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Second Havana Challenge Departs Across Straits

Nancy Klingener
/
WLRN
Small catamarans leave the beach in Key West Tuesday morning to venture across the Florida Straits in a race to Cuba.

  Six small catamarans lined up on the beach in Key West at sunrise Tuesday, heading into 17 mph winds to cross the Straits of Florida.

Credit Nancy Klingener / WLRN
/
WLRN
Last year, Rio O'Bryan's boat sank during the Havana Challenge. He's hoping for better luck this year.

  It was the second edition of the Havana Challenge, where sailors from Key West ventured into the Gulf Stream to visit Cuba.

In last year's race, one boat sank, one broke apart and three others limped into the harbor. Rio O'Bryan was hoping for better luck this year.

"We sank on the way over last year, so we're trying to make it all the way this time," he said.

Last year's trip — for those who made it all the way — took about 11 hours.

"It's really intense at first," O'Bryan said. "And then you kind of relax, more like a marathon. At first it's a spring, then it's a marathon. And if the boat stays together, then it gets intense again when you get close."

Tim Flanagan's boat was one of the survivors last year. He said the winds Tuesday morning didn't bother him.

"We're sailboats. It's going to be great winds for sailing," he said. "About the same windspeed, maybe a little less, than last year."

Richard Hatch's boat, the Miss Jones, went last year but he wasn't aboard. This year, he is — and he  said he was only a little nervous.

"A few little butterflies. We'll see what happens in the Gulf Stream when the Gulf Stream's going north and this wind's coming there, and  I think the waves get pretty big," he said. "But I'm excited. I'm excited much more than nervous."

After a rest day and a welcome party, the sailors from Key West are scheduled to take part in a Friendship Cup Regatta, racing against Cuban sailors. They're scheduled to return to Key West early next week.

Nancy Klingener was WLRN's Florida Keys reporter until July 2022.
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