Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine July 2017

Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea famously tells a story of one
Cuban man’s perseverance. In May 1953, the novel received the Pulitzer Prize and
was cited when, the following year, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature, which he dedicated to the Cuban people.
Challenge’s Gulfstream 100 Hobie Cat race, both from Key West. Unfortunately for
this year’s Gulfstream 100 competitors, no one completed the approximately 100-
mile course owing to adverse weather. But undaunted, the Havana Cat Challenge
program continued in Cuba with the Copa de Amistad (Friendship Cup) competition
between the US Hobie sailors and their Cuban and international counterparts, held
JOHN PARK / INSET: ROBERT O’NEAL
A
MOVING
TRIBUTE
by Sally Erdle
JULY 2017 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 22
SALLY ERDLE
It was the largest one-day recreational boating fleet ever assembled in Cuba,
thanks to the perseverance of the commodore, staff and members of the yacht club
named for the prize-winning writer.
On May 19th, an estimated 200 craft, ranging from kitesurfers to a 73-foot topsail
schooner and from Optimist dinghies to sportfishing boats, took to the waters
between Marina Hemingway — also named for the author — and Havana Harbour
in an unprecedented display of nautical activity. The day’s unique program of dinghy
regattas, a keelboat parade and a kitesurfing demonstration launched the 25th anniversary
celebrations of Cuba’s foremost boating organization, Club Náutico
Internacional Hemingway (CNIH).
The festivities climaxed on May 21st with a gala celebration at the club’s headquarters
at Marina Hemingway, where CNIH’s Commodore, José Miguel Díaz Escrich,
was honored for his quarter century of unstinting effort in promoting recreational
boating in Cuba and developing friendly ties with sailors around the world.
Visiting sailors cruised past Havana’s famous skyline sights, including the Hotel
Nacional, at left in the photo above, and the Museum of the Revolution and the
Capitolio, below.
Inset left: Hobie Cat sailors from the US and Cuba vied for the Copa de Amistad
Inset right: One of the new trophies in memory of Marysel Abeledo
At the skippers’ briefing, Commodore Escrich expressed his hope that the May 19th
boat parade could set the course for similar international events in the future
CNIH (a.k.a. Hemingway International Yacht Club) is a non-profit group founded
on May 21st, 1992 to foster recreational sailing and nautical tourism through the
organization of regattas and other events, as well as promote friendship and collaboration
with other yacht clubs, associations and individuals in the international boating
community. A truly international club, CNIH now has over 3,000 members from
73 different countries. In recent years it has welcomed increasing numbers of races
and rallies starting in the US.
Slotting into the club’s 25th anniversary events were the May 15th arrival of the
Waterway Guide Rally and the May 17th arrival of the third annual Havana Cat
in parallel with the other dinghy class races on the 19th.
The Havana Cat Challenge was the first legally licensed US-to-Cuba regatta after
regulations were eased in 2014 under the Obama administration. George Bellenger,
originator of the Havana Cat Challenge, tells Compass, “We’re practicing Hobie Cat
diplomacy; when we arrive here from Key West on beach cats, it puts smiles on Cubans’
faces — they know the sea and its challenges. Key West (Cayo Hueso) has a historic
seafaring connection with Cuba, having traditionally relied on Havana for trade by sea.
Our motto is ‘Bridging cultures through traditional maritime heritage.’ The Havana Cat
Challenge participants do it for fun and for a sense of community — establishing respect,
friendships and connections with Cuban people. We decided to call the Hobie race in
Cuba the Copa de Amistad because it’s more about building friendship than sports.”
Other classes scheduled to race on the 19th included Optimists, Lasers, Snipes,
Cadets, RS:X and Bic Techno windsurfers, and kitesurfers. Sailing school students
from provinces all around Cuba were joined by young sailors from the US, Argentina
and Holland. All events took place in the nearshore waters, offering excellent views of
the races for spectators, local TV crews and other media.
In the invitation to the Club’s three-day anniversary celebrations, Commodore
Escrich had mentioned “the obstacles and difficulties” CHIH encountered in reaching
this milestone, and they weren’t over yet. At the skippers’ briefing on the evening
of May 18th, it was announced that government permission to stage the longplanned
boat parade into Havana Harbor on the Saturday was inexplicably denied.
So while the dinghy classes raced as scheduled, the yachts that had planned a fun
race on the Friday paraded on that day instead.
When a skipper at the briefing asked if it was too late to register for the
parade, Commode Escrich quipped, “Nothing is too late here — we are motivated
by friendship!”
—Continued on next page