psneeld
Guru
Well, not exactly.
The first time I went there was about 20 years ago. I went with the very large sailboat race out of Sarasota. All the boats were fully hosted by the yacht club at Marina del Hemingway.
We payed no immigration fees, no dockage fees and no charges for water or electricity.
The U.S. Government was fully aware of the trip and had no issues with it as far as violating the embargo goes. As long as we spend no money there nor traded for anything while there. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. )
Why I posted that I think trips have been going on for sometime now....
Your race sounds familiar to a lot of things that were "approved" yet flew in the face of the embargo.
Probably sanctioned just to keep the hornets nest stirred on all sides...