Alberto ‘Pipo’ Gual’s Pink Lady won Top Boat at the 55th edition of the Club Náutico de San Juan International Billfish Tournament, held August 11 to 17, with the release of four blue marlin. The big news is that Team Pink Lady defended its title for the second year in a row.
"This is one of the few times that a boat has won twice in a row the International Tournament. They did their best," says Gonzolo Miguel Ferrer, tournament chairman,” referring to the historic win.
Meanwhile, Amirita, owned by Ecuadorian Pepe Anton, finished as Second Top Boat, also with four blue marlin releases. While both Amirita and Pink Lady had the same number of points, Pink Lady arrived at their total first to lead.
Following in the best boat category, Little Elo, owned by Joe Ramirez Alzamora, finished third with three released reeled in by his brother Rene; fourth was the Tatiway, owned by Osvaldo de Leon; and fifth was Evemar, belonging to Herbert Soto.
In the angler category, Rene Ramírez Alzamora remained in first place from early on in the competition, followed by Gual, the Ecquardian Anton, U.S. mainlander Robert Browning, and Puerto Rican Rafael Delgado. In the visiting angler category, the winners were Pepe Anton from Ecuador, followed by Roberto Browning and Tony Carrizosa, both from the U.S., who took second and third place, respectively.
The top female angler was María Perez, a resident of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, who has been fishing for five years. She released two blue marlin from aboard the boat Doña Lucy.
In team competition, Team USA 2 with Browning, Carrizosa and Bob Hickson won, followed by San Juan Club Nautico 06 with Gual, Gustavo Hermida and Raymond Garffer. In third place, from Ecuador, was Pepe Anton, Jose Cucalon and Francesco Zunino. Team USA 2 won an entree
into the IGFA Tournament to be held at Cabo San Lucas in May 2009 and airline tickets to Costa Rica, courtesy of COPA Airlines.
In the interclub division, the winners were San Juan Bay Marina 02 (Claudia Ferrer, Luis Pérez González and Luis Umpierre), followed by CNSJ 07 with Mike Benítez, Eugenio Belaval and Ralph Christiansen, Jr., and Cangrejos 03 with Ricky and Frankie Jaén and Manuel Suárez.
“We worked hard but it was an excellent tournament with wide support from international anglers," Ferrer says.
A total of 199 anglers from 12 countries fished on 51 boats and released a total of 63 blue marlin.
