BREE SWEEPS 2009 BERMUDA BIG GAME CLASSIC
The beautiful 72-foot Merritt Bree, with Capt. Bryce Garvey and owner Randy Ringhaver, was the big winner in the 2009 Classic. Bree released three blue marlin on Day Two (two were part of a doubleheader success) and then boated a 558-pounder northwest of Argus bank on Day Three to take the lion's share of the jackpot winnings. The biggest blue marlin in the 2009 Classic was the 594-pounder taken by local boat Reel Hot on Day One (this is the first year that the biggest blue in the Classic has been less than 600 pounds), but Reel Hot was not entered in the overall largest blue marlin jackpot. So the 558-pound blue aboard Bree was worth $134,333 for taking the $105,000 largest marlin jackpot as well as the Day Three Blue Marlin Jackpot, worth $29,333.
The three blue marlin released on Day Two earned Bree the Day Two release jackpot worth $27,333 and was good enough for the overall most release points jackpot, worth $90,000, and the separate base entry release points award was worth $7,500. In addition, their tally of 2,058 points secured them first-place honors upward of $45,000 more, and they won the Manufacturer's Cup for Merritt Yachts, which comes with an additional $8,000 in cash. So their total cash winnings came to a tournament-record $312,166 and an invitation to compete in the IGFA Offshore World Championship. Needless to say, they won enough trophies and other goodies that they will need all of their 72 feet of boat to haul everything back home when they leave Bermuda. Many congratulations to Randy Ringhaver, Capt. Bryce Garvey and the team aboard Bree! There was a standing ovation at the awards ceremony because this is a class-act team whose members are very well liked by all the locals and visitors. They have fished Bermuda every year since the Triple Crown’s inception and have enjoyed considerable success. This is the fourth consecutive year that they have brought a qualifying (i.e., 500-pound-plus) blue marlin to the scales at Barr's Bay Park during a Triple Crown event. I am pretty sure that no other boat has matched that achievement.
Owner and captain Brian Lines with mate Dano Lee on Off Piste scored with a blue marlin release and two white releases on Day Two to add to their blue marlin release on Day One, and this secured them second-place honors, worth $22,500, with 1,400 points. This is a good local team that is on a roll, as they also finished second in the 2009 Billfish Blast.
Locals Henry Smith and team aboard Attitude scored an important white release on Day Two, and then at 1:04 p.m. on Day Three they had a doubleheader of good blue marlin hooked up. The first blue was successfully released at 1:45 p.m., but the second one sounded and died, and they boated it at 3:51 p.m. At Barr's Bay Park it tipped the scales at 516 pounds, which secured them third-place honors, worth $15,000. Interestingly, this team could have secured the Day Three release jackpot, which was worth a bit more money, had they let the second blue sink, but instead they won a much more prestigious honor in taking third Place in the Classic.
The beneficiary of Smith’s decision was Ricky Sousa's Over Budget with a blue marlin release and a white release to capture the Day Three release jackpot, worth $27,333. On Day Two, Won Buy Land (the 2006 Blast winner) boated a 519-pound blue marlin that won the Day Two blue marlin jackpot, worth $29,333. On Day One, Que Mas, last year’s Classic winner, released the first blue marlin, which was enough to win them the Day one release jackpot on time, worth $27,333.
With a 57-pound wahoo, Wound Up took the Game Fish award, worth $7,500. Wound Up has been in three of the past five cash awards at Triple Crown events.
Dan Jacobs, Raul Miranda, Lynda Wilson and the tournament committee did another brilliant job. They are friendly, have great senses of humor and are 100 percent professional, deeply experienced and completely respected by all. Quite simply, they are the best in the business, and we Bermudians are so grateful for the job they do and the huge success they have made of the Bermuda Triple Crown Series!
The fleet statistics are as follows: On Day One, there was a 594-pound blue marlin boated, seven blue marlin released and 11 whites released; on Day Two, there was a 519-pound blue marlin boated, 15 blue marlin released and 14 whites released; on Day Three, there were two blue marlin boated (558 and 516 pounds), 10 blue marlin released and nine whites released. The totals are four blue marlin boated, 32 blue marlin released and 34 whites released.
The final 2009 Classic standings are as follows:
1. Bree — one blue boated, 558 pounds; three blue releases — 2,058 points and cash winnings of $312,166
2. Off Piste — two blue releases; two white releases — 1,400 points and cash winnings of $22,500
3. Attitude — one blue boated, 516 pounds; one blue release; one white release — 1,216 points and cash winnings of $15,000
4. Tantrum — two blue releases; one white release — 1,200 points
5. Won Buy Land — one blue boated, 519 pounds; one blue release — 1,019 points and cash winnings of $29,333
6. Queen of Hearts — two blue releases — 1,000 points
7. Chasin — five white releases — 1,000 points
8. Que Mas — two blue releases — 1,000 points and cash winnings of $27,333
9. Lisa — two blue releases — 1,000 points
10. Weez in the Keys — two blue releases
11. Foreign Exchange — two blue releases
12. Mama Who — one blue release; two white releases — 900 points
13. Sea Scorpion — one blue released; two white releases — 900 points
14. Sea Toy — one blue release; one white release — 700 points
15. Playmate — 1 blue release; one white release — 700 points
16. Over Budget — 1 blue release; 1 white release — 700 points and cash winnings of $27,333
17. Overproof — one blue release; one white release — 700 points
18. Triple Play — one blue release; one white release — 700 points
19. Reel Hot — one blue boated, 594 pounds — 594 points and cash winnings of $29,333
20. Rum Bum — one blue release — 500 points
21. Anita Jean — one blue release
22. Mako — one blue release
23. Reel Addiction — one blue release
24. Offshore Lady — one blue release
25. Mega Bucks — one blue release
26. Blue Chip — two white releases — 400 points
27. Mattanza — two white releases
28. Challenger — two white releases
29. Touchdown — one white release — 200 points
30. Runabout — one white release
31. Tenacious — one white release
32. Margin Call - one white release
33. Topless — one white release
34. Never Enough — one white release
35. Reel Lax — one white release
36. J.A.C.S. — one white release
37. Panchdara — one white release
38. Profit Margin — one white release
