By Chris Museler
It was a rare sight to see Hap Fauth’s
69-foot Bella Mente hanging from one strap off a crane with her
sleek keel bulb just clearing the water. There was a crowd along the
New England Boatworks bulkhead keeping a cautious distance and everyone,
including the boat’s captain, Peter Henderson, had a pensive look
relating, “Man if that strap goes . . . .”
Having a rule never to walk under any
suspended boat, I was ready to run. Even Titan XV’s captain,
Scotty Bradford seemed to be on his toes as the last drips of water
fell from the tip of the rudder.
Belle Mente hangs from a single strap as it is weighed before the start of the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race
The boat was being weighed a second
time to get an average after the boat was weighed on the NEB travel
lift earlier. “There was a difference for sure,” said Dave Jurkowski,
who was in charge of directing the crane operator. “But the difference
was acceptable, so we’ll take the average.”