we have yet to find our rhythm,” said Tactician Terry Hutchinson, adding that Bella Mente Racing kicked off this year’s six-event campaign program on a high note with the overall win at the RORC Caribbean 600 in Antigua. The team fell short, however, just last month when it took fourth place behind rival Maxi 72s at Copa del Rey in Mallorca. “A lot of factors contribute to this, and yet in its simplest form, our competitors have mirrored Bella Mente’s winning approach over the 2015 and 2016 season,” said Hutchinson alluding to the performance of Momo, which took the Maxi 72 Class win at Copa del Rey. “That boat looks great and the team sailed very well. To win in Porto Cervo will require perfection and a bit of luck. Our crew is up to the task; it’s a matter of execution on the race course, boat speed, and confidence in the team.”
Launched in 2012, the 72-foot Bella Mente is a Judel/Vrolijk design and the oldest boat in the Maxi 72 fleet. Since it sports a hull shape much different than its newer counterparts, the team is constantly working on enhancements and modifications to keep the Maxi 72 in the game and competitive.
“The Maxi 72 fleet as a whole is just much faster this year,” said Owner/Driver Hap Fauth. “Our team is outstanding, but our performance this year is proof that there are things we can do to improve boat speed. Many of the Maxi 72 teams we’ll be going up against next month have made substantial improvements to their set-up, including jumping ahead of us in terms of their fitted keel bulb package, which has given them some advantage upwind, especially in winds above ten knots. “We’re in the process of making some major modifications to the boat to better prepare for the Worlds and hopefully that will be the game changer.”
For Fauth, attention to detail and extreme preparedness are keys to success in a program that has so many moving parts. “We travel with about 30 people and three 40-foot containers. In addition to the sailors, we have a shore crew to repair the boat when we aren’t on the water, a chef, and professional point people onsite to manage the hydraulics, sails, winches, carbon fiber…the list goes on.
“If the boat is broken, we can’t race, so the idea is that you have people there that can fix the boat almost irrespective of what the problem is. We also come fully prepared with quite an inventory of additional equipment, including sails, parts for all the hydraulics and winch systems. Pretty much anything else that moves on the boat, we have a duplicate for.”
In less than two weeks it is “all systems go” for the Maxi 72 Class, and Bella Mente Racing’s hard work will be put to the test.
“I think we’re ready to rock and roll and give them the best we have,” added Fauth. “Bring it on!”
“Competing in the Maxi72 racing series is anything but a breeze for the yachts’ owners and crews.”
Click here to read the full article in Robb Report
Bella Mente has arrived back in our summer base of Palma de Mallorca, Spain this morning. We had a great first experience in Corfu at the Corfu Challenge, but we are thrilled to be back in Palma today to get ready for Copa del Rey!
Racing for Copa del Rey starts on July 29th, 2017. Follow action at: http://www.regatacopadelrey.com
Bella Mente loaded on the Ship in Corfu, Greece.
Bella Mente arrives in Palma de Mallorca Spain today!
(Photo Credit: Captain Peter Henderson)
https://vimeo.com/224917292
Photos & Video by: Rolex/ICARUS Sports
The inaugural Corfu Challenge brought on a demanding five days of competition to the Maxi 72 Class, but it was Bella Mente Racing’s win in the final two races in the seven-race regatta that secured the team’s spot on the podium in third place overall – behind Proteus and Momo, which went on to take first and second overall, respectively. The event, which kicked off Tuesday, July 4 and wrapped up this past Saturday, July 8, marked Bella Mente’s first time racing in the waters off Corfu, Greece.
“It’s always nice to be on the podium after a regatta, especially when it takes place in a new venue,” said Bella Mente Racing Owner/Driver Hap Fauth. “We had a slow start to the regatta and had to make a lot of adjustments, but winning on the last two days was affirmation of our ongoing competitiveness. We have an exciting remainder of the season on the horizon, with the Maxi 72 teams as competitive as ever this year.”
Terry Hutchinson, who joins Fauth in the afterguard added, “It was definitely a solid end to the Corfu Challenge. Early on in the week Bella Mente struggled to find her rhythm, with things not quite going our way, be it self imposed or mother nature, but like most things in sport it takes getting smacked around to have a good look at the adjustments required. Finishing the event with a 3,1,1 in the final three races was a great indication of the fight inside Bella Mente. We cannot help but see the improvements to Cannonball, Momo, and Proteus. They are very fast and polished teams. For the next two events it will be interesting to see what all the teams can develop over a wide range of conditions.”
Bella Mente Racing is looking forward to matching up against its Maxi 72 rivals again later this month in Mallorca, Spain for Copa Del Rey MAPFRE followed by the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship in Porto Cervo, Italy in September.
Final evening in Corfu with part of the crew! We are missing a few crew that had to leave early tonight! Thank you for the hospitality and the racing Corfu! Now back to Palma!
Racing Update: Corfu Challenge 2017: Day 5 & Overall Results:
Racing has finished for the Corfu Challenge! Only one race was accomplished today due to light winds. Team Bella Mente wrapped up the week today with a bullet in the final race! Bella finishes 3rd overall in the 2017 Corfu Challenge. Congratulations to our other Maxi72 Competition. See you in back in Palma in a few weeks!
Awards Update:
Hap Fauth and his Bella Mente Crew receive awards this evening in Corfu for today’s race win and 3rd place overall in the Corfu Challenge.
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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