Neil and Janet Davies had spent two months preparing their Hunter 42, Midnight Sun II, for Pensacola YC’s race to Havana, Cuba, but less than 12 hours into the 517-nautical-mile race, in a steady 25 knots and six-foot seas, all that prep was for naught. Illuminated by the hazy beam of a flashlight, Midnight Sun’s crew stood by with bolt cutters and knives in hand, watching their mast slip into the Gulf of Mexico. They were dead in the water, out of the historic race that would send the first major fleet of Americans in decades onto the shores of the most elusive Caribbean island nation. Once clear of the jettisoned rig, they motored north, defeated — or so they thought.
Farther down the racetrack, the J/130 Lesson #1 was…