BajaNews - 4-5-2006 at 06:31 PM
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=183043
April 05, 2006
By mid-March, over 60 teams from 30 countries on five continents had signed up to compete in the seventh annual Rolex/IGFA Offshore Championship
Tournament, May 7-12, off the southern tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula.
Considered by bluewater anglers as the offshore fishing championship of the world, the tournament is believed to host the single largest contingent of
international teams ever to compete in a fishing competition. This is the fifth straight year Cabo San Lucas, Mexico will be the location for the
four-day catch-and-release event.
Teams for the 2006 championship had previously qualified by winning one of 110 IGFA sanctioned events held in 40 countries worldwide during 2005.
"We again have teams registered from tournaments in more than 30 countries and we expect more," tournament coordinator Lynda Wilson said. "Plus we
have even more anglers on teams from additional countries coming."
The teams will represent tournaments in Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, England,
Galapagos, Grenada, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kingdom of Tonga, Mauritius, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, St. Lucia,
Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, United States, Vanuatu and Venezuela. Also preregistered are four past Rolex/IGFA championship teams. There
are 22 teams from the United States.
Nearly 70 teams from 30 countries competed last year catching, tagging and releasing a record 517 billfish (503 striped marlin and 14 sailfish).
At this tournament, teams fish for marlin and other billfish on a different boat all guided by local captains each of the four days. The team with the
most points at the end of the competition receives engraved Rolex timepieces and trophies. Eighteen other prizes are presented including ones to the
three top anglers and captains.