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• 02 / 09 / 2010

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The Sarasota Yacht Club, which is trying to revive a sailing competition with Cuba dating back decades, is getting a visit this week from the Cuban commodore of the club it would race.

The reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Sarasota Yacht Club's interim clubhouse tent, 1100 John Ringling Blvd. Tickets for the event, which is open to the public, are $45. For reservations, call (941)365-4191 or go to www.syccharitablefoundation.org.

The Sarasota Yacht Club Charitable Foundation is hosting José Miguel Díaz Escrich, vice president of the Cuban Sailing Federation and commodore of the Hemingway International Yacht Club in Havana.

Meanwhile, its 100-boat international regatta is being planned for May 16, an event that backers hope helps to revive relations and trade between the two countries.

"We are proud to be working to revive this annual international competition, which began back in the 1930s," said Kay Goodman, commodore of the Sarasota Yacht Club, in a statement.

The Sarasota Yacht Club recently formed a charitable foundation to support youth sailing programs in the U.S. and Cuba.

Escrich will be the guest of honor at a reception, where he will discuss the latest plans for the offshore regatta, still subject to U.S. governmental approval.

Escrich also has invited the U.S. sailors to participate in the Hemingway International Yacht Club's annual Castillo del Morro Regatta off the coast of Havana on June 12.

Gulf Coast yacht clubs regularly competed with the Hemingway Club and other Cuban teams until the 1959 revolution.

Source: www.heraldtribune.com/