THE SEEDS OF THE CONCEPT FOR THE LEGENDARY RACE date back to
the late 1920s, when St. Petersburg was experiencing the effects of the
Great Depression and Prohibition. A yachtsman by the name of George
S. Gandy, Jr. (Gidge Gandy) approached the commodore of the Havana
Yacht Club and proposed the race. The intention was multi-fold:
Havana offered a hot-spot nightlife that many in St. Petersburg were
missing, and it seemed a good way to bring attention and people to St.
Petersburg since the race would originate there.
The regattas became the official St. Petersburg Habana Regatta
(using the Spanish spelling for Havana) as of March 1930. That first race
witnessed an eleven-boat fleet. Within five years, the regatta had dou-
bled in size and included some of the world’s best racing yachts. With
the exception of three years during World War II, the race ran annually
until it was discontinued in 1959 due to the Cold War.
HISTORIC SAILING
The renewed regatta was held February 28 to March 2, and it was an
historic event. It attracted some of the finest yachts, spinnakers and
multi-hull boats from around the world. In fact, nearly 700 sailors,
owners and crew members aboard eighty ships hailing from around
the world (owners and crew members were from France, Germany,
England, Spain, South Africa, Canada, America and elsewhere) cel-
ebrated the re-launch of the St. Petersburg/Habana Races – which had
been on hiatus for fifty-eight years. The race, which lasted two to three
days depending on how fast the boats sailed, covered 284 nautical
miles. While the winds were in their favor at the outset, when the boats
neared Cuba, the winds died and the race took a bit longer for most.
Winning the Cruising A category was GrayCious, a stunning gray
Oyster 745 yacht owned by John Noble. GrayCious was also the overall
winner of the regatta. Coming in as top if its division, Race Racing,
Spinnaker A, was USA FOMO, owned by Lloyd Thornburg.
According to John Noble of GrayCious, the reinstatement of this
regatta was legendary, and being able to sail in it with a brand new $6
million (estimate) yacht he had just taken possession of a few months
earlier was a real treat.
“This is a historic race. Being from South Florida with a very
Hispanic population, there are strong ties to Cuba. Coming here is
literally a bucket list item and to do it on my boat with my brother, my
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