St. Lucia
19th International Billfish Tournament
Sept 28 – October 2, 2009
President, Annie Hamu
Organizing Committee: Bernard Johnson, Nelly Dondin, Clifford
Photography: Roger of Reflections
And Amanda and Shem of Brainstorm Grenada
Hosted by IGY Marina, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet
Marina Manager: Adam Foster
23 boats and 95 anglers attended from Trinidad/Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Antigua.
Anglers from Scotland, England and St. Vincent also participated.
All activities were held at the H2O Restaurant in the marina run by Roland.
Day 1: Began with St. Lucia Helicopters flying overhead for photos and video of the bimini start at 7:00 am.
The first blue marlin release of the tournament was made by Allison Devaux of St. Lucia on the boat
Par-T-Time of Trinidad. The next release was made by Francois Mouttet of Trinidad on Magic Lady.
Par-T-Time came back with another blue marlin release by Christian Hadeed of Trinidad/Tobago. Rajim
Maraj of St. Lucia on Latent Talent, Bruce Hackshaw of St. Lucia on Bacchanal Lady and Max Maugee of
Martinique on Two Thou also had blue marlin releases. A total of six(6) blue marlin releases for the day.
Two dorado were brought to the scales too. Ian DuBoulay of St. Lucia on Bacchanal Lady landed a 32 ½ lb,
while Stephane Vercoutter of Martinique on Why Not brought in a dorado weighing 21 ½ lbs.
Day 2: All boats left at 6:00 am after having breakfast sandwiches and drinks at H2O Restaurant. Grey Ghost of St. Lucia
Released three(3) sailfish by anglers Franck Cherchel, Bob Sallis and Bernard Johnson. Frank Chevrier of St. Lucia
On Exodus was the first blue marlin release of the day. Ruth Liney of England on the boat Rum N Coke of Antigua
Released the second blue of the day and was the second female angler of the tournament to release.
Jason Charlemagne of St. Lucia on Free Enterprise released his blue marlin that afternoon. The final release
Stats were 3 blue marlin releases and 3 sailfish releases.
Day 3: Again, breakfast and drinks supplied by H2O began the final day of the tournament before all boats left the
Marina at 6 am. Happy Hunter started the day with the first blue marlin release by angler Jason Gonsalves of
Barbados. Blue Fever of Trinidad followed with a white marlin release by their angler Fernando Navarro.
The boat Exodus from St. Lucia had a hook up at 2:30 pm and, unfortunately, lost their fish just after the 3:00 pm finish.
Layday: Now this was a day to remember. All the action began just after noon with a wonderful BBQ at the H2O
Restaurant. Annie and Nelly organized party games that had the place on the floor. From beer drinking
To dressing up the men in ladies outfits to plungers between the legs, we had the best fun! H2O had a
Pool to cool off in as the weather was hot and beautiful all week.
Awards Cocktail: The tournament started to end with the awards presentation at the H2O restaurant. It began with
salsa dancing which had guests up on their feet and learning some new hot steps! A slide show of the action
from the week was presented to show everyone by Roger of Reflections. Annie and Nelly emceed the
award presentation and the winner of the tournament is Par-T-Time of Trinidad/Tobago. They won a 22”
blue marlin statue, invitation to enter the IGFA 2010 Championships in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and
qualified for the Caribbean Billfish Circuit.
After Party: The action did not stop at the awards. After having great food and lovely wine and drinks, about ½ of
The anglers that participated moved on to the Gros Islet Street Party to carry on with the celebration.
The group danced, laughed and relived the friendships made as well as those reunited during the week.
Sponsors: Gov’t of St. Lucia, Ministry of Tourism, St. Lucia Tourist Board, Chairmans Reserve, Big Chef, Harry
Edwards Jewelers, Duboulays Bottling, Johnsons Hardware, St. Lucia Helicopters, Prestige Auto, Galaxy Studio, Tropical Shipping, Exodus Adventures, Digicel, Carasco & Sons, Palm Haven Hotel, Piton Beer and Coco Resorts.
