AND THE WINNER IS
Miss Annie Bests the Field with a Dominant Performance on Day Two to Win the 51st Buccaneer Cup
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The 51st Buc Cup Is History Planning for 52 is Already Underway The 51st Buccaneer Cup goes down in the record book as one that saw slow fishing, but a commanding performance by the Miss Annie, once again proving that live baiters stand as much chance of winning and trollers, and a near repeat win by the Fa-La-Me. Read all about it in this issue of the BUC CUP NEWS and keep an eye on your inbox for more issues during the coming year as we work our way inexorably toward the 52nd Annual. Thanks to everyone who attended.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Sponsor Page The Companies that Make It All Happen
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51st Buccaneer Cup Tournament Blow-by-Blow
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AND THE WINNERS ARE...
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Your Invitation to the Gala Awards Dinner
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To See & Be Seen at the BUC Awards Dinner
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On the Dock/On the Water: Pictures from the 51th Buccaneer Cup
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SIGN UP HERE JAN 2014
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BUCCANEER CUP SPONSORS It would be impossible to put on the Buccaneer Cup without the our many loyal sponsors. We extend our most sincere thanks for all they do for us, the contestants, the Recreational Fishing Alliance and the Florida Fish for Life Cancer Fund.
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Longer Article Headline Subhead By: Gary Caputi
51st Annual Buccaneer Cup
Slow Fishing – Hot Competition Great Fun! When the going gets tough, the tough get going! The team of the Miss Annie , a 52’ Viking led by Captain Randy Yates, made the most of two slick calm days of fishing during which the sailfish were not hard to find, but pretty reluctant to eat. The days leading up to the 51st Annual Buccaneer Cup were tinged with promise of hot fishing as two successive cold fronts moved through the area dropping temperatures, stirring up some significant seas and seemingly getting the sailfish on the prowl. Many of the contestants and the tournament organizers were hoping for a repeat of 2010 with its epic bite, but alas it was not to happen. As the winds back off the evenJAN 2014
ing of the captain’s meeting the ocean laid out calm with nary a breath of wind to fly a kite so the live baiters broke out the helium and gave it their best shot while the trollers headed north to pick away at whatever fish they could get to wander into their dredge teasers and take a shot at a rigged bally. Pat Healey aboard the new Viking 55, a rocket ship masquerading as a sportfishing boat, got the tournament off to a fast start by nailing the first release of the tournament. Unfortunately, the old adage about scoring first being bad luck would come to fruition as Team Viking was snake bit for the rest of the tournament. And they would not be alone as the total
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number of releases would top out at just 60 The Apava under the skilled hands of Capt. for Day One. Scott Fawcett, who piloted the Bone Shaker Hot boats like the Krazy Salts would strug- to victory in 2010; the Champagne Lady gle with just two releases in two days; Eric with Josh Chaney at the helm; and Fa-LaHull’s Good Call would fish for a day and a Me , the boat that won the BUC last year half before scoring a double on live bait for with IGFA Captain of the Year Rob Moore his only two fish of the tournament; Bone putting them on the fish tied at the top of Shaker , the boat that won one of the wild- the leaderboard for Day One, all three est shoot outs ever recorded during the with1500 points . Petunia , with Capt. Mike BUC in 2010 would fly just one flag on Sat- Morano in charge fished live bait to put up th urday and two on Sunday; and Alan Sad- 1400 points, which left the Miss Annie in 5 ler’s new 62’ Viking, Intents, would not rec- place at the end of the day, but Day Two ord it’s first release until 10 minutes before dawned and if the teams thought the fishing was the end of slow on the tournaDay One, ment on they were Sunday. This in for an was some of unwelthe toughc o m e d est and surprise most frusfor the trating fishsecond ing we can and final ever rememday on ber, but a the wafew teams ter. persevered including T h e two former weather BUC CUP forecast winners, for Day Barry Weshnak’s Miss Annie and Frank Ro- Two was even calmer than Day One with a driques’ Fa-La-Me ! mild breeze from the west and near slick Fishing live bait the Miss Annie would rack calm seas—not the kind of weather conduup 1200 hard-earned points on Day One, cive to generating a killer bite even after but it was the dead bait trollers who were two successive cold fronts had passed atop of the leader board when the last boat through just days before the tournament. cleared check-in and the totals were final- Penthouse Paulie was hard pressed to stay ized by the scorekeepers in the radio room— awake in the radio room as the fishing Captain Penthouse Paulie Petruska; Court- slowed to a crawl, but one boat, observer on ney Bowden; Terry O’Neill and Capt. Craig board, kept calling in releases starting within minutes of lines in the water. In less than two Murphy.
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hours of fishing the Miss Annie racked up five of the first six releases reported, which raised hopes that the fish might be more cooperative. Seems Yates had found himself a hotspot where he was able to coax fish to hit the live baits suspended from the two kites he was permitted to fly by tournament rules.
scored three; Good Call popped a double; Bone Shaker, Fa-La-Me and Miss Budweiser, with Paul Dalik at the helm, each added two to their scores on dead bait; Blank Check, the beautiful Jarrett Bay, Intents, Dream On, Marlin Darlin, Krazy Salts and Petunia each had just one release and the rest of the field scored a resounding goose egg!
“As I was running north from Lake Worth Inlet I saw a couple of free-jumpers, pulled back on the throttles and told the guys to get the kites out,” Randy said at the awards dinner at the Jupiter Beach Resort Sunday evening. “The baits hit the water and we hooked a triple, but lost one of the three. The action settled into a steady pick of fish.”
When all was said and done Miss Annie and her cockpit crew under the direction of stern taskmaster Greg Bogdan, took first place overall and first place live bait along the lion’s share of the Calcutta and tournament prize money for a total of $53,462. The Fa-La-Me, owned by Frank Rodriquez, took second place boat, first place dead bait and Calcutta and tournament prize money totaling $34,410. A complete breakdown of the trophy and Calcutta prize winners and some great shots from the awards dinner at Jupiter Beach Resort head to the next article—And the
Steady, indeed. Day Two saw only 24 releases total, an average of one per boat, but Miss Annie gobbled up a total of eight, a remarkable performance under really tough conditions. The Princess Lily, with Dawn and Mike Samuels aboard, Winners Are!
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AND THE WINNERS ARE…
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BOAT DIVISION 1st Place—Miss Annie 2nd Place—Fa-La-Me 3rd Place—Petunia ANGLER DIVISION Warren Land—Apava Paul Sudell—Judge Tyler Beckford—Fa-La-Me Top Lady Angler Dawn Samuels—Princess Lily MOST POINTS ($5000 Each) Live Bait—Miss Annie Dead Bait—Fa-La-Me TOP CAPTAIN Randy Yates—Miss Annie HEAVIEST FISH Miss Annie/Dream On (Tied 22-lb. kingfish)
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You’re Invitation to the Gala Awards Banquet Due to the timing of the awards dinner on Sunday evening it was evident that many owners and guests who would have attended had to leave town to be at work or see attend other obligations. For 2015 we will realign the schedule so that the dinner and the opportunity to spend time with your fellow competitors and friends to honor the winners will once again fall on Saturday. If you were unable to attend or were lucky enough to be able to make it we hope you will enjoy these images from the evening courtesy of our good friend and tournament photographer Leonard Bryant.
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Miss Annie cleans up taking 1st Place Boat, Most Points Live Bait; Most Points Overall; 1st Place Daily Day Two; 3rd Place Daily Day One; 1st Place Most Billfish; Winner Charity 50/50 and Tied for Heaviest Fish Fa-La-Me came close to repeating their 2013 win starting strong, but even with a valiant effort on Day Two couldn’t do it. Here’s the team accepts the check and trophy for Most Points Dead Bait to accompany their 2nd Place Boat trophy; 2nd Place Overall; 2nd Place Day One Daily; and Tyler Beckwith’s 3rd Place Angler trophy.
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The Petunia fought hard for 3rd Place Boat. Captain Mike Marano shows off the trophy on the bow of the 64’ Viking.
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Winners in the Angler Division from top left to bottom right: 1st Place Warren Land—Apava 2nd Place Paul Sudell—Judge 3rd Place Tyler Beckford—Fa-LaMe
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Dawn Samuels proved again that she is one hot angler for her performance on the Princess Lily by winning Top Lady Angler
Capt. Randy Yates took home the first ever InTheBite Top Captain Trophy for his amazing performance on the Miss Annie.
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TO SEE AND BE SEEN AT THE BUCCANEER CUP AWARDS DINNER
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ON THE DOCK/ON THE WATER
Photos from the 51th Anniversary BUCCANEER CUP Here’s a look at the boats, crews and some action from around the docks and on the water at the 51st Buccaneer Cup. All photos are courtesy Leonard D. Bryant, our trusty photographer on the spot. To see all the images from the captain’s meeting, tournament and awards dinner go to: https://plus.google.com/+LeonardDurhamBryantJr/photos
Apava (left) makes a pretty picture passing the Jupiter Lighthouse flags flying. (Above) The crew of the Fa-LaMe, which won the BUC last year., is pictured with guest, tennis great Venus Williams, toasting after learning they took second place overall this year.
Day One found many trollers fishing in traffic as the bite was in specific areas.
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Alan Sadler’s new Viking Intents looked great all weekend, but failed to put the points on the board to place. Pretty boat Alan! Better luck next year.
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More eye candy courtesy of the Miss Budweiser (l) a classic Rybovich and the Dream On (below), a beautifully dressed Viking. (Lower Left) A madman who shall remain nameless puts the pedal to the metal for an early morning run to the fish. Can you say Fa-La-Me?
Eric Hall’s beautiful 37 Bahama the Good Call is rigged and ready to fish against the big boys.
The new Viking 55 is reported to be faster than a speeding bulett, but was unable to leap the vintage Viking Miss Annie.
The Champagne Lady is one pretty Bert and was in the hunt after Day One. Unfortunately, Day Two was another story.
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Seasoned winner the Bone Shaker from Stuart, Florida took home all the marbles in in 2010, but succumbed to the tough fishing like many boats in the field this year. This was the first BUC CUP for Canyon Lady, a Jersey based team, and we hope to have them back again next year. Below: Release flags were scarce during the 51st, but Apava managed to hang a few.
The beautiful 77’ Jarrett Bay, Blank Check, wins the award for the most beautiful live bait well seen on the circuit this year! That’s Mike Samuels from Viking Service Center in the orange shorts and his wife, soon to be Top Lady Angler for the tournament nearby on Princess Lily.
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After the last boat checked in on Sunday the tournament team breathed a sigh of relief. From left to right: Gordon Liddy (Keeper of the Truth), Gary Caputi and Fred Miller (tournament co-directors), and Tom Genuardi (always at our beckon call).
Three generations of LaCombe came to the Captain’s Meeting. Dominick Sr., the proud grandpa, Junior on the right, his wife Jennifer on the left and the next great boat builder and fisherman in the family—Dylan!
The man with a plan, the voice of the BUC radio room, Capt. Penthouse Paulie Petruska putting the moves on this year’s event manager, Courtney Bowden. Also in the radio room were Terry O’Neill and Capt. Craig Murphy.
As the 51st Annual Buccaneer Cup and this issue of the BUC CUP NEWS draws to a close the team of the Miss Annie and everyone involved in putting on this great charity event hope to welcome you back to the 52nd Annual Buccaneer Cup in January 2015. Come fish with us again to help find a cure for colon cancer and to protect the rights of future generations to enjoy the sport we all love. We will strive to carry on one of the oldest traditions in billfishing, this classy and classic tournament.
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