20 Years Of Sailfish Challenge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2023
Phone: 954-725-4010
Email: Chris@bluewatermovements.com
20th Anniversary Of Sailfish Challenge
The one that started it all, the Sailfish Challenge, Leg 2 of The Quest For The Crest, is back! As we celebrate the 20th anniversary, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.
In 2003, Bluewater Movements, in partnership with Associated General Contractors Young Contractors Forum, came onto the scene with the newest tournament in South Florida’s Sailfish tournament circuit. That tournament, the Billfish Challenge, was a one-day tournament out of the Hillsboro Inlet In Pompano Beach. In its first year, the Challenge hosted a fleet of 36 Boats with a $40,000 purse on the line. A few years later, with the Billfish Challenge well established, Bluewater Movements left the Billfish Challenge for the AGC to continue running and stepped out to produce a new Sailfish Challenge tournament with a signature 3-inlet format from West Palm Beach to Miami. Teams had the pleasure and pain of deciding where to target their winning catch. The format became very popular and has since been adopted by other well-known events like the Dust ‘Em Off tournament.
In 2013, Bluewater Movements debuted the Quest for the Crest Sailfish Series, where the Sailfish Challenge found its place as the 2nd leg of the series. At that time, a second competition day was added to the Challenge for consistency with the other two legs of the series, Operation Sailfish, and Final Sail. Since its inception, the Sailfish Challenge has enjoyed some of the best and most consistent fishing of any sailfish tournament in South Florida.
Many captains and anglers will tell you that you can’t win the series and the iconic burgundy jackets at the Sailfish Challenge, but you can definitely lose them there. As the halfway point in the series, the Sailfish Challenge is the event where the cream must rise to the top. In addition to the convenience that comes with its 3-inlet format for the Challenge, it provides teams access to a target rich boundary at a time of the year when the fishing can get hot on both ends of the boundary and everywhere in between. Make the right decision, and you are staring at an envious pole position on the starting line heading into Final Sail and the quest for burgundy. Make the wrong decision, and you may find yourself on the outside looking in.
Sailfish Challenge, Leg 2 of the 2023 Quest For The Crest Sailfish Series
The 20th Annual Sailfish Challenge hosted by Galuppi’s Restaurant & Sports Bar in Pompano Beach and benefiting The Billfish Foundation is set for February 22-26, 2023. Leg 2 of The Quest For The Crest allows teams to compete out of three inlets over two days for their piece of a cash purse estimated in excess of $600,000. With 3 checkpoints from Government Cut in Miami to Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach and Lakeworth Inlet in West Palm, flexibility is the name of the game. If the bite shifts north or south, this signature format gives teams the opportunity to get to the fish and still make check-in at the end of the day!
The 3-inlet format isn’t the only signature aspect of the Challenge. The tournament also boasts a unique ‘Coin Challenge’ competition that randomly assigns teams in groups by color to see who can release the most sailfish in the tournament! Team members of the winning color group in the “Coin Challenge’ receive commemorative coins, and one lucky angler of the winning color group wins a Grand Prize three-day, two-night stay at Margaritaville Resort in Hollywood Beach, FL, provided by Landshark Lager!
The week of events kicks off on Wednesday, February 22nd, at the captains’ meeting featuring a live performance from The Holidazed (and a screening of Costa’s New Hooked On: Sailfish Documentary). Participating teams will enjoy complimentary cocktails, dinner, and silent auctions, accompanied by tournament sponsors and vendors for a night of festivities before the challenge begins. The 2-day competition extends over Friday, February 24th, and Saturday, February 25th, followed by a Sunday Brunch awards ceremony on February 26th.
The Billfish Foundation
Bluewater Movements, Inc. is proud to be a charitable partner of The Billfish Foundation in aid to help in their continuous effort in billfish conservation worldwide through the Sailfish Challenge.
The Billfish Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1986 with a mission of conserving billfish worldwide by the late Winthrop P. Rockefeller, along with Dr. Eric Prince and a group of fifty founding members. Their keystone program, The Traditional Tagging Program, began in 1990, and, today, has grown to be the largest international billfish tagging program in the world.
Founded with an initial focus on research and educational programs in 1986. The Billfish Foundation’s focus expanded In 1990 to include advocacy for responsible fisheries management by recognizing that influencing decision-makers with sound science was a crucial step in successful billfish conservation.
This year the winner of the Sailfish Challenge will have the opportunity to participate in and contribute to The Billfish Foundation’s Tag and Release Program through a satellite tagging expedition led by Billfish Foundation scientists. The expedition will allow the winning team to have a satellite tag named after them, and participate with scientists in the deployment of the tag to be able to track it, collect valuable data, and share that data with our fishing community and tournament anglers to further the study and advancement of billfish conservation. Which team will be the first to put their name on a tag?
For more information on The Billfish Foundation’s billfish conservation efforts, please visit https://billfish.org/
Tournament Entry Tips
Early registration for Sailfish Challenge is $1200 per boat through February 8th, 2023. After February 8th, 2023, the late registration fee is $1700. In addition to the first-place title, there will be several other opportunities for anglers to cash out through a variety of general and optional entry categories and Calcuttas, so you may want to take some notes!
General Entry Divisions
Calling all meatfish teams, don’t sleep on Sailfish Challenge; you can win the big bucks too! With three meatfish divisions in Operation Sailfish – Meatfish Aggerate, the Heaviest Fish Divisions for Dolphin, Wahoo, Kingfish, Cobia, and Tuna, and The Grand Daddy: Heaviest Fish Overall, plus 3 meatfish calcuttas, teams can win over $50,000 without landing a single sail! Makin’ bills without catchin’ bills never sounded so good!
No Boat, No Problem! From the beginning, fishing tournaments were created to help promote the charter boat industry. Charter boats are greatly missed in today’s tournaments and we want them back! With that, we’ve gone back to the roots and created a pure charter boat division for charter boats to compete on the same level with other charter boats in the tournament while still remaining eligible for other general entry divisions. The NEW Charter Boat division boasts a 100% payout, and we’ve also added a 70/30 Charter Boat Calcutta! This is a PSA to all you tournament-hungry anglers….Call up for your favorite charter captain with a valid NOAA charter or head boat permit, and let ‘em know it’s time to get to work!
*See rules for eligibility requirements here.*
Optional Entry Calcuttas
Some things are bigger than fishing. We encourage all our teams to enter our Fish For Charity Calcutta benefiting our charitable partner, The Billfish Foundation. Both teams and charity win in this category with a 50/50 split between the high point team and the tournament charity. The entry fee for this Calcutta is $500 per boat.
And finally, everyone’s favorite Calcutta – The Quest For The Quest Series Exclusive Winner Take All: Release Round Up. This optional entry category is divided into 4 rounds over 2 days of fishing. Advance through all 4 rounds, and your team could hit it big in the Release Round Up Jackpot! In 2020, Miss Annie hit the Round Up lottery with a $371,700 payout!! Who will be the next team to cash in big? Right now, the jackpot is $37,000 and counting! Entry fee for the Round Up is $1,000 per boat.
To learn more about the Quest for The Crest and Sailfish Challenge, please call 945-725-4010, email info@bluewatermovements.com, or visit www.bluewatermovements.com or www.sailfishchallenge.com.
Sailfish Challenge 2023 Schedule Of Events
All events for the week will be held at Galuppi’s Restaurant & Sports Bar
1103 N Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach, FL 33062
Kick-Off Party/Captain’s Meeting
When: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
Where: Galuppi’s Restaurant & Sports Bar
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Fishing Day 1
When: Friday, February 24th, 2023
Lines In – Lines Out: 8:00am – 4:00pm
Deadline to Submit Media: 6:00pm
Fishing Day 2
When: Saturday, February 25th, 2023
Lines In – Lines Out: 8:00am – 4:00pm
Deadline to Submit Media: 6:00pm
Awards Ceremony
When: Sunday, February 26th, 2023
Where: Galuppi’s Restaurant & Sports Bar
Brunch: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Awards Presentations: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
ABOUT THE QUEST FOR THE CREST SAILFISH SERIES
This iconic series hosts some of the top billfishing teams in the sport. Teams in this 3-leg series are expected to compete for an estimated purse of over $1.7 million. However, the most coveted award – The Crest – doesn’t come in the form of a cash prize. The Crest represents the pinnacle of tournament sailfishing. It is viewed as the highest accolade bestowed upon a team. Presented in jacket form, competitors must emerge as the most dominant among an elite field in order to don the burgundy jacket. Privilege is earned, not given, on this quest to crown a world champion.
ABOUT BLUEWATER MOVEMENTS
Bluewater Movements, Inc., is a sports marketing company based in South Florida, the sport fishing capital of the world. Throughout the past 27 years, our team has developed some of the most successful competitive fishing events in the industry. Our background in tournament fishing, coupled with our expertise in event marketing, has enabled a premium experience for tournament anglers and sponsors. Within our portfolio, there are seven wildly popular fishing tournaments, all hosted at various venues across South Florida.
