The 3rd Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast presented by the Bermuda Department of Tourism registered 40 boats during its opening ceremony and kickoff party in the beautiful Harbor View Ballroom at The Fairmont Hamilton Princess. This was a great turnout considering the teams would be greeted by 6-9 foot seas on the first day of competition. Fortunately the forecast for the second day of competition was 4-7 providing a little more comfort for the smaller boats.
The Billfish Blast is the first leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship with teams earning valuable points towards the Championship.
"I am thrilled to see a lot of the same teams come back again this year as well as the new teams making their first crossing to fish in Bermuda. I am looking forward to the 4th as all of our boats will be competing in the World Cup and we hope to bring the championship back to Bermuda" said tournament director Dan Jacobs.
This year's event boasted a purse of $243,000 in cash and lots of great prizes to be paid to the winning teams!
On the first day of fishing, July 3, all teams were required to catch, photograph and release their fish to earn points. The tournament offers two levels of daily release jackpots for each day and two levels for the largest marlin weighed on July 4. Blue marlin releases are worth 500-points, whites 200 with sails and spears 100. On the 4th teams can boat one fish over the 500-pound minimum and earn one point per pound. Add to the mix a possible World Cup win and your looking at a potential $500,000 payday.
As teams checked-in they were given a captain's bag filled with tournament hats and shirts from Tropical Design. Our generous sponsors providing more goodies were Awlgrip, MTU, Bacardi, Caterpilliar, Pelagic, Todd's Rigs & Lures, Temperature Control, Penn, Steve Goione, King Sailfish Mounts, Peleus, Miles Market, Pompanette, Island Construction, Geoffrey Smith, Island Glass, PW Marine, Marlin Magazine, Sport Fishing Magazine and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel. After checking in teams enjoyed great food and spirits as the captain's meeting was held.
July 3 started a little sporty for the teams with 6-8 foot seas and a few squalls greeting them at the cut. Fortunately the marlin could care less about the weather and started chewing for the Bermudian team on
Paradise One, a custom 54 Cat, shortly after lines in. They successfully released the first blue of the competition. The team from Alabama on
Grander, a 65 Hatteras, also got in the game early with a blue marlin release in the morning.
Several other teams had one blue or white release as the day went on until Grander hooked up again and successfully released another blue launching them into first place. Paradise One was also hot releasing their second blue after Grander placing them in second at days. Queen of Hearts, a 42 Hatteras, also released a blue and was hooked up to a nice one in the afternoon. Both Grander and Paradise One had their third blues on the string but this time were not successful with the release. Queen of Hearts also suffered the same fate as their fish got away just as they got her next to the boat. This allowed the team from New Jersey aboard the Bermuda charter boat Playmate to sneak into third in the standings after day one fishing was complete.
Day One Standings
Grander was able to hang on to win the King Sailfish Mounts Day-One Level-One Billfish Release Jackpot worth $19,000 and the Tropical Design Day-One Level-Two Billfish Release Jackpot worth $33,000. They banked a cool $52,000 already and were sitting in first place overall.
In total there were 13 blue marlin and 7 white marlin successfully photographed and released on July 3.
Awlgrip First Place Team - Grander - 2 blue releases - 1,000 points on time
Miles Market Second Place Team - Paradise One - 2 blue releases - 1,000 points
MTU Third Place Team - Playmate - 1 blue release - 500 points on time
Bacardi High Point Angler Leader - Bernard Doling, Paradise One, 500-points on time
Fairmont Hamilton Princess High Point Lady Angler - Laurie Bosley, Challenger 500-points
PW Marine High Point Junior Angler - open
Peleus Daily Billfish Release Jackpots:
Pompanette Level One Day one Release Jackpot - Grander - $19,000
Tropical Design Level Two Day One Release Jackpot - Grander - $33,000
4. Sea Toy - 1 blue release
5. Queen of Hearts - 1 blue release 500 points
6. Jammer - 1 blue release 500 points
7. Que Mas - 1 blue release 500 points
8. Bree - 1 blue release 500 points
9. Challenger - 1 blue release 500 points
10. Profit Margin - 1 blue release 500 points
11. Wound Up - 1 blue release 500 points
12. Front Runner - 2 white releases - 400 points
13. Reel Hot - 1 white release - 200 points
14. Topless - 1 white release - 200 points
15. Perfect Parts - 1 white release - 200 points
16. Anita Jean - 1 white release - 200 points
17. Mama Who - 1 white release - 200 points
July 4 was a huge day for Bermuda as teams were not only going for more dailies and the win in the Blast but also the possibility of a World Cup win. Seas calmed down to 4-7 with the sun shining at the 8:30 lines in call.
The team from Maryland aboard Topless, a 61 Garlington, got things going with the first release, a white and added a blue later in the day. Front Runner, a 61 Spencer, and Que Mas, a 70 American Custom, both from Florida, also made a charge with blue releases in the morning. Then the call came from Grander at 10:24 - they were hooked up to a fat one with owner angler Marion Uter in the chair. At 10:50 captain John Starks on Grander called in to control they had boated the fish. Grander continued to fish after calling in the short length and girth.
After getting blanked on the first day the Alabama team on Dana Ann, a 58 G&S, got hot with angler Ed Warrington releasing two blues during the lunchtime bite. Shortly after Dana Ann's release Captain Travis Butters of Que Mas added their third blue release of the tournament for angler Wally Whitley. Now it was Captain Keith Linville on Mama Who, a 60 Hatteras from Texas, that got a bite for lady owner/angler Lainey Jones. This fish proved valuable for Lainey as it gave her the High Point Lady Angler lead. At 3:42 captain Peter Olander of Bermuda called in a hookup for angler Lovintz Cann aboard Queen of Hearts. At the 4:30 lines out call Queen of Hearts was still fighting but soon called control - they had boated the fish at 4:34 p.m. Now we had two fish to weigh with both Grander and Queen of Hearts all in for the Blast and entered in the World Cup.
Back at Barr's Bay Park teams enjoyed complimentary Bacardi spirits as they checked in at the release photo station. Grander came to the scales first with their blue coming in at 568-pounds. Grander was now in the lead for the Blast, daily jackpot and World Cup. Queen of Hearts rolled in next and everyone expected this fish to be larger based on the measurements. As the donated crane from Island Construction lifted the fish the crowd knew it was a nice one. Director Dan Jacobs called the weight, 728-pounds. This fish gave Queen of 
Hearts the daily Blast Jackpot, third place team and the lead in the World Cup. When speaking with Captain Olander he was happy about the catch but couldn't stop talking about the one that got away that was much larger. Well, that's Bermuda, the most consistent large blue marlin grounds in the world. Queen of Hearts' fish held on to win the World Cup for Bermuda for an unprecedented fifth time.
After fishing was done, the teams were treated to a great dining experience, entertaining video, great door prizes and winner's presentation at the Harbor view Ballroom Fairmont Princess Hotel.
Final Standings:
BERMUDA BILFISH BLAST FINAL RESULTS 2007
Total of 26 blues photographed and released, 13 whites and two qualifying blue marlin weighed at 568 and 728-pounds.
High Point Lady Angler - Lainey Jones, Mama Who, 700-points on time one white and one blue release.
Day Two Level 1 & 2 Daily Release Jackpot - Dana Ann, two blues on time $52,000
Third Place Team - Queen of Hearts - one blue marlin release and one 728 blue weighed for 1228 points $6,000
Winner take all Level 1&2 4th of July Jackpot - Queen of Hearts - $97,000. Queen of Hearts Total Winnings $103,000
Second Place Team - Que Mas - three blue marlin releases
1500 - Points $12,000
First Place Team - Grander - with two blue marlin releases and one 568 blue weighed 1568-points $24,000
Day One Level 1&2 Release Jackpot Winner $52,000
High Point Angler Marion Uter 1068-points
Total Winnings for Grander - $76,000
6. Front Runner - 1 blue release; 2 white releases - 900 points
7. Topless - 1 blue release; 2 white releases - 900
8. Perfect Parts - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
9. Sea Toy - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
10. Reel Hot - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
11. Jammer - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
12. Mama Who - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
13. Tease Em - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
14. Challenger - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
15. Playmate - 1 blue release - 500
16. Bree - 1 blue release - 500
17. Profit Margin - 1 blue release - 500
18. Wound Up - 1 blue release - 500
19. Triple Play - 1 blue release - 500
20. Weez in the Keys - 1 blue release - 500
21. De Mako - 1 blue release - 500
22. Anita Jean - 1 white release - 200
25. Outlaw - 1 white release - 200
First Place Team Grander
Second Place Team Que Mas
Third Place Team Queen of Hearts
Team Mama Who
Team Dana Ann
