BLACK GOLD’S STRONG FINISH EARNS THEM TOP HONORS IN THE 2016 INTERNATIONAL CAP CANA SHOOTOUT

It was the team aboard Florida’s Black Gold that emerged victorious with a come from behind rally on the fourth and final day of fishing with an impressive last day total of 4 blue marlin releases plus a white.

On that fourth and final day another Florida boat, Auspicious, had started out in first place with a 180 point lead over Venezuela’s Amazing Grace, but it wasn’t long before the lead changed with Amazing Grace’s release of a white marlin shortly after lines-in.  Not long after that however, Black Gold released their first blue of the day followed by another blue an hour later, the second one moving them into first place.   In the afternoon hours Black Gold solidified their top boat finish releasing a white and two more blues while Auspicious made a valiant effort releasing a white and a blue of their own to finish in second place passing Amazing Grace who finished in third.

Coincidentally the Shootout was the second leg of the Triple-Header Series and the three top boats in the Shootout are participating in the series with the series standings after two legs showing Auspicious in the lead with 6,580 points, Black Gold in second with 5,970 and Amazing Grace in third with 2,700.

At the end of the 4-day event, all participating boats had released billfish with an impressive average of 7.5 billfish releases per boat in the tournament.

On shore, anglers, crews and official tournament observers were treated to Happy Hours at the docks after fishing with great hot dogs by Emilio’s of Productos Chef plus evening activities such as the elegant White Party, the traditional Caribbean Rum Bash hosted by Matusalem Rum and finally capped off by the Awards Banquet.  On the Lay-Day, the first Dominican Athletic Scavenger Hunt (DASH) was great fun for everyone where those who dared to participate were given five challenges in and around the marina and in the evening the traditional Cap Cana Cook-Off took place with four gourmet entries.  The race was won by the husband and wife observer team of Mike and Elizabeth Zorzi from Delaware while the Cook-Off judges crowned Puerto Rico’s Alex Rodriguez for his delicious creation in the beef category.

Very special thanks go out to Marina Cap Cana’s Kary Gomez and the entire marina staff for the unconditional support and enthusiasm as well as sponsors such as the Dominican Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), Punta Palmera – Cap Cana, Kola Real who kept us refreshed, San Juan Plaza for keeping us covered from sun and rain during Happy Hours and of course Matusalem Rum which kept us in good spirits (pardon the pun).

Save the date.  Mark your calendars for the 2017 Cap Cana Shootout June 8^th thru 13^th and stay tuned on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for results of the Triple-Header series.