Team Costahori1.jpg "Team Costa")
Update "Sailfish Kickoff Tournament"From Capt. Ray Rosher The third tournament of our sailfish season is behind us, the FYI/Sailfish Kickoff. It was based out of Monty's Marina in Coconut Grove (my home base). It was well attended with over 300 anglers fishing aboard 74 boats. The Sailfish Kickoff and its sister tournament the Mayor’s Cup, employ a cutting edge electronic scoring and leaderboard system viewable online in realtime video. Along with that, the radio calls and events are live video streamed during the tournaments. Approximately 1000 viewers monitored the event online throughout the tournament each day. The first day of fishing saw sporadic action totaling 82 releases with a surge late in the day. Two teams battled it out atop the leaderboard, but by the end of the day “Wound Up” kept his edge on time with 1200 points. In second place was the “Miss Britt II” also with 1200 points. Third place is “Sonny Boy” with 800 points. Nine boats were tied with 600 points. (200 points per sailfish release) The second day’s fishing was greatly improved with 135 releases. By mid-day it was anyone’s game. The “Miss Britt II” captained by Brett Wilson took the early lead, but kept swapping places with “Sandman,” “Wound Up,” and newcomer “RockStar.” These four boats swapped the lead eight times during the day. As the day grew to a close, the “Miss Britt II” edged out ahead of the pack and ended up with a total of 12 sailfish releases. The 3 other teams in the pack each ended up with 10 sailfish. The three-way tie was broken by their release times. The final order for was “Sandman” in second place, “Wound Up” in third, and “Rock Star” in fourth place. Congratulations to the Miss Britt II team: Capt Brett Wilson, Mates: Jeffrey Leiderman and Nick Carullo, Anglers: Frank Villasante Sr., Frank Villasante Jr., John Burke and Alex De La Vega. Great Job guys, you made me proud! The next tournament, the Mayor’s Cup is the second half of the Dewar’s 12 Billfish Championship Series. For full standings and photos, please visit www.sailfishkickoff.com. For information on other events and an interactive tournament calendar, check out www.OceanPromotions.com. Final Standings: Pro Division: 1st--------Miss Britt II-------12 releases 2nd--------Sandman------------10 releases 3rd--------Wound Up----------10 releases 4th--------Rockstar-------------10 Releases 5th--------Crescendo------------8 Releases 6th--------Team Costa----------6 Releases Amateur Div: 1st-----Team Brickell/GMC--3 releases 2nd----Lost Boys---------------3 releases 3rd-----Perfect Finish---------2 releases Top Angler Overall: John Burke-Miss Britt II------6 releases Top Female Angler: Sandra Kirkpatrick-Sandman-3 releases Top Junior Angler: Nicole Portuondo--Bertram---2 releases Aboard the Miss Costa we had a great catch ratio which is usually a big factor in a good finish, but once again, if I could just put them on a few more fish they'd be dangerous. Either way we're having fun and were enjoying the ride as well as the company. On a separate note, the new Miss Costa just arrived in Palm Beach at the Viking service center for the tower installation and the final touches. It's the new 54' and we can't wait to put her to work. Come see us at one of the future events. Next up is the Silver Sailfish Derby out of Palm Beach, January 3rd, 4th & 5th. We'll be tied up at the Sailfish Marina on Singer Island. Until then, have fun, be safe and enjoy every day! Update "First Tournament" From Capt. Ray Rosher The first two tournaments of the South Florida sailfish season have come and gone with relatively good fishing for the month of November. The first tournament of the season was the first annual Chris King / NASCAR event titled "The Sailfish Cup" which created donations of over $125,000 to charities. Forty-three boats entered the Miami event which ironically was fished mostly off of the Broward and Palm Beach coast. Two hundred and nine sails were released in the two-day event. The fish were mostly small with many in the 10 to 20 lb range which of course are ideal sizes for quick points in any release event. The biggest challenge is keeping them attached long enough to achieve the release. Aboard the Viking 55 - "Miss Costa" we caught 6 fish in the two day event out of 8 bites. As I have said many times "if the guys down below could just get the guy up top to put them on more fish, they'd be dangerous!" The tournament was won by the Catch One Team led by Capt. Matt Alligood, boat owner Mark Wodlinger, Trent Rogers, Dave Kairralla and Chris Black. Here are the final standings. OFFICIAL OVERALL RESULTS PLACE / BOAT / FISH 1 / Catch One / 14 2 / Reely Tight / 13 3 / Midnight Blue / 11 4 / Steel Magnolia / 10 5 / Wound Up / 10 6 / Que Mas / 9 The second event of our season was the second annual K-Rock Klassic / Kevin Llorente Memorial Tournament out of Grove Harbour Marina in Coconut Grove. This tournament benefited the Hole In the Wall Gang which is a charity created by Paul Newman that to date has helped treat approximately 115,000 children with serious illnesses at no cost to their families. This was a favorite charity of Kevin and his boss, David Horowitz. Thirty boats released 198 sailfish in the two-day event. Once again the bite was mostly up north. We caught 7 fish the first day and 5 more by 1:00 on the last day but slowly our lead slipped away simply because someone unfortunately failed to end the tournament on the right hour (for us anyway). The Sandman team captured first place with 15 sail releases. Led by Capt. Neal Orange Jr., mates, Mike Dinnon,Chip Sheehan, boat owners, Todd and Sandra Kirkpatrick and fellow angler Jason Roe. Congrats to the Sandman Team. COMPLETE STANDINGS Rank / Boat Name / Day 1 / Day 2 / Total Pts. 1st / "Sandman" / 700 / 800 / 1500 2nd / "Qualifier" / 500 / 800 / 1300 3rd / "Rock Star" / 600 / 700 / 1300 4th / "Miss Costa" / 700 / 500 / 1200 5th / "Get Lit" / 800 / 400 / 1200 6th / "Miss Britt 43' / 600 / 500 / 1100 We are looking forward to the next tournament of the season, the Sailfish Kickoff out of Coconut Grove which is part of the Dewars Cup Series. For more information on this series which includes the Mayor's Cup tournament in January, look at www.oceanpromotions.com On a separate note, Sportsman's Tournament Adventures is planning a segment on the show featuring some of the most interesting fishing video clips and/or photos turned in by both fishermen as well as tournament committes. Give us your best action shots as well as accomplishments. If we use your video or photos on the show, you or your tournament will receive credit on the the show as well as a pair of 580 Costa Del Mar Sunglasses. Please send all photos or video clips to: Sportsman's Tournament Adventures c/o Mike Zimmer / 6000 S.W. 80th St. / Miami,Fl. 33143 Until next time, appreciate every day, every fish and all the friends and loved ones in your life, they're all gifts! Tight Lines---Ray Follow more updates on the team's blog on MarlinMag.com: http://forums.marlinmag.com/showthread.php?t=561441 About Team Costa Hopes are high for champion offshore captain Ray Rosher and top inshore captain Rick Murphy as they partner with premium polarized sunglass brand Costa Del Mar to create Team Costa. The duo and their crew will compete in 14 premier offshore tournaments this season. Team Costa will compete aboard ‘Miss Costa,’ a new 54-foot Viking convertible yacht, at the Sailfish Cup in Miami Nov. 12 – 14. The team will also compete in other notable offshore tournament series, including the Libertad, Dewer’s Cup, the Miami Billfish Tournament and the World Sailfish Tournament in Key West. 
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