Moore Brothers crew participates in Newport-Bermuda Race 2024

We wish Moore Brothers’ Jacques Swart, Abby Preston, Andrew Houghton, Simon Day and Garrett Mckinnon a safe and fun journey to Bermuda during this year’s Newport-Bermuda race! As a company rooted in the marine industry here in Rhode Island, there is something special about having members of our crew be part of this historic race. 

Jacques Swart is sailing on Boudicca, a 66’ Reichel-Pugh design. This all-carbon boat “has an incredible racing pedigree,” says Jacques, who completed his first Newport-Bermuda race in 1986. “This will be my fifth race,” he says.

Simon Day on the stern of Black Watch leaving Newport Harbor.

Moore Brothers Production and Product Designer, Simon Day, will be racing on Black Watch, a  custom-built Sparkman and Stephens yawl, built in 1938. Simon has already completed two Newport-Bermuda races. “It is my first race since 2016  and I am looking forward to getting back to sea on a great boat with a great crew.” He says. And what is he most excited about for this race?  “Being on the open ocean and pushing the boat hard, and Dark and Stormys at the end!”

Boudicca leaving Newport Harbor on June 21st, bound for Bermuda.

Composite Technician Andrew Houghton and Admin and Analytics Specialist, Abby Preston are racing on Entropy, a Frers-designed 42-foot Swan. Abby has personally done two Newport-Bermuda races. “I have sailed with Entropy for a long time and they are selling the boat after this summer, so I wanted to spend the last season with the crew/boat.” She says. Abby is also looking forward to some famous Bermuda rum libations (AKA rum swizzles) at the end of the race, but during the race, what she enjoys most is “waking up in the mornings for the first watch.”

For more information about the Newport-Bermuda race, and to see where each boat is, click here.

Consistent Refinement on 59ft Classic, Hound

Moore Brothers has enjoyed a continual relationship with Hound, a 59ft Aage Nielsen sloop built by Abeking & Rasmussen in 1970, since early 2021. A traditional yacht utilizing modern components, the Hound program has shown a consistent competitive edge after notable improvements. In addition to a composite bowsprit, rudder and boom, Moore Brothers delivered a new mast in preparation for the 2022 Newport-Bermuda Race. The mast was designed, built and stepped in less than 6 months, providing the crew a decent training window and opportunity to go on and win their class. With the next race to Bermuda just one week away, we’re wishing them all the best.

Moore Brothers modified Hound's racing bowsprit again this year and after spending a recent Sunday afternoon onboard, co-founder and director Oliver Moore reflected on the program,

““They take their program as seriously as anyone, chasing every inch of performance out of the boat. Integrating modern components on a classic structure has been an invigorating challenge…”

...Designing their racing bowsprit to fit both aesthetically and structurally within the confines of a classic yacht, working in three sail points for the crew, required careful attention from our team and theirs.  We enjoy being a partner in their development and seeing the ongoing refinement of Hound."

Read more about the components Moore Brothers built for Hound and other sea-faring vessels in Seahorse Magazine.

Building a Better and Faster Bella Mente

It would be hard to find someone in the world of sailboat racing that isn’t familiar with Bella Mente and her team’s impressive track record.

The first Bella Mente was acquired in 2005 and would go on to win the 2006 Newport to Bermuda Race. Since then, there have been four iterations of Bella Mente, each better and faster than the one before, and each boat winning races around the world. The fourth and most recent yacht was built by New England Boatworks (NEB) in 2018: a 72-foot Mini Maxi. Moore Brothers supported the build by supplying composite components for select control systems. Bella Mente has continued their racing success, including notable wins at the 2023 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and most recently at the 2024 IMA Maxi European Championship in Sorrento.

Hap Fauth's Bella Mente pulls ahead to leeward after a start at the 2024 IMA Maxi European Championship. © IMA/Studio Borlenghi 

“Working with Bella Mente has been a gift, that keeps on giving,” says Simon Day, production and product designer at Moore Brothers Company. Prior to coming onboard at MBC, Simon was intimately involved in the 2018 build of their Maxi 72 through his work at NEB, which included a 2-foot extension of the hull. “It was some pretty serious surgery,” says Simon. When Simon moved over to MBC, program director Peter Henderson (aka “Pirate Pete”) confirmed the Bella Mente team would follow him. “Personally, I have a great relationship with Simon,” says Peter.

Improvements began soon after - In 2023 Bella Mente decided to go from a single, 9-foot rudder to two rudders that would be a third of the size of the original one, and create a water ballast system.

Image courtesy of Bella Mente

The job essentially required re-engineering the whole back of the boat, creating two 1,000 liter tanks for the ballast system, as well as all-new structure for the twin rudders. “It’s a pretty amazing operation,” says Simon, who help layout the design of the system. “In addition to designing a lot of the carbon ballast connection pieces, I created layout drawings for the builders to ensure all the pieces of the puzzle came together as intended.”

The ballast system uses a powerful electric pump and manifold with valves to move the water where needed, to trim out the boat.

Separate companies in the UK built the mechanics for the ballast and steering system components. Moore Brothers made the “stuff that connects those bits,” says Simon, so the carbon components for the ballast system including tubes, manifolds, tank connection pieces and tank vents.

Image courtesy of Bella Mente

As the team’s project manager, Moore Brothers relied on Henderson to be the conduit between Bella Mente’s performance group, the design & engineering staff at MBC, and eventually the fit and install on the boat. Some projects require a member of the MBC engineering team to assume this role, but with Peter in place the group relied on him to collect the finished components for the new steering and ballast system and integrate them into the existing boat with Bella’s in-house composite team. Identifying the process and key players is essential to job success, as well as keeping the right result at the forefront for everyone.

“We got immensely positive feedback, and were proud to deliver everything on time,” says Simon. “MBC actually built 4 rudders total since, as the team got more confident in the system, they decided to further reduce the size of the new rudders.”

Peter says that the the new rudders, steering sytem and a ballast systems where delivered on Wednesday and sea-trialed on Thursday. By Friday, the boat was out racing with very little adjustments needed. “Normally, it doesn’t work that easily, ”he says.

“We didn’t want to drastically change the way we sailed the boat,” Peter says, but rather unlock the boats performance capability. The modifications allow the team to significantly change the trim and modes of the boat according to racing conditions.

“It makes it dramatically more efficient,” says Simon, about the new design. “Winning the Maxi World was testament to that,” he says.

“The drive to improve Bella’s performance never ends. The Team’s feedback from 2023 has been excellent and they look forward to working together again with the Moore Brothers Team.”