FOLLOW THE RACE IN REAL TIME HERE:

Reporter Susan Langenhennig of NOLA.com has a story of the first legal regatta race from Pensacola to Havana in over a half century.

FROM THE STORY:

Twenty-two boats are participating in the first Pensacola to Cuba regatta, with nearly a quarter of those boats coming from New Orleans. After the start just off the Florida coast, they'll travel more than 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico, skip past Rebecca Shoal and the Dry Tortugas to arrive next week at Hemingway Marina, about eight miles west of Havana.

The race is billed as one of the first legal regattas from the United States to Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power of the island nation in 1959. But the lure of Havana has long been an irresistible siren song for Gulf Coast sailors — even during the U.S. embargo when some American yacht clubs and organizations risked legal wrangling and angry protesters to continue hosting regattas to Cuba.

ALSO:

Troy Gilbert, a New Orleans journalist and one of the crew members on Lesson #1, has been chronicling the history of these Cuba regattas for boating magazines and his website, Gulflatitudes.com. He will be live-blogging and tweeting the race from the boat thanks to a shipboard Wi-Fi and satellite phone system provided by communications company Globalstar.

In the 1950's Cuba was one of Pensacola's biggest trading partners. The Palmer Line ships ran weekly to Pensacola Port. This photo is of the first sailing of the "Barcelona" from Havana, Cuba to Pensacola. Source: Pensacola Maritime Preservation Society.

Pensacola Port has ties to Cuba trade

Prior to Fidel Castro’s takeover of the Caribbean island in January 1959, sea-going trade between Pensacola and Cuba had been robust, and stretched back for centuries.

Despite the strict U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, the Port of Pensacola has maintained links to the island in recent years.

In early 2000, trade restrictions were eased to allow shipments of food, medicine and building materials to Cuba from U.S. ports.