LOS SUEÑOS SIGNATURE TRIPLE CROWN A NUMBERS GAME – Leg 2 of the 2017 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown achieves 1,635 billfish releases in just 3 days
Los Sueños Resort and Marina, located at Playa Herradura on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast, held the second leg of the 2017 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown billfish series, presented by Chantilly Air February 22-25. A total of 52 of the world’s most competitive billfishing teams comprised of 247 individual anglers challenged each other over three days of fishing, releasing a total of 1,635 billfish, including 1,592 sails and 43 marlin.
DAY 1
The second leg of 2017 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown started out with a good omen for team Agitator who released the first fish of the tournament just four minutes after lines in. At 8:07 am Uno Mas released the first marlin of the tournament. Would it be a repeat of Leg One during which 21% percent of all releases were marlin? It was a busy day on the water and by midday already 216 sailfish and 5 marlin were called in to tournament control. Blue Eagle, having released 2 marlin early on, showed an impressive lead over Outlaw and Agitator. Smooth Move did their name justice and made a “smooth move” into first place by 2:00 pm with 2,000 points overtaking Blue Eagle with 1,800 points and Agitator with 1,600 points. At this point 366 sailfish were released with 9 marlin in the mix. It became apparent this tournament would be a numbers game and one marlin could make or break any team’s positioning. It was a tight race with several teams in close pursuit. By lines in at 4:00 pm 529 billfish were released, including 11 marlin. Blue Eagle ended the day in first place with 2,100 points on time, ahead of Smooth Move, followed by Agitator in third place with 1,900 points.
DAY 2
It was Pez Collector who got the day started at 8:06 am. Uno Mas released 2 marlin before 10:00 am moving them up into first place with 3,200 points. Agitator, in second place with 2,400 points, was a well-oiled machine, releasing a fish every 20 minutes. The clock kept on ticking and by 12:00 noon the gap between Uno Mas and Agitator was only 300 points. Blue Eagle released a marlin at 1:41 pm and briefly moved back to the top followed by Uno Mas and Outlaw who also had a marlin release each. Consistency however rewarded Agitator releasing one sailfish after the other, for a total count 18 sails for the day, putting them in first place with 3,700 points. Blue Eagle finished second with 3,600 points and Outlaw third with 3,400 points. A total of 462 billfish were released on Day Two, including 16 marlin.
DAY 3
The honor of calling in the first fish of the day went to the Dragin Fly at 8:03 am. It quickly became apparent that the pace would pick up on the final fishing day. In the first 2 hours alone, 174 fish were called in to tournament control. Agitator stayed on track, steadily releasing sail after sail. Marlin Darlin released 3 marlin before lunch, the most marlin releases of any boat in one day during this leg of the tournament. Smooth Move, who did not have a great second day, moved into third place with Uno Mas in second place only 100 points behind the leading Agitator. By 2:00 pm the top three positions had not changed but Agitator had broadened its lead. The race for second and third place was still tight.
Dealers Choice and First Light both had stellar performances on Day Three, especially in the last two hours of the tournament. Dealers Choice released at total of 24 sailfish and First Light released a marlin in the morning and then went on to take advantage of an amazing afternoon bite, enough to guarantee them a place on the podium. Dealers Choice ending up taking second place on time over First Light with 5,100 total points each. Agitator dominated this leg of Triple Crown, taking home the win with 60 sailfish releases and putting them into an excellent position going into Leg Three for the race to become the 2017 Triple Crown Champion.
BACK STORIES
Agitator, a 51’ Scarborough, participated in the Los Sueños tournaments for the first time in 2016 and became Series Champion that same year. During the first Leg of the 2017 Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown the team won second place. This family team is captained by Jon Duffie, with anglers Jonathan Duffie, Jeremy Duffie, Judith Duffie, Danny Gough and Charles Gerlach.
Dealers Choice, a 46’ Viking captained by Dan Scotti, with anglers Jerry Imperato, Frank Bongiorno, Pat “P.K.” Kelly and Mark McDeritt surprised everyone with an amazing performance on Day 3 of the tournament moving from 13th place after Day 2 all the way up for a podium finish.
First Light, a 38’ Eastbay Boatworks captained by Corey Kennington, with anglers Jim Rodgers, Donny Moore, Gunnar Zorn, Ernie Eckelrode and Joseph Bolaños.
On behalf of the tournament committee, a heartfelt congratulations to all of the participants!
CASH PRIZES & AWARDS
Over 700 guests came together under the stars at the Los Sueños Beach Club to enjoy a phenomenal buffet dinner and a live musical performance by Majo Leon. Immediately preceding the presentation of trophies, prizes and checks to the tournament winners, guests enjoyed the highly anticipated dock show filmed and produced by Rich Christenson and Michael Butler. The ceremony was closed out by a spectacular fireworks display by Faisa and after party with DJ Charlie Stevens was hosted for the first time at the El Galeón Restaurant. Tournament winners took to the stage to receive a total of $174,000 in cash, as well as other prizes provided by tournament sponsors.
1st $87,000 Agitator: 6,000 points, 60 sails
2nd $52,200 Dealers Choice: 5,100 points, 51 sails
3rd $34,800 First Light: 5,100 points, 41 sails and 2 marlin
Trophies by Gray Taxidermy
Other prizes and awards by: Tunaskin apparel; Steve Goione framed prints of the 2017 Triple Crown tournament art; Costa sunglasses for the winning anglers; Tito’s Vodka; and Flor de Caña aged rum.
TOP ANGLER
Congratulations to Thomas Jenkins of Outlaw for releasing 19 sails and 1 marlin over the three days for 2,400 individual points and landing the distinction of Top Angler for Leg Two.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The entire tournament organizing committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who came together to support this event. Our gratitude goes out to all the anglers, captains, mates, observers, technical advisors, cameramen and videographers, Los Sueños staff and of course, our sponsors (in alphabetical order): A.G. Marine Services, BLP Legal, Bristol Marine Supply/Los Sueños Resort Wear, Canvas Designers, Caterpillar/Matra, Chantilly Air, Clinica Herradura, Costa Sunglasses, Costa Rica Dreams Sport Fishing, CR Luxury, CR Marine/Gato Gordo, Cummins, Fish Track official weather provider, Flor de Caña, Galati International Yacht Sales, GMRgold, Gray Taxidermy, Gregory Poole GP Link, Grupo Mecsa, Marriott Hotel, Maverick Yachts, Natural Instinct, Los Sueños Resort and Marina, Poms & Associates, Promerica Bank, RK Creative Productions, Sevenstar Yacht Transport, Steve Goione Marine Artist, Tito’s Vodka, Tunaskin Aquatic Apparel, Vanmark Inc., Viking Yachts. For more about our sponsors, please visit www.LStournaments.com and click on Sponsors.
OWC QUALIFYING EVENT
The top team from each leg of the Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown will be eligible to compete in the 2017 Offshore World Championship. For further information, please visit www.offshorechampionship.com.
ABOUT THE LOS SUENOS SIGNATURE TRIPLE CROWN
2017 marks the 4th Annual Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown billfish tournament series. The Triple Crown consists of three annual tournaments, in January, February and March each year, and is fished out of the world class Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Costa Rica. The dates for Leg III is March 22-25.
The dates for the 5th Annual Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown billfish tournament series in 2018 are January 17-20, February 28-March 3, and March 21-24.
ABOUT LOS SUEÑOS RESORT AND MARINA
Los Sueños Resort and Marina is the premier luxury real estate resort in Costa Rica. Nestled on the Central Pacific Coast, Los Sueños is an 1,100-acre oasis offering incredible ocean, rainforest and golf course view properties; a gorgeous waterfront Marina Village commercial area with restaurants, shops and lively entertainment; a large private beach club for residents; an 18-hole championship golf course; a superb 201-room Marriott Hotel; and much more – all within close proximity to world record-setting sport fishing waters. Information on Los Sueños Resort and Marina is available online at www.lossuenos.com.
ABOUT LOS SUEÑOS PROPERTIES
There is no other team of real estate representatives that know the properties in Los Sueños better than the in-house Sales Team, comprised of Sandra Gutierrez, Alfredo Gutierrez and Todd Owens. If you are interested in looking at properties within the resort, we invite you to contact the Sales Team to ask about our current portfolio of inventory and previously owned properties. In the meantime, information on Los Sueños real estate properties is available online at www.lossuenosproperties.com. Call 2630-4020 to book your resort tour while at the resort.
For further information, please contact Ashley Bretecher, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, Los Sueños Resort and Marina, Toll-free: 1-866-865-9759, Direct Tel: 011-506-2630-4005, Fax: 011-506-2630-4010, or e-mail: a.bretecher@lossuenos.com.
