RICHARD LANGDON
DANIEL FORSTER
Back together and playing well… Terry Hutchinson and Hap Fauth (above) and the well-practised crew of Bella Mente hustled what is now – remarkably – the oldest boat in the fleet to the inaugural Maxi72 North American title at the New York YC regatta. Later this year ahead of the Maxi Worlds in Sardinia Roberto Tomasini will launch the first ever Botín-designed Maxi… that will be interesting
have to be able to race it like its little brother the TP52 and yet understand the limitations of each manoeuvre. When done right it is just awesome and when executed poorly equally as brutal as things can go pear-shaped in a hurry. On Hap Fauth’s Bella Mentewe battled from start to finish. Early
in the event our starting was not to the standard we needed. Put simply, my timing was off so as the event evolved we had to find different ways to be successful. Bella’s teamwork and boatspeed shined through the early part of the series in the lighter conditions. The boatspeed component is obviously one of those things that we work really hard at and that development comes through in different ways.
Bella is the oldest boat in the fleet and our strengths would appear to be our downwind speed and upwind in under about 12kt. Momoand Proteusare the same hulls with different aero packages, Momowith swept-back spreaders and Proteuswith in-line spread- ers. These boats seem to have a click on us when we get into conditions over 13kt. Yet a click is one of those things that if you sail well is noticeable but not so much that they just sail around you. A great challenge, to say the least.
Would sir like to try some light cruising… at 17kt. Phaedo3 the Dalkey Sound after arriving early for the Round Ireland Race
tours 12 SEAHORSE
Back to the racing… The event was a nip-and-tuck battle with Dieter Schoen’s Momo. Bella Mentewon the first two races and Momothe next three, which set up the final to be a who-beats-who as Bellaheld a 1pt lead but would lose on countback since Momo had more firsts. The final race was the 30-mile coastal race and really showed the closeness of the fleet. After 28 of the 30 miles the boats were bow to stern as we were trying to gybe our way around Gould Island in Narragansett Bay. Our strategy onboard Bella Mentewas quite simple: start tight to leeward and get control of the race early. Hap executed this perfectly and yet Momowas sailing really well. For the next 30 miles the two boats stayed within six boat lengths of each other, trading tacks, Bellaalways asking the question and Momoalways answer- ing with ‘we are not going away, you will have to earn this one’. So we did. For four hours of nip-and-tuck racing the result was determined when we split from Momo, choosing the Jamestown shore for current relief. Our strategist Adrian Stead weaved us through some light spots from up the rig and as we wriggled through a transition to a sea breeze you could feel the pressure come off as Bellaextended for the win. Sitting here slightly dusty the feeling is of a job well done by a great team. Other happenings: Event 1 of the TP52 Super Series was held in Scarlino, Italy. Scarlino is just north of Punta Ala, which was
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