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Huge CONGRATS - WOUND UP James wins the 7th Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast!
Incredible come-from-behind victory! Way to go James!!!
July 6, 2011
WOUND UP WINS THE BLAST WITH 4 BLUE MARLIN RELEASES ON FINAL DAY
INCLUDES ESTIMATED 700 AND 600 POUNDERS
The 44 boat fleet headed out on Day Three of the 7th Annual Bermuda
Billfish Blast to enjoy another gorgeous day of calm deep blue water, and
to sort out the destination of close to a quarter million dollars worth of
cash prizes that were still very much up for grabs.
I sure called it yesterday when I said that "any of the 44 boats can still
take this thing if they get hot tomorrow", and sure enough there was one
team that stepped up to plate BIG TIME. Capt. James Robinson and his team
on "Wound Up" put on a clinic. The first two days of the tournament were
slow for them with just a few sniffs from whites and a wahoo attack, but
that all changed in the morning on Day Three.
First it was the tournament leader "Sea'duce" that threatened to open up a
gap when they hooked-up at 8:54 am, but things came unstuck after more than
20 minutes of battle. Nobody on the leader board felt threatened when
"Wound Up" hooked-up at 9:31 am and then released a blue marlin at 9:40 am.
Then "Sea Toy" released a blue marlin at 10:29 am, which put them into the
tournament lead on 1,200 points. "Wound Up" then released another blue
marlin at 11:00 am. This second blue was estimated to be in the 600 lb
class and it catapulted them into 3rd Place overall and established a firm
grip on the Day Three Jackpots. But Capt. James Robinson and angler Michael
Medeiros were not finished yet, and the fleet was amazed at 11:37 am when
the call came out that "Wound Up" is hooked-up again. 11 minutes later, at
11:48 am, "Wound Up" had completed a stunning run from zero points to being
the new tournament leader.
"Weez in the Keys" was the only other team to release a blue marlin in the
morning. However, the white party carried on with morning white marlin
releases for "Mattanza", "Que Mas", "Mojo", "Notorious", "Cookie Monster",
"Double B", "Reel Addiction", "Off Piste" and "Reel Estate".
While the team on "Wound Up" searched for that fourth billfish that would
surely secure total victory, a furious battle ensued to catch-up and/or
secure 2nd or 3rd place. Shortly before 2:30 pm, both "Rameseas" and
"Sea'duce" hooked-up. "Rameseas" released a blue marlin at 2:38 pm which
put them on 1,200 points and into 3rd Place. This kicked "Sea'duce" into
fourth, but not for long because they released their blue marlin at 2:57
pm, which moved them up to 1,500 points and into 2nd Place, behind "Wound
Up" on time.
The outcome of the tournament was finally put to bed when "Wound Up" hooked
up AGAIN at 3:27 pm. This was a really big blue marlin, but with the
highly experienced Capt. James Robinson at the helm they secured the
release within 20 minutes. At 3:46 pm they released their FOURTH blue
marlin of the DAY and this fish looked to be in the 700 lb class (lucky for
the fish it's mandatory release format). "Wound Up" was the 6th boat to
enjoy the lead in this tournament, but with under an hour to go it was the
first time in the tournament that any team had established a 500 point
lead.
In all the chaos a very special feat was achieved by another local boat.
As already noted, Michael Batista and team on "Mojo" scored a white marlin
release in the morning. They then released a spearfish at 1:40 pm, and were
working on a rare slam. They did not have to wait long for their chance -
less then 20 minutes after releasing the spearfish, angler Geoffrey Redmond
was hooked-up tight to a blue marlin and after a 35 minute battle the
release was secured at 2:33 pm. To the best of my knowledge this is the
first slam ever recorded by any team in a billfish tournament in Bermuda.
It definitely has not been done in the Triple Crown era. Huge
Congratulations to Michael Batista, mate Terry Lewis, anglers Shane Dietz,
John Ringold, Geoffrey Redmond and the rest of the team - a REALLY TERRIFIC
ACHIEVEMENT !!!!! Interestingly, "Never Enough" also achieved a slam in
this tournament, but not all in the same day - so not nearly the same
thing, but a neat achievement anyway - well done to them too.
Also in the afternoon, there were blue marlin releases for "Never Enough",
"Off Piste", "Click Through" and "Queen of Hearts", two white marlin
releases for "Weez in the Keys" and single white marlin releases for
"Mako", "Margin Call" and "Great Escape".
Capt. James Robinson's "Wound Up" wins the 2011 Bermuda Billfish Blast.
They win First Place worth $46,200, along with the Day Three Level One and
Level Two Billfish Release Jackpots worth an aggregate of $36,417, and they
take home 50% of the Blue Marlin Jackpots worth a further $52,725. All in
total cash winnings of $135,342 !!!! "Wound Up" also becomes the first
ever repeat champion of the Bermuda Billfish Blast - Capt. James also won
the 2009 Blast (as well as the 2009 World Cup). It's also the second
consecutive Triple Crown tournament that "Wound Up" has taken the glory in
the final day. In the 2010 Sea Horse tournament, "Wound Up" won most of
the cash awards with an 858 lb blue marlin on the final day. So, this is
one RED HOT boat. MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Capt. James Robinson, mate
Brian Querry, angler Michael Medeiros and the rest of the awesome team
aboard "Wound Up" !!!!!!
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