HAVANA, Feb 3 (PL) The Castillo del Morro (Morro Castle) Regatta started Wednesday at the shore of the Cuban coast of Havana, from the estuary of the Almendares River, up to the Bay of Havana, with the participation of several ships from the United States.

Jose Miguel Diaz, Commodore of the International Ernest Hemingway Club in Havana, stated, in a moment with the national press, that this is not the first time the regatta is being celebrated, but it is the first with the participation of the US.

The event is a sort of final complement -in Cuban waters- for the Republica de La Concha Regatta, which started on January 28 in the Florida Keys, from where several ships sailed down to the Marina Gaviota Varadero in the east of the Cuban capital.

Later, on February 1st, the crafts continued its way towards the Marina Hemingway, with the Varadero-Havana Regatta.

Nevertheless, the calendar of the Castillo del Morro Cup, foreseen initially until Friday, February 5th, was reduced out to only a day of competitions because of the bad weather predicted for the next hours in Havana – a cold front comes, according to meteorological reports-.

After finishing the above mentioned ditch in the bay of Havana, the crafts departed in the evening towards Key Bone, south of Florida.

This contest showed the development of the recreational seamanship in Cuba, and also it served to reaffirm the new way that there cover the United States and the island on the subject of bilateral relations.

For 2016, there is a plan for regattas, and other activities, only with the participation of the US ships, besides the traditional tournaments in Cuba with the participation of French and Spanish ships.