Pensacola a la Habana Race - A great historic event

by Talbot Wilson on 10 Nov 2015 Alan McMillan, Pensacola Yacht Club Commodore, proclaimed it “a great historic event.” And the 2015 Andrews Institute Pensacola Habana Race was indeed historic, being the first officially sanctioned ocean yacht race from a US port to Cuba since 1959. And if McMillan and company have their way, the next Pensacola a la Habana race will be bigger and better.

Bob Kriegel (Pensacola FL), Chairman of the 2015 Race, sailing his monohull Pearson 424 ‘Acadia’ and George Reiss (Panama City FL) sailing his multihull R&C ‘Bene Vita’ shared the top prize in the historic renewal of yacht racing to Cuba from the US. Kreigel was top corrected time finisher in the 17-boat monohull group and Reiss was top corrected time finisher of the four multihulls that started. Theirs will be the first names engraved on the new Pace Perpetual Trophy, deeded to recognize the best performances in this and future races from Pensacola to Habana.

As the boat in the entire combined fleet with the best corrected time, George Reiss and his ‘Bene Vita’ crew also won a large acrylic sailboat trophy.

At the trophy presentation Friday night hosted by Hemingway International Yacht Club, Tom Pace, Jr. addressed the crowd with remarks about his father and uncle (Tom and Dick Pace) racing to Havana and said it was an honor to go to Havana and complete the cycle of his family experience even though he didn’t race this year.

In accepting the award Kriegel said, “I’d like to give my thanks to Acadia's wonderful crew, especially my wife Carla, for possibly the best racing experience ever. Extremely tough conditions, gear problems, but it was the best experience ever. Commodore Escrich and the Hemingway International Yacht Club have done a wonderful job. The Cuban hospitality has been off the charts.”

Tim Dunton, a crewmember on ‘Acadia’ also called it his “best experience ever.” He said, “I spent Friday with all types of people from Cuba - When can we come again.”

Christine Reiss who sailed with her husband on 'Bene Vita’ described their race. 'We saw winds from eight to forty knots, almost always on the nose [right from Habana]. We opted to go east for the wind, as opposed to going west for the [Gulf Stream] current. We blew out a jib sheet, broke a mainsail car and a mainsheet block, and had intermittent electrical problems. Despite all, we had a blast!”

Catherine Zehner, of the ‘Bene Vita’ shore team, commented, 'Bene Vita' had a phenomenal race - sailing more than 700 miles over the Gulf of Mexico [rhumbline was 511 nautical miles].”

The 2015 Andrews Institute Pensacola a la Habana Race had 22 entries and 21 yachts from 27 to 57 feet long started from Pensacola on October 31. The last yacht reached Cuba on November five. Along the way four yachts withdrew, two because of damage. The crew from one of those, ‘Midnight sun II’, returned to Pensacola, transferred their supplies and gear onto ‘TraSea’, owned by one of her crew, and headed for Cuba. The crew was actually awarded third place in Class B.

Andrews Institute Pensacola a la Habana 2015

Corrected Time Results

Modern Cruiser Division

Class A

1— XTC, Beneteau OC 461, Tom Glew, St. Petersburg FL
2— Lesson #1, J130, Guy Williams/Mike Finn, New Orleans LA
3— Déjà Vu, C&C34+, Stephen Thorne, Norcross GA/Mandeville LA
4— Na Zdravi, Beneteau 47, Chris Schmidt, Montgomery AL/Panama City FL

Class B

1— Legacy, Hylas 49, Alan Steele, Gulf Breeze FL
2— La Gazelle, Beneteau 381, Kirby Louque, Metairie LA
3— TraSea, (re: Midnight Sun II) Beneteau 473, Neil Davies/Larry Cost, Pensacola FL
4— Tif Blue, Tartan 34, Bob Suberi, Orange Beach AL

Modern Cruiser Division Overall

1— XTC, Beneteau OC 461, Tom Glew, St. Petersburg FL
2— Lesson #1, J130, Guy Williams/ Mike Finn, New Orleans LA
3— Déjà Vu, C&C34+, Stephen Thorne, Norcross GA/Mandeville LA
4— Legacy, Hylas 49, Alan Steele, Gulf Breeze FL

Classic Cruiser Division

Class C

1— Libra, Tripp 57, Ryan Rayfield, Orange Beach AL
2— Radio Flyer, Valiant 40, Tim Cerniglia, New Orleans LA
3— Serengeti, Formosa 45, Larry Hamilton, Marathon FL

Class D

1— Acadia, Pearson 424, Bob Kriegel, Pensacola FL
2— Chanty, Cape Dory 36, Larry McAnally, Ashland OR/Destin FL
3— Learning to Fly, Island Packet 38, Robert Witzler, Apollo Beach FL

Classic Cruiser Division Overall

1— Acadia, Pearson 424, Bob Kriegel, Pensacola FL
2— Chanty, Cape Dory 36, Larry McAnally, Ashland OR/Destin FL
3— Libra, Tripp 57, Ryan Rayfield, Orange Beach AL
4— Radio Flyer, Valiant 40, Tim Cerniglia, New Orleans LA

Monohull Fleet Corrected Time Overall Winner

1— Acadia, Pearson 424, Bob Kriegel, Pensacola FL

Multihull Class and Division

1— Bene Vita, R&C 46, George Reiss, Panama City FL
2— Odalisque, Catana 43, Tom Schinkert, Elberta AL
3— Belafonte, Corsair 31R, Mike Patterson, Pensacola FL

Multihull Fleet Corrected Time Overall Winner

1— Bene Vita, R&C 46, George Reiss, Panama City FL

Pace Perpetual Trophy Winners

Monohull — Acadia, Pearson 424, Bob Kriegel, Pensacola FL
Multihull — Bene Vita, R&C 46, George Reiss, Panama City FL

Overall Best Corrected Time Trophy Winner
Bene Vita, R&C 46, George Reiss, Panama City FL

Castillo del Morro Race

One important goal of the new Andrews Institute Pensacola a la Habana Cuba race was to establish friendly, amateur athletic competition between the US sailors and the people of Cuba. The Castillo del Morro Race was sailed Friday morning between Havana Harbour and the Castle El Morro at the mouth of Hemingway Marina. The race had 12 entries. There were seven competitors from the Andrews Institute Pensacola a la Habana race fleet and five local entries. More were expected from the Pensacola fleet but the rough conditions for the first two days and light air the second two took a toll.

The race course was from the Almendares River mouth to the entry buoy to Havana Harbor to the entry of Hemingway Marina. This course is spectator friendly for the Cuban people and US spectators traveling to Cuba.

Commodore Escrich said, “In this race we praise the efforts of the participants, because, as you know, the American boats have to sail very hard to arrive to Havana. Because of this, we awarded prizes to the fours first places and the last four places.

The four first places were:

1— Lesson #1, J130, Guy Williams/ Mike Finn, New Orleans LA
2— Odalisque, Catana 43, Tom Schinkert, Elberta AL
3— Na Zdravi, Beneteau 47, Chris Schmidt, Montgomery AL/Panama City FL
4— Noor, Cuba and Switzerland and the last four boats
8— Libra, Tripp 57, Ryan Rayfield, Orange Beach AL
9— Mikara, Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba
10— Retiro, Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba
11—Club Náutico 1, Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba

The trophy presentations for the Andrews Institute Pensacola a la Habana Race and the Castillo del Morro Race was held at 7:00PM at the Hemingway International Yacht Club.

The original Havana Race was sailed from St. Petersburg, FL when 11 boats hit the starting line on March 30, 1930.The competition grew in size and stature to be a favorite of Gulf Coast sailors. It became a preliminary to the famous Southern Ocean Racing Circuit and attracted top yachts from the Americas and the international scene. The race was discontinued after 1959.