Robert Bell 1944-2020
Bob Bell, one of the driving forces behind several famous Whitbread Race and offshore yachts of the 1970s and 80s, died in June.
Aged 32, Bell commissioned Heath’s Condor, named after C. E. Heaths Brokerage, where he was their youngest director. Built in mahogany in Emsworth, the 24m maxi took part in the 1977 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, with a crew that included Robin Knoxjohnston and a young Peter Blake.
Sadly, on the first leg of the Whitbread, her experimental carbon mast failed, ruining her chance of overall victory. Heath’s Condor won two of the remaining three legs.
Later, the boat was renamed Condor of Bermuda and won line honours in the infamous 1979 Fastnet Race.
In July 1980, the yacht was wrecked on the actor Marlon Brando’s private Island in Tahiti, and was written off by insurers. Bell refused to leave her there, and salvaged and rebuilt her in New Zealand. She went on to win the 1982 Sydney Hobart Race.
After that, Bell commissioned a second Condor, another 24m maxi, but this time built with a Kevlar composite hull to a design by Ron Holland. This was also built in the UK, was launched in 1981, and went on to win just about every major offshore race at least once. In his racing career, Bell notched up line honours in three Sydney Hobart Races, three Fastnet Races, the Miami Montego Bay Race, the California Cup, and half of a Whitbread Round the World Race.
Bell loved taking people sailing and gave many their first taste of the ocean. He instilled a love of the sea in his children. Several of them became professional mariners, including his son Robert, who went on to captain Maltese Falcon, the extraordinary 88m Perini Navi Dynarig superyacht.