Saint Petersburg, Florida-February 2017 - St. Petersburg - Habana Race. February 28, hosted by St Petersburg Yacht Club. Paul Todd/Outside Images
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The 107- year-old Yacht Club last staged the race in 1959. It was a major annual event from 1930 until that year, when political upheaval in Cuba ended the tradition.
The race has drawn a tremendous response. All 80 available entries were filled within the first week of its announcement on August 1, 2016. Over 550 sailors descended upon St. Petersburg last weekend to enjoy preliminary events that include a race history dinner on Sunday, safety seminars and a bon voyage party on Monday evening for the race contestants.
The race, which became one of St. Petersburg’s signature events, was suspended in 1942 due to WWII, and resumed in 1946. Military and political unrest in Cuba threatened the event in the latter 1950s, and it was last run in 1959, as gun-wielding revolutionaries patrolled the streets of Havana. Recent breakthroughs in U.S.-Cuba relations prompted club officials to re-institute one of its most historically significant events.
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