The Atlantic Boat Club membersrecognised this interes, and the
TunaDerby was born in the Millennium yearof 2000, with Two Oceans
MarineManufacturing coming onboard as thetitle sponsor from the
fourth year. Atthe first Derby the winning fish onlyweighed 62kg,
but in the years that fol-lowed the dream became a reality as
anumber of fish in the 100kg range werecaught.
This year 29 boats carrying 110anglers took part in the Two
OceansTuna Derby with entries coming fromnear and far — Cape Town,
Botswana,The Netherlands, Richard’s Bay,Limpopo, Belgium and
Canada.
The Two Oceans Tuna Derby hasbecome known as one of the most
pres-tigious annual sportfishing competi-tions on the South African
sportfishingcalendar. This year the prizes wereworth over R800 000
and the winningteam walking away with a Seacat ski-boat with a
trailer and two Yamahaengines worth R325 000. Second prizegot a
Yamaha golf cart worth R125 000and third place received Furuno
sonarequipment worth R90 000.
Each boat could weigh in two yel-lowfin tuna over 30kg and one
longfintuna over 15kg for each day of fishing.This counted towards
the overall prize.In addition prizes were awarded forindividual
anglers in the jigging andpopping category and in the catch
andrelease category.
The opening function was held onFriday 1 November, and the
competi-tion organisers had set aside a ten-daywindow in which to
get in a few daysof fishing. Saturday 2 November was ablow-out
which worked out well as it
gave the anglers a chance to watchSouth Africa beat England in
the RugbyWorld Cup final at the club, completewith a spit
braai.
Sunday 3 November was the firstday of fishing, with a mass start
at05h00. Most of the f leet headed 40nautical miles or so south
towards theCanyon where some trawlers and longliners were also
hoping to get a goodcatch. It was a slow and tough day,both windy
and with big swell.
All in all, it was not the best day offishing for most of the
boats only sevenof the boats weighed in fish, with atotal of nine
yellowfin, and five longfincoming to the scales. Cloud 9 waslooking
good at the end of the day, hav-ing weighed in two yellowfin
over70kg. Bob Deffossa on Extravagencehad the top catch of the day
with a91.2kg yellowfin.
The Monday was blown out but allthe anglers gathered at the club
for asteak night and lucky draws.
The final day of fishing was onTuesday 5 November. Sam Stuttart
onthe Cloud 9, described the day’s condi-tions very well in his
blog on the event:“Tuesday’s forecast was no oil painting,with the
north westerly wind pickingup in the afternoon making for a
ratherunpleasant run home from the Canyon.Thus, along with most of
the competi-tors, we headed out into the west. Theconditions turned
out to be quiteunlike the forecast, with flat seas and ahardly
noticeable breeze, allowing forthe 36-foot beauty (Cloud 9) to
showus what she can do, and what a plea-sure it was.”
Atlantic Boat Club prides itself onproviding some of the best
tuna fishing
SKI-BOAT Januar/February 2020 • 61
Team Cloud Nine, with Mark Delanyof Two Oceans Marine
Manufacturing
and their winning prize.
in the country, and the second day offishing in this year’s Two
Oceans TunaDerby certainly was that. Most of theboats headed
west/north west towardsthe Cables, with many of the boats
fol-lowing a trawler. Once she pulled upher nets there were a
substantial num-ber of yellowfin over a broad area, andmost teams
caught multiple yellowfinover 50kg.
In total 41 yellowfin over 50kg wereweighed and 11 longfin. The
biggest
fish of the day, a 92.8kg beauty,belonged to Henry Hugo on last
year’swinner, Silver Fox. The ladies’ competi-tion was close, but
was won by TarrynHemmes who weighed in a 57.2kg yel-lowfin. Reel
Therapy walked away withan amazing prize of five 44-inch LG TVsfor
the most fish in the catch andrelease category.
Carlos de Gouveia’s team on Cloud9 took the overall prize. Their
consis-tency over the two fishing days and
two yellowfin over 70kg on Day 1 setthem up for a well-deserved
win.
Sam Stuttart later said, “Our gameplan was simple, to be
‘persistent andconsistent’. On the first day, this foundus lifting
our heads, putting some musicon and continuing to search the area
—persistency. We also worked with themotto: chum and they shall
come!”
The anglers on Cloud 9 — CarlosDe Gouveia (owner, skipper),
RobertoLeão, Sam Stuttard and William Melck— fished with Shimano
Tiagra 50W,80 lb line class and Shimano rods, usingsardines as
bait.
Mark Delany of Two Oceans MarineManufacturing, title sponsor of
theevent, commented, “The Two OceansTuna Derby is an event that we
areproud to have supported for 16 yearsnow. A big thank you goes to
the teamat Atlantic Boat Club in Hout Bay for alltheir hard work in
putting togethersuch a great event, to the anglers whoenter and
make the competition what itis, and to the incredible support
fromso many incredible sponsors who makethe event possible. We look
forward toanother fantastic event in 2020.”
The 2020 event window will beFriday 30 October to Sunday
8November 2020.
A big thank you to the major spon-sors of the event: Two Oceans
MarineManufacturing, Furuno/Radio Holland,Yamaha, Phoenix IDRS and
Allianz, andThe Lookout Deck.
For more information on the TunaDerby email or visit .
To read Sam Stuttart’s blog onCloud 9’s full experience at the
2019Two Oceans Tuna Derby, go to the newssection on .
RESULTSTop winning boat teams: 1. Cloud 9, with total entered
catch of
283.2kg, skippered by Carlos DeGouveia.
2. Extravagence, with total enteredcatch of 238.9kg, skippered
by SeanAmor.
3. Silver Fox, with total entered catchof 238.9kg skippered by
HeinieStrumpher.
Top individual catches:1. Henry Hugo, Silver Fox , with a
92.8kg yellowfin.2. Bob Defossa, Extravagence, with a
91.2kg yellowfin.3. Marc White, Kaskazi Too, with an
84.3kg yellowfin.
Top lady anglers:1. Tarryn Hemmes, Mi Thyme, with a
57.2kg yellowfin2. Judith Roetman from the
Netherlands, Xtreme 1 , with a52.2kg yellowfin.
62 • SKI-BOAT January/February 2020
Henry Hugo with this year’sheaviest individual tuna.
Photo by Gary Lategan.
Tarryn Hemmes was this year’sindividual lady winner. Photo by
Gary Lategan.
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