Port Vila Game Fishing Club 2017

GAME FISH CLASSIC 25th & 26th November 2017

Supporting sponsors

Carpenter Motors, The Wahoo Bar, Vanuatu Marlin Classic, Air Vanuatu, Total Marine Solutions

Vila Distribution, BSP, Air Vanuatu, Aore Island Resort, The Havannah Resort, Tamanu Resort,

Kingfisher Waste Management, The Beach Bar, Off Road Adventures

Dear Anglers and Friends, As the Tournament Director of the Port Vila Game Fishing Club I welcome you on behalf of our entire membership and committee to the 2017 International Game Fish Classic. The Club has again created a tournament for anglers with all levels of skill. We aim “to have fun doing it” - PVGFC is all about having fun with family and friends both from within and outside Vanuatu. Our November competition attracts a wide following with anything up to 20 boats competing ranging from rubber duckies to prestige game fishing charter vessels. Whether you are a bottom basher, fly fisherman, sport fisherman, big game aficionado, whether you like baits or lures, or just being on the water, Vanuatu offers a host of fishing action with many world records having been caught in our fish rich waters. Of course a non-profit club cannot operate without support from our sponsors and we are always looking for that support (!!). We encourage you to seek out their services or products wherever possible. Please take the time to read through the tournament booklet and make this event a fabulous time to enjoy the thrill of fishing, some time on the water and building that special camaraderie that comes from fishing in a tournament. I trust you will all enjoy the weekend of fishing and wish you all the best in the tournament. Here’s wishing you all a fun and safe weekend. Steve Bean, President - PVGFC

Port Vila Game Fishing Club

Rules and Regulations

Tournament Times Sign Up – Thursday 23rd November, The Marlin Club at Blue Marlin Lodge at 6.30pm.

Fishing: DAY 1: Saturday 25th November 2017

DAY2: Sunday 26th November 2017

Lines In – 6.00AM Lines Out – 4:00PM

Lines In – 6:00AM Lines Out – 2:00PM

Weigh In: 5.30 PM - all fish to be at weigh-station by 5.30PM at the

Weigh In: 3.30PM - all fish to be at the weigh-station by 3.30PM at the

Wahoo Bar – Havannah Harbour Wahoo Bar – Havannah Harbour

Presentation Function The Wahoo Bar, Sunday.

International

Game Fish Classic

Entry Fees and Eligibility The tournament is open to all ages and we encourage participation from the local community. Teams are to be a minimum of 2 anglers, with a maximum of 6 anglers per team. Entry fees: (Cash or Cheque only) Senior Angler: Vt 15,000 (fees include annual Port Vila club membership) Junior Angler: Vt 8,000 (fees include annual Port Vila club membership) Entry fees include: Some drinks and Snacks at Briefing and Weigh In each day Presentation Dinner, including Beer and Selected Wines 1 Boat bag and Tournament Booklet per boat. PVGFC membership form to be completed by new members on registration.

Entry Forms All anglers must be entered on an official registration form attached to this document

Disclaimer and Indemnity Entry to the competition for all skippers, crew, anglers and visitors is conditional on acceptance of the terms contained in the PVGFC disclaimer and indemnity which forms part of the entry form. Boat skipper or team captain must sign the acceptance.

Briefing The Tournament Briefing will be held on Thursday 23rd November, 2017 at The Blue Marlin Lodge from 6:30 pm. At least one angler per boat must attend the briefing. Some drinks and nibbles will be provided. All fees must be paid at the briefing.

Skippers Pool In place of a Calcutta for 2017 the Club will run a Skippers Pool. Those skippers/boats that choose to enter will pay Vt10,000 each with a single winner prize pool of the total amount collected. Pool to be split as follows 40% of pool to highest scoring boat Marlin release 20% of pool to highest scoring individual mahi mahi 20% of pool to highest scoring individual wahoo 20% of pool to highest scoring individual yellowfin/bigeye tuna

Weigh In Weigh In will be conducted at the Wahoo Bar at the following times: A second weigh station may also be hosted at Blue Marlin Lodge Port Vila. Details to be confirmed. Saturday 25th November: 5.30PM – NO FISH WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 5.30PM Sunday 26th November: 3.30PM – NO FISH WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 3.30 PM Times - Definitions Weigh In 1800 hours Saturday, 1600 hours Sunday

Lines In Time at which fishing may commence - 0600hrs Sat & 0600hrs Sun. Lines Out Saturday 1600 hours, Sunday 1400 hours or at the latest time at which

your boat can depart your fishing location and travel at normal speed to reach the Weigh Station by Weigh In. Note if opting to return to Port Vila and drive to the Wahoo Bar for the weight in will need to account for ½ an hour drive time in this time allocation.

NOTE: Normal speed is your transit speed advised to Tournament Base when you log on each morning. This speed will be used to calculate lines out times for boats fishing in distant grounds, together with the lat. and long. advised by the boat to Tournament Base when they ceased fishing. TEAMS FISHING DISTANT WATERS SHOULD NOTE THIS RULE.

All fish presented to the Weigh Master must be accompanied with a completed catch form, included with the Registration Booklet. A roll of plastic tape is included in your boat bag, this MUST be tied around the tail wrist of ALL fish presented for weigh in. Please write on the tape using the supplied marker pens: Boat Name, Anglers Name, Line Class and Capture Number. The Capture Number will be supplied by Watchdog when the capture is called in. ALL billfish releases must be accompanied by the video footage of the fish at the boat being released and clearly identifiable. Time and date must be displayed. Fish may be transported to the weigh-in station by vehicle. Should a vessel have a fish, which is not capable of being brought to the weigh station by vehicle, then Watchdog should be contacted to make alternate arrangements. In the interests of maintaining fish quality, catches may be brought to the weigh station gutted and iced. An additional weight factor of 10% will be awarded. Note that record claim fish must be weighed intact. RECORD CLAIMS: All anglers are required to submit to the Weigh master, upon request, the lure, leader, double line and rod and reel to verify conformity to IGFA rules. For any fish caught that may be subject to National or World record claims, it is required that the leader/lure, double and at least 50 feet of main line remain intact and be presented with the fish at the time of weighing. The Weigh master reserves the right to investigate any and all tackle on a boat to see that it conforms to IGFA rules. Anglers intending to make Record Claims should remove the required line, leader & lure immediately the decision is made to make a record claim. Mutilated fish will be treated in accordance with IGFA rules. All fish weighed and presented for weighing and not promptly removed after weighing become the property of the Port Vila Game Fishing Club. A record-processing fee of VT 1,000 will be charged for all eligible Vanuatu records. Don’t forget to bring your family and friends down to the weigh station to enjoy the spectacle.

Presentation Dinner The presentation dinner will be held on Sunday night 26th November at the Wahoo Bar – Havannah Harbour from 6:00pm. Again the PVGFC encourages you to invite non-anglers to come along and hear about all the fish that got away. Anglers’ dinner is included in entry fee. Non-anglers, including non PVGFC member skippers and crew, will be charged Vt 3,000 for dinner, Children Vt 1,500. In order to confirm catering numbers we require that you purchase any additional dinner tickets at the time of registration. See the Nomination form for details.

Seaworthiness and Safety It is the boat owner’s responsibility to ensure that all boats entered in the Game Fish Classic 2017 Tournament are completely seaworthy and meet local Marine Safety Authority standards. The PVGFC accepts no responsibility for decisions made by skippers, crew members or competitors going out to sea. As noted above, all competitors, skippers and crew will be required to acknowledge a competition disclaimer at the time of registration. All boats must carry a functioning reliable VHF radio on board at all times. Any boat without a working VHF radio will not be permitted to enter the Tournament. All boats must also carry a minimum of 2 distress flares and 1.5 litres of back up water per angler.

Radio Schedule All boats must be able to receive and transmit on VHF Channel 60 and must maintain contact with the Tournament control base – Watchdog - directly or by relay through another boat at every sked. The first daily radio sked will be at 0705 hours and then every 2 hours, 0905, 1105, etc. (Advise grid location [alpha – numeric from the SAR chart provided] and score i.e. strikes, hookups, landed, released.) Boat skippers must sign "on" on departure and "off” on return, both by radio to Watchdog. In the departure radio call skippers are required to advise team name and the total number of people aboard the boat. Boats that miss two consecutive radio skeds (directly or by relay) will be liable to disqualification for the day. Where reasonable concern exists for the safety of any vessel

a search may be instituted. Variation to communication requirements may be made in the case of radio failure whilst at sea (e.g. mobile phone, satphone, HF) at the discretion of the committee. It should be clearly understood by all skippers that if their boat has limited radio range they will be required to operate inside the range of their fixed radio unit. This important safety aspect will be enforced. Fish hooked up prior to Lines Out may be played until the fish is either landed or lost, providing that the hookup and location were reported to, and acknowledged by Watchdog prior to that boat's Lines Out time. The loss or capture of such hookups must be reported immediately to Watchdog. In these circumstances, Weigh In timing may be extended to allow safe passage of the boat and anglers. Marlin hook-ups should be reported immediately to Watchdog. If boats are planning to go out of radio range – e.g. Forrari – you should advise Watchdog before leaving and relay scores through other boats wherever possible.

Fishing Area Fishing will only be permitted within areas designated on the grid map included in this book. In the interests of fairness to small boat owners, eligible fishing grounds DO NOT include the area known as Erramango Sea Mounts, but will include all of Efaté to and including Mataso Island and Monument Rock. Exact guidelines will be provided at the briefing.

Fish Eligibility To be eligible for weigh in all fish must be:

An IGFA recognised game fish 1. Weigh at least one third the weight of the line class (except Skip

jack/bonito/mack tuna/scad etc must weigh double the line class used to be eligible.)

Captured as per IGFA rules attached IGFA RATED LINE CLASS 15KG OR LESS MAY BE USED. All fish caught on line classes less than 15kg will only be awarded points based on 15kg line weight. No rod or reel spooled with anything other than 15kg line and under shall be permitted on any boat fishing the competition. Any boat not observing this rule and found to have such on board will be disqualified. The Competition committee reserve the right

to request to board and inspect all rods and reels aboard any vessel competing in the competition at any time during the competition. Any objection to this will result in disqualification. If you are unfamiliar with IGFA rules please take the time to read the attached IGFA rules and equipment regulations.

Billfish Release The PVGFC encourages tag and release. Please NOTE WELL the important changes for the comp. Billfish will be considered caught when the leader is to hand and the fish cut away and free released. Tagging is therefore not required to qualify as a capture/release. FOR 2017 BILLFISH CAPTURE/RELEASE RULES ARE: – Billfish are to be released on all line classes

– “Release” points awarded per table below

– Sailfish attract half points

– Spearfish will be capture only

– Fish may be weighed only if they are a Vanuatu or IGFA world record.

Anglers must be certain that this will be the case. If not qualifying the fish will be disqualified

Digital video footage requirements Digital video footage must verify all release claims and be shown to the weigh master at the time the capture/release card is handed to the weigh master. To score an official release, the video footage must include sufficient continuous footage to (1) clearly identify the species; (2) show a team member, angler or crew touching the leader while the fish is still hooked; (3) identify the time and date of the catch; and (4) show the catch and full release of the fish. By digital photography the Club intends that live continuous footage will be provided by the team. It is understood that your camera may have limited battery life. The Club requires that any video taken be on the same camera

and that pauses in time will be accepted. Date and time must be displayed.

– If there are two or more boats with the same number of billfish release points, the winner will be based on a count back to the first release points for an individual fish.

Time will be taken as the time of release to be confirmed from the video footage and notification to watchdog. In the case of boats fishing outside of radio range it is up to the vessel to relay a message to Watchdog. The time the report is received is the time the fish will be recorded as released by the tournament referee.

CAPTURE AND RELEASE POINTS BY LINE CLASS:

LINE CLASS: 15KG

MARLIN / BROADBILL 1500

SAILFISH 750

Capture Points Capture points will be awarded using the following formula: POINTS = Fish Weight X Fish Fighting Factor X 100

15 The following fighting factors will apply: Marlin (all species) - refer specific rules above Sail Fish / Spearfish – refer specific rules above

2.4 2.4

Tuna (Yellowfin, Big Eye, Dog Tooth) 2.4 Mahi Mahi 2 Wahoo 2 Trevally (all species) 2 Barracuda 1.8 Rainbow Runner (juniors only) 1 Skipjack / Bonito (juniors only) 1

Examples: 30kg Yellow fin 30 X 2.4 X 100

15 = 480 points

7kg Mahi Mahi 7 X 2 X 100 15

= 93 points

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR ALL CAPTURE ANGLERS

2. To be eligible for weighing, fish must weigh greater than 1/3rd of the line class fished.

3. Skip jack/bonito/mack tuna/scad etc must weigh double the line class (15kg) to

be eligible.

4. All fish are to be labelled with the tape provided in the boat bag, including boat name, angler name, line class and capture number.

5. Line class 15kg and under only. Line classes less than 15 kg if used will only

score points as if caught on 15kg.

6. MAXIMUM OF 3 FISH OF A SPECIES PER ANGLER PER DAY - anglers may only weigh their best 3 fish of a species per day for capture points for prize categories other than Champion Team.

7. PRIZE FOR BEST BOAT - points allocation for best boat will be calculated on

the basis of the best 3 fish of each species for the boat for each day (i.e. regardless of how many anglers are on board) plus billfish release points.

8. GILLED AND GUTTED FISH - in the interests of maintaining fish quality,

catches may be brought to the weigh station gutted and iced. An additional weight factor of 10% will be awarded. Note that record claim fish must be weighed intact.

Penalties Any angler caught cheating, misrepresenting captures or not competing in the spirit of the tournament will be disqualified from the tournament or hung, drawn and quartered at the Committee’s discretion.

A SPECIAL MENTION TO ALL OUR SPONSORS The PVGFC Committee would like to thank all those persons and organizations both from Vanuatu and Overseas who have generously assisted with the organization of the 2017 Game Fish Classic. Without your help and the help of all our contributors noted – the event simply would not

happen – THANKS TO ALL OF YOU. We ask that all Club Members support our sponsors in the same way. Below is a list of our generous sponsors and donators:

Carpenter Motors

The Wahoo Bar

Air Vanuatu

Aore Island Resort

Vanuatu Marlin Classic

Kingfisher Waste Management

Vila Distribution

The Havannah Resort

Tamanu Resort

BSP

Total Marine Solutions

Off Road Adventure

The Beach Bar

Prizes and Giveaways

Champion Angler (highest combined points capture & billfish release)

1st Trophy + Champagne + TBA

2nd Shimano Rod + Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Champion Boat (highest combined points capture & billfish release)

1st Trophy + Champagne + TBA

2nd + Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Marlin Release – angler with most points:

1st Trophy + Champagne + TBA

2nd Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Best Wahoo :

1st Champagne + TBA

2nd Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Best Mahi-Mahi :

1st + Champagne + TBA

2nd + Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Best Yellowfin/Bigeye :

1st + Champagne + TBA

2nd + Champagne + TBA

3rd Champagne

Best Junior Angler :

1st TBA

Best Female angler :

1st Champagne Optional Skippers Pool. VT10,000 per boat entry. Pool to be split as follows 40% of pool to highest scoring boat Marlin release 20% of pool to highest scoring individual mahi mahi 20% of pool to highest scoring individual wahoo 20% of pool to highest scoring individual yellowfin/bigeye tuna

PORT VILA GAME FISHING CLUB INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH CLASSIC

COMPETITION LOG – DAY 1, 25th NOVEMBER 2017

BOAT:_____________________ Watchdog Grid:

CALL GRID STRIKE HOOKUP LAND

7.05 AM

9.05 AM

11.05 AM

1.05 PM

3.05 PM

4.05PM

CAPTURE DETAILS TIME FISH LINE

CLASS ESTD. WEIGHT

TAGGED Y/N

ANGLER

CONTINUED

TIME FISH LINE CLASS

ESTD. WEIGHT

TAGGED Y/N

ANGLER

PORT VILA GAME FISHING CLUB INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH CLASSIC

COMPETITION LOG – DAY 2, 26th NOVEMBER 2017

BOAT:_____________________ Watchdog Grid:

CALL GRID STRIKE HOOKUP LAND

6.05 AM

8.05 AM

10.05 AM

12.05 PM

2.05 PM

CAPTURE DETAILS TIME FISH LINE

CLASS ESTD. WEIGHT

TAGGED Y/N

ANGLER

CONTINUED TIME FISH LINE

CLASS ESTD. WEIGHT

TAGGED Y/N

ANGLER