The ORIS National Big Game Tournament in aid of the Puttinu Cares Foundation
brought to you by
The Malta Fishing Forum
For simplicity purposes and to streamline keeping abreast of this year's tournament, to make it more transparent and informative this is the new official tournament topic where everyone will be kept informed of the developments and comeptition details as they unfold.
More information with be posted by the tournament organising team.....
Weekly round up - Jan 23rd
Every week I will provide an update of where we are in terms of organisation, the actual event, confirmed sponsors, etc.
For this update I can tell you that we have secured two main fishing tackle entities as official partners for this event. These are MisterFish, and Buona Pesca Trading. What I can say is that they have greatly contributed in terms of cash and fishing related items towards the Tournament. We should shortly be in a position to list all the items these two generous companies have contributed. Most of the items will make up the Pirize list for this year's tournament. Oris will be again the protagonists donating a similar watch for 1st place, with either the President or Vice President of Oris Watches doing the honours with presenting 1st prize.
We have contacted various entities which helped last year's event be a success, and they have alreasdy pledged their help and support towards this year's tournament.
We are still awaiting confirmation from other entities such as one official partner Bank, and one official telecomms partner. We should be in a position to either confirm or otherwise by this week.
We have now also secured the services of a professional Photographer to capture those unique moments during the briefing, the tournament and the awards ceremony.
We have written to Marsascala and Buirzebbugia Fishing clubs to partner up with us in this Tournament. I will be contacting the Marsamxett club officially as I have only spoken to their representatives but what I can say at this stage is that when I spoke to them they already showed enthusiasm and commitment. Remember, for last year's competition, we had 12 boats competing from the Marsamxett club, which is thanks to their committee for showing enthusiasm and commitment.
We have scheduled a meeting for 8 February to meet the Fisheries Control Division to discuss the permissable fish catch for this tournament.
Weekly Round-up Jan 28
Activities continued in ernest this week, with a number of mailshots going out to potential sponsors, design of the Tournament Logo, planning activities, etc. We are in the process of gathering quotes for the commemorative magazine, which we will issue sometime in May.
Full page adds for the magazine are picking up pace. Remember, the magazine is our main source of income for this event, and we need companies to take out full page adverts. What I can say is that one company alone has already booked 5 adverts, thats €2,100 @ €420 per advert. That company is Misterfish. That is not the only contribution MisterFish is making towards this noble cause. Another company that has pledged its full support is Buona Pesca Trading. We should be in a position to announce the full contribution of these two companies in the very near future. We will all be pleasantly surprised with their generosity and commitment to both the MFF and Puttinu Cares. Of course, we cannot forget Jos. Debono Jewellers, local agents for Oris watches, without who's help and commitment we could never dream of having a tournament of this level. I'll talk more about this in the coming weeks.
I will not mention names, but some members have really got into the spirit of things here. We had one member sending out mailshots to many of his business contacts, and already we've had a positive commitment from one of them. Others are helping out with the design of the logo, printers, marketing write up, and sponsor contacts.
We anticipate that next week will be very similar to this week. The following week we'll be actively approaching some big gun sponsors, meetings with the Authorities, and tying up some loose ends on the organisation.
I mentioned in my previous post that I need a contact name from the Bugibba Fishing club, I still don't have a name yet. Could anyone who knows please forward a contact name to me. Also, if there are any other fishing clubs of which I am not aware of, please let me know. Valletta, Marsascala and Birzebbugia fishing clubs I already know of, Gzira am awaiting a contact name, the rest I leave to you.
Commemorative magazine 3rd March
Through our continued efforts, we have managed to sell 23 full page adverts on the magazine from a total of 33. The official partners, who in aggregate contribute in excess of €2,000 either in cash and sponsored items, recieve a one page full colour advert free of charge. In total we already have 5 official partners supporting the MFF in this initiative. We still need another 2. I will announce the official partners tomorrow, and will also announce the degree of support we are recieveing from each. I feel now we are on the home run. Only another 10 adverts to go, and we will have sold all advertising space on the magazine. We still need to find the time and approach some companies who have helped us before to support us. I'm pretty confident now that we should hit our target mark of presenting Puttinu cares with a cheque of €10,000 towards their charity. Of course, it all now depends on the amount of boats we have participating in the tournament. But I can tell you that the prize lineup for this year is very attractive.
Prize Lineup
To date, we have as prizes in no particular order the following: An Oris ProDiver Watch, an Okuma MK30 II speed Makaira reel, a Raymarine A70 D Chartplotter including mediterreanean maps, a Lineaeffe KAM1000 silver reel and Lineaeffe Big Tuna 50lbs rod, a Lowrance HDS-5 Chartplotter, an assortment of lures and fishing tackle. Many more prizes will be added once we finalise the deals with the sponsor companies.
Magazine Content
I had posted earlier that anyone wishing to contribute content to the magazine could contact me and discuss the write up. Todate, I have 9 individuals contributing in the following categories:
Kubrit/plamti/tumbrell Colin Seafox
Alongi Joe the Gaffer
Kahli bir-rixa Adrian Nelson-Placebo (atricle submitted)
Spinning Martin B
Spear fishing Edward - EmicMalta
Klamari
Rod Fishing Robby017
Kavalli Jonathan
Qarnit
Deep bottom fishing Moonwalker
Rods and Tackle Clutch_kick
Fuel Flow Meters Skip
Could you please ensure that you submit your articles by Friday 25 March please.
UPDATE 17 March
Participation Fee
During a committee meeting held last Monday together with the Federation it was decided that this year's participation fee will be €35 per boat for 1 skipper and 2 crew members. If the participating boat has more than 3 people on board, the a fee of €20 per person extra applies. (I was not present for this meeting as I was abroad on business, but totally agree with this)
Awards Ceremony and BBQ
We are trying to offer the best value to all participants and their families to enjoy a night complimented by good food and together celebrate success. We are in an advanced stage of negotiations to host a BBQ and awards ceremony on Pretty Bay Beach the week following the Tournament. Our aim is to keep the price per person as low as possible, definitely below €10 per person. Will let you know more once we agree on the final price and choice of food available. The plan here is to work out the price of the BBQ per person. The forum will not make any money out of this, Puttinu cares will not get any benefit out of this as well, as the cheque and account will be closed. So whatever is the price quoted, will be the price charged. But just to repeat, we already know that the price will definitely be below €10 per person.
Sponsors
Medcomms have joined the long list of Corporate sponsors and donated €1,000 to this event. Moreover, we shall be meeting Medcomms in the coming days to further discuss how Medcomms can offer their help. Well done medcomms.
Colin is still working strong and raking in advertismments for our commemorative magazine. A big thank you to Shanook for taking the initiative in launching and closing off the member/photo donation for the magazine.
We should be in a good position to close off all adverts and content for the magazine as planned, i.e. end of this month. To all those who in any way contributed to this, I say Thank you.
Accounts
Once we finalise things with BOV, and Robby & Bigboy get a hold of the accounts, we shall keep you all updated on the revenue and capital expenditure and donations coming in.
At the end, I expect Robby and Bigboy to prepare the profit and loss accounts together with the final Balance sheet.
More news soon
Status Update 25 March
Yesterday the tournament committee met up with all members of the Federation of Recreational Fishermen. There is great enthusiasm on board, and all member clubs pledged their support and assistance in making this Tournament a success. We expect a number of club members from all over the island to participate in this event.
During the meeting yesterday with the Federation of Recreational Fishermen the following was endorsed and agreed to:
Participation fee is now set at €35 per boat maximum 3 persons on board. Additional persons on board will pay a fee of €20 each.
Start time of the tournament is now 05.30am
Dr. Joe Carabott confirmed as Tournament Director
Members of the Federation together with members of the MFF + the Fisheries Control Division will act as Tournament judges
Donations
The Federation of Recreational Fishermen yesterday donated the sum of €300 towards this campaign
The Kooperative tas-sajjieda yesterday donated the sum of €200 towards this campaign
On behalf of the MFF, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude towards the Federation and the Kooperative for this noble gesture.
thanks for the updates skip
More Updates
I have just recieved this very important update from the Fisheries Control Division.
Good morning
I am pleased to inform you that the request on behave of Malta Fishing Forum for the Jetty at Saint George Bay, Birzebbuga to be designated as a landing site for the day of the Fishing Tournament 2011 has been approved by the Director of fisheries.
Regards
MARK GAUCI PISCOPO
TRAINEE FISHERIES PROTECTION OFFICER
f/ Dr. A. Fenech Farrugia
Director
FISHERIES CONTROL DIRECTORATE
BARRIERA WHARF
VALLETTA
TEL: +356 22031211
As you all may know, we have opened up this years permissible catch to include Alongi (Albacore) as the base fish, Pastardell, Skipjack Tuna (Palamit) Swordfish and possibly Bluefin Tuna. According to EU regulations, Swordfish and BFT must be landed at special designated sites which have prior been registed with EU fisheries authorities. So, to enable the Tournament participants to land possible catches of Swordfish and ONE (1) BFT per boat, we needed to get written permission from the FCD to temporarily transfer the designated landing site in M'xlokk to the Birzebbuga Jetty for Sunday 26 June. This has now been formally accepted!
New Thread
Folloowing a very long (2hr) teleconversation with Nick, we have decided to open this new thread and align the Tournament Information here. The other thread will be deleted once we have moved all the informative stuff here. The new thread will be the official communications board for the Tournament and related activities. Very soon we shall also open another thread on the same board calling for all to register the "INTENT TO PARTICIPATE'. This will provide the organisers with an idea of numbers and enable them to start thinking about T-Shirts, Caps and other stuff related to the admin of the tournament. Everyone is welcome to voice their opinion on the thread, but please (me included) lets wipe the slate clean, and reserve any negative comments to PMs. Keep those suggestions coming, as we do consider every point raised, and most of your suggestions have in effect, been taken up and applied.
Prizes
As most of you read, we are now presenting prizes from 1st to 6th place, A prize for biggest alonga caught, and a special proze for biggest fish caught (biggest fish excludes Alonga). 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes and the prizes for biggest alonga and biggest fish will take the form of Award Presentations, while 4th 5th and 6th will be appreciation prizes for boats who may have just missed out on the award prize. We still have a number of prizes which as yet, have not been allocated and the committee will be looking into allocating these prizes in the coming days. So any suggestions would be more than welcome.
A quick heads up on the finances
Todate, I feel I have to provide an update on the finances (income) supporting this tournament. I will segment each income according to the category it is in.
Donations:
Medcomms: €1000
Pirotta Fishing Centre: €300
Federation of Recreational Fishermen: €300
Kooperativa tas-sajjieda: €200
Colin's Online sale of items: €108
Last Fenkata donation: €56
Total €1964
Magazine Adverts:
Misterfish: 7 adverts, €2940
Nautica: 1 advert, €420
Princess Yachts: 1 advert, €420
Curmi and Partners: 1 advert, €420
Buona Pesca Trading: 1 advert, €420
Caruana Marine: 1 advert, €420
Jos. debono Jewellers: inside front cover, €550
RLR: 1 back page advert, €550
Toyota Automobiles Ltd: 1 page adver, €420
Mecca Enterprises Ltd: Double Page Spread, €700
Tal Fenek Boat yard: 1/2 page advert, €300
Audio Vision: 1/2 page advert, €300
Boatcare: 1/2 page advert, €300
MFF member pics: full page, €210
Total €8790
Grand total (Magazine adverts + Donations) of €10,654.
I still need to add a hefty donation by Jos. Debono Jewellers (Antoine - Alfadelta). However, this is an ongoing initiative, and will update the amount as soon as I get information on that.
So, we have a total of €8790 confirmed for the magazine. We still need to sell 6 adverts, which include on inside back cover page, going at €550 each. So the total income from the magazine will be €11340. We have a revenue charge of €3400 + 170 VAT (3570) to print the magazine. There is also another charge of €180 to shrink wrap 1500 copies of this magazine which will be distributed on all boats in local marinas. So, from the magazine, we anticipate to make a profit of €7590. To this new total we need to add the donations total, which is €1964 (excuding the Jos. debono Donation). Therefore, we are ahead right now at a total of €9563. All other expenses have been picked up by either the sponsors, Colin, Antoine and myself, these include bar & snack expenses when meeting up and entricing prospective sponsors and direct expenses related to advertising and receipt books
We still need to add the participants fee as income, and also I am informed that other fishing clubs will be making a donation towards the fund!.
So, my tension relief is this. Thanks to all of you, we WILL surpass the €10,000 target we set at the beginning to present to towards the Puttinu Cares Foundation.
I have provided this heads up on Finances as they stand at the moment since this exercise will very soon (in the coming days) be transitioned to the Finance Committee headed by Robert Attard (Robby017), following the appropriate hand over.
VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE
We are currently in discussions with the the competent authorities seeking ways how to cushion the expense incurred for participating boats in the Tournament. We cannot as yet comment on the contents and progress of these discussions, but this just goes to show that we really do take your suggestions seriously. It is for this reason that we have opened another thread asking participants to post their intent, as that way we will get a good idea of the number of boats participating. On a very serious note, please also include the anticipated fuel burn you might incur when participating. So, as an example, if a day trip for Alongi costs you say 80ltrs of fuel, just post 80ltrs of fuel, if less, then indicate, if more, then please also let us know. We need to know the approx fuel burn of each participating boat, to make a qualified estimate as to how much fuel we shall all be burning during this tournament.
Very Important!!!
Please be mature and sensible in your estimations. We are not promising anything as yet, and we ask you not to get your hopes high. We are just trying to make the competent authorites aware of the costs incurred per boat in participating in this tournament.
Joe is this possible concession just for diesel or unleaded as well?
And fuel burn post to be inserted with details in Intention to participate thread
All fuel is included, diesel and unleaded petrol
Quote from: ganni on March 27, 2011, 10:10:51 CET
thanks for the updates skip
These updates were posted by myself in a prior thread which has been removed. We decided to remove the last thread to have just one thread focusing on the Tournament and allowing for updates from the organising committee and comments/suggestions from the forum users here.
Gaffer I have a child of 4 years which I usually bring with me for the competion is this year the same as last year regarding children or he conts as a crew member??
Same as last year. Make sure your child wears a life jacket.
Quick Update
The official launching of The Oris National Big Game Tournament in aid of the Puttinu Cares Foundation has been set for the 19 April, 2011. We will launch this event during a press conference to be held on that day. All media and press are invited to attend.
Following a reques tto the Local Council of Birzebbuga on the following points:
** Reserving the Jetty in St. George's Bay (close to the Council's offices) for the 26th June for boats parking/mooring alongside for early inspection and final weigh-in
** Converting the Jetty into a sort of fishing village
** Allow the Malta Fishing Forum to erect some Marquis/Tents including sponsor adverts & serving refreshments to any visitors
** Allow filming by the TV stations and other enterprises
** Placing at least 4 flag poles - Rep of Malta - MFF - B'Bugia Local Council & Puttinu Cares Foundation flags
** Boat trailer parking -Secure an adequate space (preferably opposite the slip in St' George's Bay) for boat trailer parking
We are happy to say that the LC has accepted our request. Herein is the full text of the email sent by Birzebbuga LC:
Sur Baldacchino,
Naghmel riferenza ghall-e-mail tieghek ta' hawn taht. Wara s-Seduta tal-Kunsill Lokali numru 02/11 li saret nhar it-Tlieta 15 ta' Marzu 2011, il-Kamra qablet li l-kompetizzjoni annwali tas-sajd issir gewwa Birzebbuga nhar 26 ta' Gunju u fahhret l-inizjattiva li din il-kompetizzjoni ser issir b'risq Puttinu Cares Foundation.
B'riferenza ghall-punti li ressaqtu ghall-approvazzjoni l-Kunsill ma jsib l-ebda oggezzjoni pero' jixtieq li jaghmel dawn is-suggerimenti:
apparti l-erba' bnadar li ser tpoggu ghal din l-okkazjoni, iccekkjaw jekk hemmx bzonn li tpoggu wkoll il-bandiera ta' L-Ewropa
l-ahjar post sabiex jigu pparkjati il-karrijiet tad-dghajjes hi f'Dawret il-Qalb Imqaddsa. Il-Kunsill jista' jipprovdi tabelli tan-'No Parking' pero' tridu tavzaw il-pulizija sabiex jekk ikun hemm karozzi pparkjati jigu ittowjati. Nigbdulkom l-attenzjoni li sabiex tkunu tistghu tittowjaw karozzi, hemm bzonn li ggibu avviz fil-Gazzetta tal-Gvern.
Filwaqt li nixtiequlkom kull success nibghat,
Inselli ghalik,
Maria Galea
Segretarju Ezk.
KUNSILL LOKALI BIRZEBBUGA
On behalf of the MFF and organising committee I would like to extend my sincere gratitude towards the Birzebbuga LC.
Excellent development and a big well done for your efforts in securing the support of the B'Buga LC in order to make this event a success and enhance its prestige. No one has ever been able to secure a dedicated area for a type of fishing village in the past and certainly this will enhance the appeal not only for competitors but also for visitors coming to check out the tournament, and businesses in the surrounding area.
I woud suggest that if the EU flag is raised then some kind of support should come from the EU reps in Malta... this is a Maltese event and not sponsored by EU. When we had sponsorship from EU we had to erect plaques to show that it was sponsored by EU. Since there is no sponsorship I would not include it....my 5c (another chance to get some more money for Puttinu)
Special thanks have to be conveyed to Dr. Joe Carabott who has always been at the forefront with his total support for the tournament during the meetings we held at the B'Bugia LC. Grazzi hafna Gogo!
We have a new Corporate Sponsor on board, Hi-Tec Marine. Hi-Tec Marine have donated a Selva Dingy to the event and also a cash donation of €250. The dingy is the rollup version and comes complete with Carry bag, Orrs, footpump and repair kit. The Selva dingy is 2 metres in length, and can take an outboard motor, Max 5HP. We plan to raffle this Dingy during the event and all proceeds will go towards the Puttinu cares Fund. Well Done Hi-Tec
I suggested to B'Buga Fishing Club committee that for the Tournament the participants of our locality will have a local interclub winner who's name will be added to the previous winners on our shield.. This suggestion was unanimously accepted . If you agree we can encourage other clubs to launch a similar competition within the Tournament. This will also urge more participants. Obviously participants have to be members of their Local Association. What do you think?
During registration to participate in the Tournament kindly add whether one is calling at B'Buga with the trailer. Only so we can prepare adequate space for parking. Do not leave for the last moment so that everyone will be served.
Quote from: Gogo on April 03, 2011, 08:50:09 CET
I suggested to B'Buga Fishing Club committee that for the Tournament the participants of our locality will have a local interclub winner who's name will be added to the previous winners on our shield.. This suggestion was unanimously accepted . If you agree we can encourage other clubs to launch a similar competition within the Tournament. This will also urge more participants. Obviously participants have to be members of their Local Association. What do you think?
I think it is an excellent idea. Each participant is more or less enrolled also with a local club. For those participants that are only members of the Malta Fishing Forum, then I suggest that they would be representing the forum. We do have one condition though, that no prizes are awarded to the individuals on a club basis during the awards ceremony. We are tied down by our sponsors not to include any other prizes in the prize lineup except those donated to the forum to host this event. However, I don't think we'll have an objection from our sponsors to present club shields during the awards presentation. For those members of the forum who'll be participating, there will be a prize included for 1st place amongst the MMF members taking part. Suggest the President of each club presents the club shield to the respective winners of individual clubs. May I stress though that no aggregate shield will be awarded, so there will be no classification of clubs. The individual prizes will be as announced for the National tournament.
Gaffer - It's a very good solution and makes the event more interesting but a little extra effort to control. My comments are, and correct me if I am wrong.
So long as I understood you correctly it's practically resembles a "league" in some ways. Given that the Tournament is on a national scale all participants would be competing individually for the top places and not on a "club basis", furthermore only shields would be presented by the Federation clubs to their respective winners. The only snag I see on this is that there are going to be several individuals taking part who are not members in any club, but then we can't please everyone can we! Jiehdu pacenzia.
Seafox - As to the increase in effort, the answer is that each member writes his membership identification / no with his respective club on the participation form. The Judges will have a separate sheet for each club taking part in the ''shield league'' where catches of their respective participants are entered. Any other suggestions are welcome.
May i suggest we also include adult Lampuki as well.
Quote from: guido99 on April 03, 2011, 22:18:24 CET
May i suggest we also include adult Lampuki as well.
Accepted. We can include adult lampuki, as its a highly migratory species
Breaking News
Official launch of the TournamentThe official Launch of the Oris National Big Game Tournament in aid of the Puttinu Cares Foundation will take place on
Tuesday, 19 April at the Pintoninu Resturant, Valletta Waterfront, at 10.30am. TV/radio news rooms and all local press will be invited to the launch. It is good to note that the ownership of Pintoninu offered free drinks and snacks to all press peole attending. Well done Pintoninu. All members wishing to attend the press conference are encouraged to do so.
Donations
More donations have been pouring in to support the event. Mariner Outboards have donated €100, The Birzebbuga Fishing Club donated €50, while Colin's son managed to collect another €50 from a group of friends of his. So in all, another €200 towards the Puttinu Cares Fund, which now stands at €2173. This amount is purely cash donations, while we have other revenue coming in from the magazine.
We have managed to sell all the adverts in the magazine. Actually we oversold the allotment, and we're still waiting for a couple of confirmations ;D ;D...so we need to make ammendments. The complete list is as follows, the numbers denote the amount of adverts the advertisers took out, 0.5 means half a page:
Mister Fish 8
Pirotta Fishing 1
Buona Pesca Trd 1
Gutenburg Press 1
Caruana marine 2
RLR 2
Jos. Debono Jewellers 2
Creative Partners 1
Medcomms 0.5
Hi-Tec 0.5
Princess Yachts 1
Nautica 1
Curmi & Partners 1
Toyota 1
Mecca 1
Tal-Fenek Boat Yard 0.5
Audio Images 0.5
MFF Pictures 1
Boatcare 0.5
Citadel Insurance 0.5
Petecraft 0.5
Thomas Smith 1
Timmy Camilleri (Boston Whaler) 0.5
Miles Express 1
Gasan group of Companies Yamaha outboards 0.5
Quarterly magazine publication 1
Added to these, we're still awaiting confirmations from Banif bank and BOV.
We have also managed to collect the following donations:
Donations (in cash €)
Medcomms 1000
Pirotta 300
Federation 300
Kooperativa tas-sajd 200
Colin 108
MFF Dinner 56
Mariner Outboards 100
Ta Marzu garage -Wardija (Colin's son) 50
B'buga Fishing Club 50
More prizes are being added to the prize lineup every day. Our latest additions are:
Complete kit (gift bag) of polishes and boat care Maguiare's products from the James camilleri of JimCam Enterprises Limited €170
Gift vouchers worth €500 from Bouna Pesca Trading
Gift vouchers from Ta' Bormla Outlet in Mosta
Rod and reel from MisterFish
These will be added to the prize lineup and extend the prize winners to probably 10th place :o :o
We also have the 2mtr Selva Dingy worth €600 kindly donated by Hi-Tec Marine Ltd. One suggestion is to auction off this dingy to the highest bidder, or else raffle it off. What do you guys think?
QuoteMFF Dinner 65
if this is from the fenkata, its 56 gaffer, not 65.lol
re: dinghy
If its original brand new cost is 600euro, I would auction it off starting from say 300euro, nothing less...... if nobody is interested in bidding 300 and over, then I would give it to puttinu as a donation in kind and let them choose what to do with it..... they can either use it in summer with the kids or else they may raffle it off themselves at one of their many activities.
just my 2 c worth. 8)
i know its time consuming but,a picture would definately help in creating ideas.
Agreed, Gaffer when possible can you place a picture of the dinghy and have it auctioned to MFF members. However the actual value is of Euro600 and we should not start the sale at lower than 500Euros, our objective is to collect as many funds as possible for the Puttino Foundation....just my idea..and BTW my contribution from the sale of "fishing" items would be close to 150Euros cos I am soon selling a few more pieces. Also this evening we collected some more cash from individuals, Gaffer will report in due course including all details with regards to the awards cermony/BBQ at B'Bugia.
The official Auction to sell off the Dingy is now open
More donations have come in today. Dr. Joe Carabott Damato personally donated €100, while J.J. Ironmongery and Tarcisio Caruana Limited, both of B'buga, each donated €50 towards the event.
As promised during a previous post, we have finalised the details for the Awards Ceremony BBQ and the pre tournament briefing. The BBQ will be held on the paved area by the sea adjacent to Angolina Resturant, property of Joe Carbott, in Pretty Bay, Birzebbuga - "il whippy" ----business concerns :Mr. Whippy Ice Cream - Charlie's Inn B'Bugia, Topo Gigio Amusement Park and Power Bar, B'Bugia. Joe "il-Whippy" has been kind enought to donate the BBQ at cost, plus all chairs, lights, and PA equipment for the pre tournament brifing and the BBQ night.
Both the pre tournament briefing and the Prize/Awards Ceremony will be held in Pretty Bay Birzebuga, on a paved area by the sea.
Awards/prize giving ceremony
BBQ Food menu:
Burgers, Sausages, 1 Chicken leg, potato salid and green salid, including an assortment of ice creams PLUS 1 bottle of Italian DOC wine (red or white, 1 bottle per 4 persons) all inclusive for €10 ONLY.
The Paved area will be decorated with sponsor banners and lights. All seating arrangements have been provided.....more to follow
Further to my previous post here is the list of the maguire's boatcare products that will be included in the package for 4th prize, kindly donated by JimCam Ent ltd, for a total cost of €170
Soft buff terry towels - €14.50
Black streak remover---€13.41
Quick clean marine------€8.60
Cabin odor eliminator—€8.93
Hard spot water --------€13.06
Quick spray wax---------€12.04
Color Restorer-----------€11.52
One step cleaner/wax—€15.81
Boat wash gel-------------€8.11
Clear plastic detailer-----€9.38
Marine applicator 2 pack-€6.81
Even coat applicator 2 pk-€7.56
Marine Wash mitt---------€13.33
Trunk organizer-----------€26.94
Total euro --------------€170
Gaffer - I have been using Maguaire for a few years. They are an excellant American product. It is a very nice gift pack that Jim Cam have donated
Can you pls. amend one item on the donations list, in error I told you St. Mary's Garage but in fact it is "Ta Marzu Garage" of Wardija..I have the 50 Euro pymt pymt in hand.
Colin, Robby - Corrections uploaded!
All magazine advertising space has been sold.
We still have some space for a few articles related to our hobby, or anything in particular to do with the marine fora. Any ideas just PM me or msg 79441203. Would apprciate an article from our spearo friends. Maybe you'd like to share a unique fishing experience, either from land or sea, or some tricks and tips you've aquired, or else you'd like to talk us through a particular project you've underwent on your boat...the choice is all yours.
The aid fund as it stands today is €14774. This income is from ads and donations only. We still have to account for the printing expense, and some minor expenses related to the magazine. But we also need to add up donations which keep coming in on a daily basis, and the participant's entry fee.
Great news Joe. Well done.
I think its about time we reveal our targets re participating boats. The 1st year we organised the event (2009), we had 18 boats, last year, thanks to increased sponsorship and more publicity we had 57 boats. This year we're looking at a participation level of 100 boats or more. We have the organisation and infrustructure to support this level. We certainly have the appropriate prizes to attract as much participation as possible. We are also doing our utmost to gain as much public attention as possible. Public awareness of the Tournament is gaing ground too. I met people who I've never spoken to before asnd they already know about the tournament, and have said that they will be participating for sure.
At the end of this, its not about competing. its about everybody doing his part in contributing to the Puttinu Cares Foundation. people participating feel (and we are in full agreement with this) that in their own unique way, they are contributing to this cause. remember, all entry fees will go towards the fund. nothing is being spared. We are covering expenses through sponsorships or individual donations towards the activity supporting the event. let me provide a few examples: We promised that the BBQ would be less than €10. When we did this, we were already in discussions with Mr. Whippy, so we had a pretty good idea of the price. Then we negotiated for a much more expanded menu, and agreed on a final price of €10. That was excluding drinks and wine. So, instead of pushing up the price even further, we found a benefactor who will provide a free bottle of Italian wine per table of 4. This we included in the €10 price. Another example is the adverts being posted on the magazine. Some suppliers provided the artwork for the adverts which was not complete. We reasoned that we could not lose out on the income of an advert just because the advert needed some ammendments. Our good friend malvizzu, who is a graphic designer, proposed that he would do all the necessary adjustments on the adverts for free. Thanks you kevin (Malvizzu). Potentially aving 100's of €€€. So, I have jus thighlighted a few examples how people are helping out with their resources, thus saving us expenses. Everyone here is doing their part, some by organising, some by contributing, and other by just talking and raising awareness. Keep it up!
malvizzu always there when needed! good chap.
URGENT UPDATE
We need to know the details of all vessels participating in the event by the 25 May, 2011. We have just been advised by the FCD that a block licence will be issued for the Tournament only for the landing of BFT and Swordfish. Unless participants are covered and listed in the block licence, YOU WILL NOT be allowed to land BFT and swordfish.
So, spread the word around, and register those boats on the appropriate board in the forum.
http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php/topic,3480.msg42148/topicseen.html#new
Its important that we have this list complete by 25 May, which basically allows us one day to compile the full list and apply for the permit.
Again, if you know of anybody who wants to participate in the tournament, get him registered ASAP, or else that vessel will not be allowed to land BFT and/or swordfish during the tournament.
Gaffer - best if we get the application forms going by next week and have the same (above) post relayed to the Federation. Once the proper registration/application forms are utilized then most of our work covering boat participation is close to complete.
Hear All,
All those intending to participate in the Oris Tournament have to cast their application prior to 25 May. Applications after this dates will not be accepted. I being the Tournament Director am responsible for the correct running of the tournament in aggreement with Fisheries Control Department when by the end of May The Director wants a complete list of participants in order to issue an individual one day BFT permit within the quota permitted. For this reason I beg each participant to forward, apart from on this site, directly on my email address dr.carabott@marcompmalta.com the following data:
Skipper Name and Surname
ID no , mobile no, postal address and if applicable email address
Boat name, registration no, maximum speed and no of crew (without skipper)
Name of Fishing Club if registered with any
This data will also to registered on the application form which will be then verified during the briefing held few days prior to the Tournament.
If you happen to know persons that do not use a PC, please just take the information and pass it on your self. In order that this event will really have the success it merits everyone has to help. Simple actions many a time move whole nations.
thanks
Seafox: It is with great pleasure to learn that the MFF has donated the sum of €300 towards the Big Game Fishing Tournament/Puttinu Cares Foundation. This has come about as a result of the recent enrollment of additional VIP members and having sponsors renewing their adverts.
On behalf of the organizing committee, and all those involved in this vast national activity
I would like to thank the MFF Administrators for they very generous donation. Well done! We shall notify the other parties supporting our event of this valuable contribution trusting that the Gaffer would add the details to his ever growing list of "benefactors".
SKIP: I would like to thank all those paid up members who have renewed this year and continue to show their support, as well as the companies who sponsor the forum through advertising. As the organising committee can confirm, business is down and times are tough with several companies cutting back on their advertising across the board. However they continue to show support in the forum and the benefits it can provide, but specifically the overwhelming support for this year's charitable tournament deserves all the praise due and the organising committee have been selfless in ensuring this event will be a grand and unique experience, sacrificing countless hours of their personal time.
This is going to be a huge one of a kind tournament this year, not to be missed. Look forward to seeing you guys at the Press Briefing
Boatcare supplies are now added to the prize lineup. Boatcare supplies are preparing a special hamper of their renowned products to be donated to the MFF and presented as an award. Well done Jesmond from Boatcare Supplies. More details shortly.
SEAFOX: Thanks Jesmond for donating a nice package, apart from the advert you you have already provided for which we are also grateful.
I have recently purchased quite a few BoatCare products from Jes and I can vouch that they are excellant, reasonably priced and very effective.
More donations and a new Corporate sponsor on board:
Dr. Ray Zammit - Dentist, has donated €100 towards the event and Puttinu Cares.
Camilleri Marine, local agents for Humminbird, Bennett trim tabs and a host of other marine related equipment have donated €500 in cash to the event and Puttinu Cares Foundation while also sponsoring the prize lineup with a Humminbird Fishfinder Piranha MAX105. Well done Ken Camilleri of Camilleri Marine.
FINAL PRIZE LINE UP
1st Oris Prodiver marine watch + €100 voucher + 3 Trophies (Jos. Debono Jewellers) €2000 + €100 voucher
2nd Raymarine A70 Digital chartplotter inc maps + €75 voucher + 3 trophies (RLR) €1750 + €75 voucher
3rd Okuma Makaira 30 WII reel + €50 Voucher + 3 trophies (Buona Pesca Trading) €650 + €50 voucher
4th Grauvell Big Game rod and reel combo (Misterfish) €500
5th Maguires Polishes Hamper €170
6th Boat Care Products Hamper €150
7th Humminbird Fish Finder Piranha MAX105 (Camilleri Marine) €105
8th €100 voucher Buona Pesca trading
9th €75 voucher Buona Pesca Trading
10th €50 voucher buona Pesca trading
Special Awards
Biggest Alonga caught Lineaeffe Big Game reel and rod €600
biggest Fish caught Lowrance HDS-7 Combo FF&GPS incl transducer €1650
Gaffer I suppose that the first 10 prizes would go by total weight, maybe you can clarify for others. What a range of gifts, prosit, good luck guys....pity I cant take part! Wahhaltuli Gus!
No Colin, placings are decided according to number of fish caught. Weight becomes a determining factor when 2 or more boats catch the same number of fish.
Ok Joe all understood mela.
Great prize line-up Joe, that looks like over €8000 worth of prizes giving a lot of people a chance of getting a decent prize from this tournament
Yes, actually its €8025 worth of prizes. We tried to ensure a good spread of the prizes, from 1st to 10th, plus biggest fish, and biggest alonga. I'm getting some suggestions on how the biggest fish and biggest alonga prize should be considered, and we'll decide once we've heard all ideas. We might come up against the situation where only alongi are caught, so we need to decide whether to reward the biggest alonga caught as the biggest fish award, and 2nd biggest alonga caught. We might also come up against the situation where the biggest alonga might be heavier in weight than the biggest fish caught. So what do we do there?. We might also have a rare opportunity in having the biggest fish and the biggest alonga caught by the same boat. Again, a dilemma. These things have been quite rightly brought to my attention, and they are very valid points which I will bring to the committee to discuss.
I agree that if no other fish is caught the winner of the biggest other fish should be the runner up following the biggest alonga.
The biggest alonga placing and other biggest fish (apart from alonga) are two separate competitions irrespective of weight. In the remote case that the same boat catches biggest alonga and biggest other fish, I do not see why such a formidable fisherman should not be eligible to both prices.
Another point I wish to raise is the possibility that for the first seven place the winners choose their prize according to placing. It may happen that a third place winner is more interested in the fifth place item as now proposed. Choice of item many a time does not depend on cost but on utility of that specific item. What do you think?
The MFF together with the Federation officially launched the Oris National Big Game Fishing Tournament in aid of Puttinu Cares last Tuesday, 19 April, at the Pintonino resturant, Valletta Waterfront. Media crews from One TV and L-orizzont were present for the press conference, and provided good coverage of the event. The Times featured a small paragraph of the event, followed by full coverage on last Sunday's Sunday Times. One TV have provided the uncut footage filming of the press conference, and this wil lshortly be featured now on NET TV and PBS. Arrangements for this are in place.
On next Sunday's Sunday Times the Tournament will feature in the Yachting and boating suppliment. We are making arrangements with the 3 main TV stations to get coverage as much as possible.
Our next confirmed media touchpoint will be during the Puttinu Football marathon on Saturday at 3.15pm, this will be broadcast on the three main TV stations.
We should shortly have the posters advertising the event printed, and this will provide more exposure to the Tournament, however I am inclined to think that most of the fishing community now are aware of it.
We have encountered a slight delay (about 2 weeks) to issue the commemorative magazine. Unfortunately, some late incoming adverts caused the delay. These things happen, as usually either the artwork is not up to spec, or advertisers want last minute changes. We still aim to issue the magazine mid-May, but realistically speaking this date is proving to be a major challenge.
Prize lineup is now complete, tournament logistics are being discussed now within the committee, and things are looking well.
My last appeal to all of you is to start praying for good weather on the tournament day.
Good weather......plus lots of fish around for all to enjoy!
Hear Hear well done
Will there be regulations on the fishing methods....no of lines ...lures in the water etc.?
Hi Endless summer,
Rods and hand held lines with artificial lures are the only permited gear. There is no limit on number or size of rods, lines and hooks.
Longlines and live bait of what so ever nature are forbidden.
All this will be reconfirmed during the Briefing on 21 June.
PS I got your application, can you kindly also forward your address needed for BFT permit as FCD require.
THanks
Mr Joseph Cassar of St Julians wrote:
Hi
''First of all l would like to congratulate you all on the work you are doing and want to thank you all in advance for the alungi Tournament ''
Dear Mr. Joseph Cassar,
I thank you on behalf of all the organizing committee.
Yours
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director.
GoGo, do you have a final draft of the rules as these are often requested when people register so that they can get a better idea of the tournament conditions.
Also what is the limit as to the number of hooks per line? eg. Only one lure per line/rod can contain a hook (in the case of Rapalas/Hard Bodied two hooks are allowed)
The above is an important issue given that this is a recreational event.
QuoteAlso what is the limit as to the number of hooks per line? eg. Only one lure per line/rod can contain a hook (in the case of Rapalas/Hard Bodied two hooks are allowed)
The above is an important issue given that this is a recreational event.
Why not convert rapalas and other hard bodies to only have a single hook at the end of the lure connected by an 'O' ring, i.e., no use of treble hooks.... Making the catch more challenging and in case of releasing BFT simpler... just an opinion to work on.....
Quote from: robby017 on May 03, 2011, 15:33:48 CET
QuoteAlso what is the limit as to the number of hooks per line? eg. Only one lure per line/rod can contain a hook (in the case of Rapalas/Hard Bodied two hooks are allowed)
The above is an important issue given that this is a recreational event.
Why not convert rapalas and other hard bodies to only have a single hook at the end of the lure connected by an 'O' ring, i.e., no use of treble hooks.... Making the catch more challenging and in case of releasing BFT simpler... just an opinion to work on.....
In my humble opinion tempering with treble hooks on lures will effect the balancing of the lure resulting in poor performance.
In that case I would rather go for soft lures rigged with hooks
This is not an IGFA sanctioned tournament. There is no need to replace treble hooks with double or single hooks. Besides, how can we control which lures and hooks are used!...
was just an idea to make C&R of smaller tuna easier and with the higher chance of not having to lose your lure if its deep in its mouth..... its easier to take of one hook than 2 trebles...... as i said, just an idea...
Robby017 - who ever wants to use single or double hooks on hard rules, may very well do so. However, there is no way that can be included in the regulations for this tournament, as it is impossible to enforce and control. The rules governing BFT landings will be copied word for word from current legislation. Anybody who lands a BFT smaller or lighter than what is stipulated in the regulations will obviously face disqualification from the Tournament + other actions as deemed necessary and according to law by the Fisheries Control Division.
On using live or dead bait, would you all please refer to the post #60 by Gogo - the tournament director. With reference to chumming, the tournament director and tournament committee have yet to meet for a final decision.
no Live bait whatsoever oh well and we have a Maltese product called predapro and it would have been a nice international advert if there were decent catches by this predapro.............I have no commission or anything to do with this product..........but its a Maltese manufacture.........
BUT rules are rules and they are there to be........
Please come out with these rules and regulations as quickly as possible..........
Hi Gogo, why trolling dead bait is not being allowed? If it is being trolled the same as an artifial lure with regards to speed and hook setup.
According to FCD Longlines are prohibited for recreational fishering. I sent an email to FCD asking what is their view on dead bait.
After sleeping on what i wrote above it might make some sense about the artificial lures and live/dead bait........I can easily rig up a long line of say 20 hooks during the competition if I had live/dead bait with me.........Its impossible for the organisers to see that this does not happen
Tournaments abroad take a judge with them on the boat to see that all is done according to rules, but here we cannot afford that.
I am in favour or trolling lures and live/dead bait but circumstances might dictate differently................
Your call organisers..................we need the rules......whatever they are as long as they are clear........
For the long lines I totally agree that they are prohibited. But for dead bait trolling it can be allowed for example just 6 fish on board that can be inspected as well during the normal inspection of fishing tackle before departure. I am saying this because when last year we took part for the Porto Rotondo Big Game competition, one of the competition rules said that a maximum weight of 3 kgs are allowed on board the vessel with regards to natural baits. (Competition rules: page 6, theme: ESCHE, 2nd sentence)
The above idea is up to discretion of the Tournament board, after all we are going to participate for a good cause and to have fun :)
Skipper's name : Jonathan Baldacchino
Boat Name : NIKITA
Reg: MFC6713
Number of person 2/3
Locality : Gnejna
App. Fuel Burn : 60 ltrs Unleaded petrol
Hi Albatros, Kindly forward missing data as per below list
Skipper Name and Surname:- Jonathan Baldacchino
ID no:-
Mobile no:-
Postal address:-
Email address:-
Boat name:- Nikita
Registration no MFC 6713
Maximum speed:-
No of crew:- (without skipper) 2/3
Name of Fishing Club:-
Please before the 25th so I can register for one day BFT permit also.
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director
Quote from: cla144 on May 04, 2011, 08:00:22 CET
For the long lines I totally agree that they are prohibited. But for dead bait trolling it can be allowed for example just 6 fish on board that can be inspected as well during the normal inspection of fishing tackle before departure. I am saying this because when last year we took part for the Porto Rotondo Big Game competition, one of the competition rules said that a maximum weight of 3 kgs are allowed on board the vessel with regards to natural baits. (Competition rules: page 6, theme: ESCHE, 2nd sentence)
The above idea is up to discretion of the Tournament board, after all we are going to participate for a good cause and to have fun :)
Cla144:What you state is correct about the Porto Rotondo Tournament. There are however, a number of other facts which you are forgetting to mention here. Allow me to refresh your memory.
The PR tournament was supposed to be spread over 2 days, one strickly for trolling artificial lures, one for drifting with live or dead bait.
The tournament had to be condensed into one day since the wind conditions on Saturday forced the tournament organisers to cancel that day's fishing. So in the end, the organisers decided to merge the 2 days fishing into one.
THere was an IGFA inspector on board each vessel. This is a very imprtant point which you are missing and which has a great bearing on the tournament director's decision. In Malta, our boats do not offer that luxury.
Given the prize line up for this year, the Tournament director and the organising team are doing their utmost to prevent any misinterpretation of the rules which will be issues next week. Unfortunately as I stated in the beginning, we do not enjoy the luxury of having an inspector on board every vessel taking part. So undertandably, we need to close off as much loopholes as possible. With the use of live/dead bait for trolling, we cannot provide a guarantee that some participating boat does not go through the process of rigging up a small (say 10-20) long line with the tackle on board. There are no rules covering the amount of hooks and line one cannot carry on board. With the pressence of live or dead bait, rigging up a small longline and using the dead bait would offer an added advantage to the defaulting participant. We need to ensure this does not happen.
I have had some of last year's participants approach me with fraud stories that happened during the MFFs tournament last year. If this is true, this is deplorable. I say stories, because non canbe verified, so to me they are still stories. But realistic ones I must say.
This year, we will have 8 boats including fast ribs patrolling the fishing area. We will also step up the scrutiny of boats during the inspection. Once the Tournament Directorate concludes the rules that will be governing this Tournament, hopfully by the end of this week, they will be published here. Their decision is final. However, please keep in mind that this is a trolling tournament.
This may be a stupid question...but what is the BFT permit? Thanks
***REMINDER****
Closing Date for ORIS National Big Game BFT permit is the 25th of May
Assuming it is BFt is for Blue fin tuna...from where do I get the permit?
Thank you in advance.
register your participation with the Competition director a.s.a.p. as you will get the permit by applying and having all details in order. Competition Director is Gogo.
Skipper Name and Surname:-
ID no:-
Mobile no:-
Postal address:-
Email address:-
Boat name:-
Registration no
Maximum speed:-
No of crew:- (without skipper)
Name of Fishing Club:-
QuoteCla144:What you state is correct about the Porto Rotondo Tournament. There are however, a number of other facts which you are forgetting to mention here. Allow me to refresh your memory.
The PR tournament was supposed to be spread over 2 days, one strickly for trolling artificial lures, one for drifting with live or dead bait.
The tournament had to be condensed into one day since the wind conditions on Saturday forced the tournament organisers to cancel that day's fishing. So in the end, the organisers decided to merge the 2 days fishing into one.
THere was an IGFA inspector on board each vessel. This is a very imprtant point which you are missing and which has a great bearing on the tournament director's decision. In Malta, our boats do not offer that luxury.
Given the prize line up for this year, the Tournament director and the organising team are doing their utmost to prevent any misinterpretation of the rules which will be issues next week. Unfortunately as I stated in the beginning, we do not enjoy the luxury of having an inspector on board every vessel taking part. So undertandably, we need to close off as much loopholes as possible. With the use of live/dead bait for trolling, we cannot provide a guarantee that some participating boat does not go through the process of rigging up a small (say 10-20) long line with the tackle on board. There are no rules covering the amount of hooks and line one cannot carry on board. With the pressence of live or dead bait, rigging up a small longline and using the dead bait would offer an added advantage to the defaulting participant. We need to ensure this does not happen.
I have had some of last year's participants approach me with fraud stories that happened during the MFFs tournament last year. If this is true, this is deplorable. I say stories, because non canbe verified, so to me they are still stories. But realistic ones I must say.
This year, we will have 8 boats including fast ribs patrolling the fishing area. We will also step up the scrutiny of boats during the inspection. Once the Tournament Directorate concludes the rules that will be governing this Tournament, hopfully by the end of this week, they will be published here. Their decision is final. However, please keep in mind that this is a trolling tournament.
The_Gaffer: I agree with your aforementioned reply regarding rigging a small longline on board. Thats why I suggested that maybe only 5-6 baitfish (
of a maximum length of 15cm can be added to the rules) can be allowed on board so one won't have enough bait to begin with if he wants to foul play. Trolling either with artificial lure or dead bait will still be a trolling tournament.
But as you rightly said the Tournament Directorate decision is final.
Hi Endless Summer,
You have been already registered for BFT and Tournament. Is your boat S15712?
Kindly confirm.
Tournament Director (Gogo)
Yes it is S-15712. Thank you for confirming. Where can I find the info. on the pre tournament meeting (and other info.) ?
Neville
Endless Summer
Hi Endless Summer,
With the filled application form I sent you the below information.
'Kindly print this attachment as a copy of your application for Oris Big game Fishing Tournament and bring it with you for the Briefing of the 21 June at Angiolina Bar Pretty Bay Birzebbuga at 7.30 p.m.'
During the briefing, Tournament regulations will be explained and following signing of the Application form each skipper will pay according to number of crew .
Any further queries feel free to ask.
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director.
Tomorrow Wednesday 25 May is the Last and final day to register for the tournament and qualify for the bluefin tuna landing permit. To date, we have 83 boats who have registered in conjunction with the Bluefin block permit. After the 25th, boats can still register but will not be allowed to land Bluefin during the competition.
Freedive - Very good point... I do not know if the other committee members agree with me however I see no objection if another crew member attends the briefing in representation of the skipper. In fact there are a couple of others who have recently asked the same question...Gaffer/ Gogo / Skip.. ..pls. post your comments although we should discuss this very important issue at tomorrow's meeting.
For the reason mentioned above, and also for some other plausable reason, like work commitments, sickness, ect, No objection from my end. As long as the there is a representative of the team, it's OK with me.
The appointment of a representative is a common procedure. In our case if for a good reason the skipper cannot attend the briefing he should appoint a representative. My only reserve is that the representative must accompany the skipper during the tournament.
I agree. Tomorrow this will be on the committee agenda.
As stated above, so long as the person who attends forms part of the crew on the day, with a valid reason, that would be fine.
Dear Dr Andreina Farrugia Fenech,
Thanks. Of course the quota remains the same.
Yours
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: Fenech Farrugia Andreina at MRRA (FCD)
To: Dr. J. Carabott Damato
Cc: Gruppetta Anthony at MRRA (AFRD) ; Spiteri Rita at MRRA (FCD) ; Farrugia Joseph at MRRA (FCD)
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2011 8:34 AM
Subject: RE: BFT one day permit.
Approved but keep in mind that quota allocated cannot be exceeded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dr. J. Carabott Damato [mailto:dr.carabott@marcompmalta.com]
Sent: 26 May 2011 09:28
To: Gruppetta Anthony at MRRA (AFRD); Fenech Farrugia Andreina at MRRA (FCD)
Cc: Spiteri Rita at MRRA (FCD)
Subject: BFT one day permit.
Director General (Agriculture and Fisheries Regulation):
Dr Anthony Gruppetta
Agriculture and Fisheries Regulation Department,
The Abattoir,
Albertown,
Marsa - MRS 1123
26th May 2011
Dear Dr Anthony Gruppetta,
Yesterday I submitted the complete list of Vessels eligible for a one day BFT permit as agreed.
Since tomorrow Friday we are launching a magazine related to the event in all Fishing outlets, Marinas, Associations and Sponsors, the organizing committee humbly asks if it is possible that an extension of the closing date up to 3rd June be conceded.
The BFT permit is an incentive for skippers to join. Our goal is 100 boats which means more funds for Puttinu.
Thanking you for all your cooperation.
Yours
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament director
Can I be reminded what was the quota?
Does this means that if the quota is reached before the competition date, no landing of BFT will be allowed during the competition?
The quota for the One Day Oris Big Game Fishing Tournament is 300 Kilos.
This quota has been allotted for the Tournament only and will be used during the competition only.
Ok thanks for the prompt answer.
Hi can anyone tell me if I can add another member to my crew?
Best to send a pm to Gogo/Dr. Joe Carabott, I do not think it is a huge problem. The briefing is on the 21st June, where all would be "rounded off and closed".
During the 21st June Briefing regulations and conditions of Tournament will be delivered.
After, each skipper having agreed and accepted will sign the Application form I sent you and make any alteration as to number of crew etc.... following which payment is carried out. There will be available a number of Judges whose responsability will be to sign in skippers and collect the fees.
If a skipper due to a good reason is unable to call for the Briefing he must appoint a member of the crew as his representative. This member must be present during the tournament.
This briefing is compulsory and if a skipper or his representative fail to call the application automatically will not be accepted.
Boats under 10 knots will be allowed to depart at 5AM whereas all others at 5.30AM .
The BFT one day permit has been extended to the 3rd of June. Pass this extension of permit to all your friends.
The tournement application closing date is the 21st of June.
thats true, there's a big differece between the declared maximum speed and actual cruising speed
There is one registered boat that I know of that has a max speed of 6 knots who will definately be leaving at 5am! To me there is absolutely no difference between the speed you choose to cruise at on the day and the maximum declared speed of your vessel. If you are the type of person that feels you absolutely need to go racing off or be the first boat to break away from the pack, and are willing to waste extra fuel then feel free to travel at your max declared speed once it is safe to do so and you are not endangering other boats; the actual cruising speed is a decision the skipper and his crew make on the day.
I have looked at some the data entered by participants, if people weren't accurate or chose to over-declare their max speed then this could be to their disadvantage, whereas there might also be some boats who can no longer genuinely do their max speed any more but we certainly aren't going to start permitting everyone to 'reduce' their numbers once these have been entered on the registration forms. Genuine cases will be looked into and actioned accordingly.
I want to stress to all that the decisions of the Tournament Director are final and not open to discussion and interpretation as we love to do in Malta. This is something that those of you who have participated in foreign tournaments would have noted, the Tournament Director is not there to make friends or ensure that everyone is happy, he is there to ensure full compliance with all rules and regulations, including taking decisions like dis-qualifying boats.
I can assure you all that this year we will be running a very tight operation, we will not accept any irresponsible behaviour or endangering other vessels through wreckless driving (especially at the start), and those found to be breaking any of the rules including safety will be disqualified from the tournament on the spot. There will be several support boats on the water carrying Tournament Inspectors at all times, we have been informed that people have cheated in previous competitions, both MFF Competitions and those organised by others, and given the nature of the prizes, some people may be inclined to try again!
It is up to the competitors to respect the rules and make this a fun day out at sea....and remember the underlying purpose of this tournament is to raise funds for charity.
Prosit Skip - well said and very specific to all concerned. We just cannot at this stage start entertaining data amendments, unless extremely valid. We cannot experience any indiscipline of any sort on Tournament day as Skip rightly points out. As in all competitions all participants have to abide by the regulations. These must be fully respected otherwise with such a huge "boat force" plying the open seas things may get out of hand. Self discipline & strict adherence to a code of conduct is a gift that can easily be secured.
Please guys lets all have a great day, respecting the Director, organizers, inspectors and all those individual participants out on "small or large "boats. We are convinced that along with your understanding & full cooperation this would be a Tournament to remember. Without any doubt all of you are looking forward to a very memorable day.
Hi All,
I as tournament Director have nothing to add with what Skip and Seafox just said. Well done.
Yes there is only one participant who at full trottle reaches a maximum of 6 knots. I brought up this issue during a meeting with the organizing committee and it was decided that this participant will benefit from one half hour advantage. The next declared max speeds range from 12 knots up to 40 knots with about 50 boats ranging in the 15 to 30 knots. My concern about speed is during the take off. We are going to ensure that for a distance the start will be slow with progressive increase in speed until all participants are clear from each other. So no overspeeding, overtaking and zigzag courses during the controlled start. Several inspectors will be on support boats and any infringement will be penalized.
Let this day be a joyful event. Remember that apart from winning a trophy this day is intended to allieviate the hardship and pain of unfortunate children and their parents.
With your help we can all then say with a happy heart 'yes we were there'.
how much is the entry please. Do i have to be with a club? Can i take 7 on board?
Hi XPS 34
Entry is €35 for a boat with three persons and additional €20 for each extra crew. So in your case
it amounts to intial 3 persons €35 and €80 for the extra four at €20 each.
no need to be in a club.
To register kindly fill the below:
Skipper Name and Surname:-
ID no:-
Mobile no:-
Postal address:-
Email address:-
Boat name:-
Registration no
Maximum speed:-
No of crew:- (without skipper)
Name of Fishing Club:-
Send to dr.carabott @marcompmalta.com
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director
Keep in mind the amount of organization and parking space needed for all the boats to go down all at one time from the same slip.
We are buddy!! It's one heck of a logistical nightmare :)
Quote from: baghira on May 31, 2011, 22:05:19 CET
Keep in mind the amount of organization and parking space needed for all the boats to go down all at one time from the same slip.
This is an area where I can comment. For transparency reasons I have opted to keep out of the actual Tournament organisation, since I'm also taking part. I deliberately nominated Dr. Carabott to be the tournament director, to encourage transparecy and eliminate any conflict of interest and promote segregation of duties. So, I am refusing to comment from an organisational point of view on the actual tournament. However, I can put forward suggestions regarding the tournament logistics (parking, trailers, jetty activity, T-Shirts, sponsors,ect). Way back in the beginning of this intitiative, we took care of contacting the B'Buga local council to request the use of the jetty for the day, secure an adequate parking space for boat trailers, and some parking for cars. This request was upheld by the B'Buga local council. I know for a fact that the tournament committee (tournament director, judges, inspectors and saftey boat handlers) are meeting to dicuss the finer details of this part of the organisation. Yes, I can tell you, its a nightmare. Everybody needs to cooperate fully with the instructions handed down by the tournament directorate (TD). There will be a flurry of activity on Sunday 26 June at 3.00am. Boats need to be launched, inspected, and then make there way to designated positions as decided by the TD. Remember guys, we expect over 90 boats to take part. So a certain degree of discipline and cooperation is demanded from all participants. There is also the saftey aspect that needs to be taken care off. I know for a fact that the TD will be very strict this year on saftey procedures, as we will not tolerate a repeat performance of what we had in the past years. I simply cannot allow all the hard work and effort which has gone in to organising this tournamwnt to be spoiled by a few individual boats who demonstarte a total disregard to the rules and saftey procedures. We also need to think about the numerous stories tha have made the rounds about non observance of tournament rules. The TD has taken into account this factor and I can assure you all that Dr;Joe, Nick and all the rest will be running a very very tight show and will enforce the rules to the limit.
So let us all remember why we are participating in this tournament, the cause, and the effect. my we all have a great day out at sea.
No fear baghira,
At the moment, having documented all participating boats, I am preparing the logistics of the Tournament taking into consideration the following paths.
Arrival of Trailer borne boats and parking trailers
Arrival of boats by sea at gathering area.
Pre Tournament inspection.
Re gathering after inspection.
Escort of vessels to starting point.
Start of the Tournament.
In order to get this rolling I need five to six support boats. Once Colin confirms his second Princess we will have six. Also consider that so far I did not include the rib boats for in port duties. Although I have an idea how to use also their help.
Now we have 90 Boats. About another three have not yet confirmed.
Maybe another couple of inspectors are needed. From my end including me we are six and Nick named another six or seven. Since we need man on land and at sea some more will are needed.
If all participants follow the instructions which Tournament Officials impart, all will fit together from start to finish.
My only worry is the weather forecast.
@ Gogo - I have another boat to confirm too, just waiting for him to send me the Valetta registration number. I will PM you the details I have in hand.
My personal target was 100 boats, we have 90 confirmed, and 4 awaiting confirmation......ejja nies, 6 left for 100!!!
i will send details as well hopfully the boat would be ready
XPS 34 and all prospective applicants send your details before the 3rd June because after I cannot register for one day BFT tournament but only for the Tournament.
To register kindly fill the below:
Skipper Name and Surname:-
ID no:-
Mobile no:-
Postal address:-
Email address:-
Boat name:-
Registration no
Maximum speed:-
No of crew:- (without skipper)
Name of Fishing Club:-
Send to dr.carabott @marcompmalta.com
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director
hey skip/gaffer/seafox/Gogo how about the members at the jetty who will be helping the judges to give them a top with MFF/oris logo and maybe a puttinu care logo at the back, or whatever u might come up with like Stewards etc
If you want to get me a top which u think is adequate and I will do it the way u want it and then see if u like and then I do u the others. The only charge is the paper to print on as it is special and costs about 2 Euro per A4 paper.
Quote from: shanook on June 01, 2011, 18:57:04 CET
hey skip/gaffer/seafox/Gogo how about the members at the jetty who will be helping the judges to give them a top with MFF/oris logo and maybe a puttinu care logo at the back, or whatever u might come up with like Stewards etc
If you want to get me a top which u think is adequate and I will do it the way u want it and then see if u like and then I do u the others. The only charge is the paper to print on as it is special and costs about 2 Euro per A4 paper.
Thats what I call providence. Suggest you get in touch with Skip via mobile or PM.
Prosit Shanook, kemm int bomba....we intend to give tops displaying the MFF logo and other sponsors to all officials both onshore and offshore. Your offer as Gaffer stated would surely be taken up by Skip who is now handling the "apparel" issues for the Tournament.
Tony, thanks. Will give you a call to discuss or perhaps you will be at the garage in the evening?
Hi Nick yes will be at Garage Attard everyday and as usual Saturday at the club in Burmarrad. I will do all i can to help.
Good news.
This morning I asked Dr. Andreina Fenech Farrugia and Dr. Gruppetta Anthony for another BFT permit extension to 10th June.
Just received approval.
Now friends pass on the word to all possible participants to hasten their application before the 10th of June.
Thereafter I will not accept applications for BFT permits but only for Tournamnet.
I think I have been pulling the string ( line) enough and it may snap.
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director.
did you get any reply from the government about the subsidies fuel for the tournament
Quote from: Gogo on June 03, 2011, 15:14:59 CET
Good news.
This morning I asked Dr. Andreina Fenech Farrugia and Dr. Gruppetta Anthony for another BFT permit extension to 10th June.
Just received approval.
Now friends pass on the word to all possible participants to hasten their application before the 10th of June.
Thereafter I will not accept applications for BFT permits but only for Tournamnet.
I think I have been pulling the string ( line) enough and it may snap.
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director.
To date, 96 vessels have registered to participate in the Oris National Big Game Fishing Tournament. I asked Dr. Carabott to request a further extension as we anticipate that once the Tournament Magazine is distributed in the marinas, we might have a couple or more entries.
Well done to the two Joe's, great idea and fantastic to see the full support of both Directors with this tournament.
Looks like I will end up owing The Gaffer & Co. a round of drinks if we get to 100 boats as when he first mentioned that number early on this year I was very skeptical!!! :)
Ehhhhh - Skip "he sets we meet"..that is what the master and slaves are for..
my back is still slashed!
These are the boats registered so far for Tournament and for BFT Permit.
Missing are the five support boats.
MFC 1140 MFC 6335
ON1233 ON 10081 S11434 S13464 S 15746 S16595
MFB778 MFB 940 MFC 193 MFC 334 MFC1195 MFC1618
MFC5577 MFC6026 MFC 6431 MFC6725 MFC6784 MFC 6868
MFC6870
MFC1485 MFC1543 MFC1546 MFC1638 MFC 5421 MFC5769
MFC5780 MFC5791 MFC6059 MFC 6121 MFC 6197 MFC6488
MFC6713 MFC 6723 MFC7535 S 8671 S11188 S12568
S 15712 ON 9707
MFC 6234 MFC6500 MFC6455 MFC6601 MFC6663 MFC6674
MFC6700 MFC6798 MFC 6836 S11313 S15682 S18139
S18586 S15129 MFB1762 ON2252 ON 7394 ON 9798
SSR138203 SSR 146850
MFB1790 MFC 6593 MFC6626 MFC6701 MFC6734 S9232
S14264 S16449 S16564 S18101 ON 4611 ON 7408
ON 12979 Saucy
S 9886 S9947 S11369 S11838 S11969 S14340
S14838 S16802 S17590 S18907 MFB1731 MFC6797
ON 3711 On 5588 ON7304 On 10197 On 13336 ON16762
ON Carla
Joe Carabott Damato
Tournament Director
All skippers that want to be vetted at Msida must asap sent their request with skipper name and / or boat number.
Please note that inspections will be carried out at the end of Pontoon A/alongside Dilletanti Pontoons.
All Boats have to head to that area.
Tournament Director.
Boat: Venere
Skipper : Ivan Busuttil
The Organising Committee would like to inform everyone that the last date for Registration to participate in the tournament is the end of the day on the 10th June 2011.
No new boats will be accepted after this date.
We have been forced to close registration early given the over-whelming response received, almost 100 boats, due to safety aspects and given the required logistics, man power and planning needed to make this event a success. This decision was taken by the Organising Committee in conjunction with the Tournament Safety Officer during a meeting yesterday evening. The Tournament Director has confirmed that in the last 10 days, no new boats registered for the tournament.
If you know of anyone who would would like to take part, but hasn't yet sent his/her vessel details to the Tournament Director, please could you highlight the closing date to them.
Tournament Logistics
As Nick posted above, yesterday we had a 4hr meeting with all Judges, tournament inspectors and tournament officials. I will not go into the details of the rules and regulations governing the actual tournament, as that is not my perogative. I will however, briefly explain the tournament logistics. May I remind all that the logistic details are set in stone, cannot be changed, and are posted here for information purposes only.
1. All boats need to be inspected prior to the tournament.
2. There are three designated inspection points, one on Pontoon A in Msida Marina, and 2 located in Birzebbuga; 1st is the Birzebbuga Jetty in St.Georges Bay, and a multi inspection point provided by the support vessels.
3. Each boat, following a successful inspection, will hoist the Oris Tournament flag signalling that the boat has been inspected and passed.
4. Following inspection, each boat will make its way to a pre determined point inside Birzebbuga bay, and hold fast next to the designated support vessel awaiting further instructions.
5. Each support vessel has been allocated 20 boats.
6. All boats will be provided with instructions as to which support vessel they have been assigned to, a GPS waypoint with details of where to hold fast, and details of there respective support vessel
7. Once the tournament director is satisfied that all boats have been successfully inspected, and all boats are holding fast next to thier designated support vessel, the tournament director will signal the support vessels to proceed to the start point.
8. All boats MUST follow in an orderly fashion their designated support vessel to the starting point.
9. Once all boats arrive at the start point, the support vessels will line up all participating boats according to pre determined plans and according to the maximum speed indicated in the vessel participation form.
10. All boats will hold fast at the start point until they recieve further instructions from their respective support vessel or tournament director/safety officer for the offical START of the Tournament
I have provided a very brief description of the actual logistics from the moment a competing vessel is inspected until it arrives at the start point.
A detailed description of this arrangement will be provideed by the tournament director next Tuesday, 21 June during the pre tournament briefing. I have ommitted to mention the actual rules and regulations, as these are not my jurisdiction. The tournament director will be posting the full rules and regulations shortly.
May I suggest that all rules and directions will be written in both English and Maltese please. Thank you
Quote from: fisheye on June 09, 2011, 13:23:20 CET
May I suggest that all rules and directions will be written in both English and Maltese please. Thank you
They are - That's the cause of the delay in posting the rules. I heard that they're being translated into Maltese. In any case, these rules will be fully explained during the pre tournament briefing.
Only 25-30 copies will be printed in Maltese. However the rules and regs in both English and Maltese will be uploaded to the forum. Therefore anybody wanting them in advance can download and print.
Oris Big Game Fishing Tournament 2011
Only vessels registered with the ORIS National Big Game Fishing Tournament Director can participate in this event.
The skipper is responsible to observe all current health / safety regulations and other regulations including notices as issued by Transport Malta and Department of Fisheries.
The ORIS Big Game Tournament Organizing committee is not responsible for any third party damages or injuries. All participants take part at their own risk.
Children 12 years and under must wear lifejackets on board the vessels taking part in the Tournament.
Every thing on board can be inspected by a Tournament Official prior to departure and can be inspected out at sea if need arises. Skippers are reminded that they cannot refuse boarding by Tournament officials for purposes of inspection and control throughout the Tournament.
Officials may ask participants to open bags or empty pockets for inspection.
All vessels must carry a working VHF and also a mobile phone whose number has been registered in the application form.
Channel 67 is the official ORIS Tournament channel and must be kept clear and used only to communicate with support boats. For private conversation use other channels.
Mobile telephone contact is permitted at all times between participating vessels.
Each vessel will be designated an official Tournament number that MUST be displayed on the boat and visible to other boats at all times during the Tournament.
All vessels will be identified by the designated official number, and not by the vessel name or TM registration number.
All vessels must fly the ORIS Flag at all times.
Skippers and crew must wear the designated Tournament T-Shirts. Skippers are obliged to wear the official ORIS Tournament Cap. Vessels will only be inspected once tournament number and ORIS flag are displayed, and all crew are wearing Tournament T-Shirts.
Absolutely no boat to boat physical contact is allowed. A distance of at least 10 meters should be maintained.
Transhipment of catches from boat to boat is not allowed.
The use of LIVE and/or DEAD bait is strictly prohibited at all times; attractant sprays may be used on lures/hooks.
No Chumming or Chunking is allowed at all times using live or dead bait.
Long lines are NOT PERMITTED and cannot be carried on board.
Lures intended for use with LIVE or DEAD bait cannot be carried on board.
Only one artificial lure with hooks per line and/ or rod is permitted. All lures must be displayed. Multiple lures are permitted as long as only one lure is rigged with a hook or double or treble hook.
One or more rods and/or lines can be used at any time.
Immediately inform a Tournament Official on the support boats when a Tuna (within allowed size and weight) or swordfish is caught, preferably on hook-up.
All Bluefin Tuna below 115cm must be released immediately after measuring.
Having on board a BluefinTuna of less than 115 cm leads to automatic disqualification of the vessel. All boats must have a measuring tape on board.
All boats must have from three to four fenders according to size of boat.
If the skipper or crew member/s suffer any serious sickness or injury, immeadiately call on channel 16 the Authorities and then the support boat and nearby vessel.
All skippers are bound to observe directives given by Tournament Officials on land as well at sea. Any uncalled breaches of directives will cause disqualification
All Skippers are obliged to follow these rules and any other directives as issued by the Tournament Director or Tournament Officials. Failure to observe these rules will lead to immediate disqualification.
The Tournament Director's decision is final in all matters.
Pre Tournament Briefing
A compulsory Briefing for all skippers is to be held on the 21st of June at Angiolina Bar Birzebbuga at 7.15 p.m.
Following the briefing, skippers or their representative (member of crew)should sign the application form and pay the fee according to the crew number. If registration is not completed in full, you cannot participate.
The fee is € 35 per boat up to three persons. Every additional perso carries a fee of € 20.
Children under 12 years and under are free.
Once the fee is paid, no refunds will be given.
Tournament
The ORIS Big Game Fishing Tournament is due to be held on the 26th of June 2011.
If weather conditions are unfavourable, then Tournament will be postponed to the 29th June, or subsequent Sundays.
The inspection sites are Msida between Pontoon A and 'Pontoons tad Diletantti and Birzebbuga - Saint Georges Pier.
Inspection time starts at 2.30 am, latest 4 am. Inspection of boats and gear has to be carried out prior to departure or you cannot participate.
Vessels on trailers should call at Saint George's slipway as early as possible. Following launching of vessel, Tournament Officials will perform the inspection and lead the trailer to a reserved area. Participants should follow the indications of the Tournament Officials.
Participant skippers arriving by sea with their vessels should gather at a set point in Birzebbuga port which will be communicated by the Tournament officials.
Within Birzebbuga Port the maximum speed of 5 knots must not be exceeded.
Following inspection, each vessel has to go to a set point indicated by Tournament official and wait for further instructions.
Vessels will be escorted in groups, by their respective support boat to the starting point out side Marsaxlokk Port.
At 5.30 am support boats will move forward with increasing speed followed by the respective group of participant vessels, no vessels may break away until the 'GO' call is given by the Tournament Director to the desingated group signifying the start.
Vessels have to follow the support boats at similar speed of the respective support boat. Any skipper that pulls out at higher speed than its supportboats, overtakes and/or zigzags before the 'GO' signal is given, will be disqualified.
Reckless and/or dangerous driving during the Tournament will automatically cause disqualification of the vessel concerned.
Return to port at St Georges Bay original gathering position by 15.00 sharp.
Arrivals after 15.00 will disqualify the vessel.
Call the Tournament Director preferably via mobile on entering port giving your Tournament number. Await confirmation that message has been received.
Further instructions will then be delivered for weigh in etc.
Do not call alongside the pier unless ordered to do so by a Tournament Official.
If you do not have any catches, vessel can continue to home base but must inform the Tournament Director giving Tournament no. Await confirmation that message has been received.
Tournament Director - Dr. Joe Carabott Damato
Just as a matter of interest..... We are having some participants arriving from South Africa with full gear, rods, reels and lures. They are actually Dutch by origin. Don't worry Gogo/Nick they do understand English very well. Pls. make them welcome during the briefing.
For those with trailers/vehicles....rest assured that after today's meeting with the Police (Mrs.) Inspector of B'Bugia we have been designated excellent facilities and huge parking areas being kept free from midnight Saturday up to 4.00 pm Sunday. The allocated section is from the park recess in front of the winch installation by the pier right up to the gate of the Enemalta fuel depot, a stretch of approx 200mets.....plus the huge square where the monument to Bush/Gorbachov is, a slip is also available right on the edge of the square. The locations have just been refurbished and new surfaces laid. Guys the female inspector was just absolutely supportive of our event. God bless her!
What Gaffer/Nick and Gogo have stated with regards to the rules & regulations is absolutely correct and final. These are now established after yesterday's 4 hr meeting and nothing is going to be amended.
vhf is a problem
I know that not everyone that applied has one.
So!
to skip the 3NM, for a S reg vessel, vhf is a must by maritime law if i'm not mistaken...... thus, see point 2
QuoteThe skipper is responsible to observe all current health / safety regulations and
other regulations including notices as issued by Transport Malta and
Department of Fisheries.
Plus, most of us know that Alungi fishing grounds span from 5-40 miles out easy.... with the norm being 7-15 miles....... thus since no mobile reception is found past the 10 mile mark, a vhf is a must. Another point for the participants is an S registered vessel with a VHF may only go out to 12 Nautical Miles.....
The committee cannot be held responsible for anyone going against what is stated in point 2. I believe its the same for MFC but i stand to be corrected.
No prob for me...
People have ample time to ensure they have a working VHF on board before the 26th.
Participants being vetted at Msida kindly make your request. This information is important for logistics.
So far these have registered:
Msida
Skipper -- Mike Agius
Boat Registration -- MFC 6723
Skipper/Owner : Raymond Zammit
Boat Name : Nicole
Reg # Valletta -03711
Skipper Ivan Busuttil
Boat Venere
SSR 138203
Skipper/Owner: Michael Albanozzo
Registration: ON. 1233 (M.V. Princess Claudia)
Pontoon M (Ta Xbiex)
Skipper: Vincent Bugeja
Boat Ele
Registration MFC 6197
Skipper Frank Azzopardi
Boat MFC 1546
Skipper Jesmond Debattista
Boat MFC 5791
Skipper Emanuel Arpa
Boat MFC 1485
Skipper William Arpa
Boat MFC 1543
Skipper Raymond Zammit
Boat Carla
Skipper Joe Grech
Boat ? Saucy
Skipper Massimo Drago
Boat ON 10197
According to long range weather forecasts for week commencing 20 June, wind/sea conditions are looking very much favourable for the tournament day. All we need now is some good catch reports.
Also, during the tournament week, we had discussed the possibility of taking out some children from Puttinu Cares for a 1/2 fishing trip. Rene from Puttinu was delighted with the offer, and we will do everything possible to oblige. I know some of you have already pledged their support for this initiative, but if there are any more volunteers who would like to take out these kids for a fishing trip, please come forward and contact me. I have asked puttinu that preferably, we would need the kids to be accompanied by one parent or carer.
Joe a half day on the sea is way too much for certain conditions. I would recommend that we meet all togther at designated place (see where the most interested boats are berthed) and we proceed outside port and do a spot of bottom fishing, the bite is practically guaranteed and I am sure the excitement of catching and releasing fish will be more than an excitement.
If there is need to group form differnet parts of the island its also a good idea.
More than willing to take my share if i am here I can take to sikka tal Bajjad St Pauls Bay. I will try to ask the Bugibba comittee to see if there are members willing to participate in this FANTASTIC idea.
I have done this with a layman and it is a once in a lifetime venture for certain Kids.
Please make sure you cover the legal implications as sometimes we do things out of good heart and we end up persecuted.
To be egoistic I enjoyed it more than they did and it gave me a lot of satisfaction.
if the boat is running ok after my exams i can take 2 parents and 2 kids....... can accomodate 3 and 3 as our boat can take up to 7 persons, but to fish comfortably, its a little tight :-/ thus best is 2 and 2 and myself......
VINCENT BUGEJA SKIPPER OWNER OF BOAT ELI MFC6197 BERTED ON PONTOON E31 WOULD LIKE TO BE VETTED AT MSIDA THANKS VINCENT
Quote
Inspection time starts at 2.30 am, latest 4 am. Inspection of boats and gear has to be carried out prior to departure or you cannot participate.
Vessels on trailers should call at Saint George's slipway as early as possible. Following launching of vessel, Tournament Officials will perform the inspection and lead the trailer to a reserved area. Participants should follow the indications of the Tournament Officials.
At the looks of it many participants (at 3 per boat it could be running into 100's) will either be sleeping for a couple of hours in st georges bay or not sleeping at all ;). Does anyone know whether there are any facilities close to the pier/bay? in which case it might be a good idea to rent a mobile toilet and maybe some bins to avoid littering the place. Just a suggestion!
MSIDA INSPECTION - Gogo - MY Nicole, owned/skippered by Dr. Raymond Zammit reg # Valletta 03711 is berthed at Pontoon "L" in Ta Xbiex opposite the British High Commission.
Seeing that with his large boat he cannot maneuver or berth near pontoon A he would like to have the inspection carried out at his berth ,which 1 of the 2 inspectors have offered to carry out.
Seafox---- no problem. The inspectors responsible for vetting at Msida, knowing the area , divide the inspections according to their needs within a reasonable time. At least at 2.30 am inspectors should have started.
Yesterday I contacted Marsamxett participants, six in all. They need vetting at Msida. I posted their entries in above post togheter with another five berthing in Msida.
It is mandatory that vessels having been vetted at Msida do not leave to Birzebbuga on their own but in one or more groups. No return to their habours, moorings or any where along the coast is permitted but straight to M'Xlok/Birzebbuga Port. Support boat will be waiting at the entrance of Birzebbuga Port.
Benri is right. I am afraid that close by there is no such facility. A mobile toilet will do the job. Maybe placed either close to the winch room or at the far end of the pier. I do not know what is the cost maybe considering the event a reduced price can be achieved.
Anyone knows who rents mobile toilets?
Gogo- please add this boat to Msida vetting:
Boat name: Larnic
Skipper: Massimo Drago
Berth: pontoon A
Quote from: skip on June 10, 2011, 09:49:29 CET
People have ample time to ensure they have a working VHF on board before the 26th.
It is very important to have a VHF on board as tournament directions are broadcast on channel 67 during the tournament.
Ladies and Gents,
The official rules in both Maltese and English are now available for download. Please review them in advance of the briefing to avoid questions that are already answered in the rules and regs. Please note that where possible, there will be no changes to the rules governing the The ORIS National Big Game Tournament 2011 in aid of the Puttinu Cares Foundation.
Skip - Tournament Official o.b.o. Dr. Joe Carabott Damato - Tournament Director
What about the list of allowable species for the event ?
As far as I know, during the initial Press Conference, the following was stated:
Permissible catch
This year's permissible big game catch will include Albacore Tuna (Alonga), Skipjack Tuna (Palamit), Pastardell (Mediterranean Spear Fish), Dolphin Fish (Lampuki) and for the first time ever, with special permission and under the scrutiny the Fisheries Control Division, Swordfish (Pixxispad) will be included. For Swordfish catches, the Fisheries Control Division will temporarily move the designated landing site for this pelagic species to the Birzebbuga jetty, which has been earmarked as the finish point of the tournament.
Well said Frabel. At that time, we still had no definite confirmation from FCD on bluefin tuna, so I refrained from mentioning BFT in the permissible catch. Now we have confirmation.
So the permissible catch is:
BLUEFIN TUNA
SWORD FISH
SKIPJACK TUNA
ALONGI
PASTARDELLA
LAMPUKA
to be more specific:
BLUEFIN TUNA of not less than 115cm, anything under 115cm found on board and not in the process of being measured shall result in immediate disqualification of that boat. MUST NOTIFY Tournament Director of the Catch a.s.a.p.
SWORDFISH - MUST NOTIFY Tournament Director of the Catch a.s.a.p.
SKIPJACK TUNA
ALONGI
PASTARDELLA
LAMPUKA
Re:
21 ... . Multiple lures are permitted as long as only one lure
is rigged with a hook or double or treble hook.
Possibly this is obvious, but is rapala with two hooks allowed ? otherwise it looses its balance...
in which case this should read :
...one lure is rigged with single, double or treble hooks.
Rapala style with std factory config are fine, this was discussed during the setting of the rules and it was assumed that using double/triple hooks on hard bodies lures you might have 2 sets or 3 sets if a split tail.
SD long range weather forecast is showing a NNW wind of force 2 for tournament day.
It is not mentioned in the rules what fishing methods are allowed and what gear is allowed on the boats except for long lines. For example are metal jigs, jigging gear and spinning gear allowed or only trolling gear and trolling is allowed.
What force of wind should we have for the tournament to be postponed?
Quote from: fisheye on June 12, 2011, 11:07:29 CET
It is not mentioned in the rules what fishing methods are allowed and what gear is allowed on the boats except for long lines. For example are metal jigs, jigging gear and spinning gear allowed or only trawling gear and trawling is allowed.
This is a TROLLING ONLY tournament, thanks for spotting this I could have sworn we included this but we re-worked a final draft and it seems to have escaped us. Will discuss amendment with the Committee and improve clarification Rapala style, permissible catch and issue over type of fishing (Trolling Only). Thanks guys
Attn: Msida/Grand Harbour/Sliema BOATS
It looks like there will be no inspection in Msida due to available resources, and the fact that we need an official support boat to escort the checked group down into the B'Bugia holding area.
With the proposed plan that we were working on, Msida inspection would have to commence very early in order to complete all boats and give them ample time to make their way down the coast to B'Bugia.
What we are now proposing is that Alfadelta's support boat will be in one of the holding points off St. Georges Pier the night before along with the other support boats. Given that Msida boats would still have needed to enter B'Bugia to meet up with their mother support vessel, we are asking that the 15 boats in the Msida area make their way down to B'Bugia ready for inspection at sea by 02:30
My advice as we have been giving to the boats berthed up North and in Gozo would be to make your way down to B'Bugia the evening before, where you will find a flurry of activity as various support boats and participants will be spending the night anchored/tied up in the holding area.
The Msida boats will be checked by Alfadelta's boat, and we will aim to take 2 alongside at each time therefore it is essential to ensure you have the required amount of fenders 3-4 of a decent size. My support boat will probably also take some of these Msida boats as well.
I know that we were trying to check you on the Pontoons but given that you would have still been required to enter B'Bugia and given the time window we feel this would be the best option to get the entire fleet checked on time.
A quick trip down memory lane, and the power of the Forum:
I have traced back the archieved version of the 1st announcement dated 5th january when I posted the intention of the malta Fishing forum to organise this great event. Just a few examples of how all your contributions and input were actively considered and taken up:
Member posts are in red, while the black ones are our comments
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2011, 13:15:20 CET »
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Will amberjacks and swordfish be valid for competition? After Bft I imagine that they are the next big game available in our waters.
We chose swordfish
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #23 on: January 05, 2011, 23:36:05 CET »
I have a bad feeling about having 70+ boats starting at one go together. We are Maltese!
The boats have to be divided in groups (of say 20) according to boat size I think. Cant think of more specifics at the moment but it must be well organized and with strict rules or accidents may happen.
Suggestion taken up, boats have been divided into groups of 20, and will start off in same
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #27 on: January 06, 2011, 11:48:07 CET »
Quote from: The_Gaffer on January 06, 2011, 09:52:41 CET
Quote from: The_Gaffer on January 06, 2011, 09:51:55 CET
if you're going to add species don't forget Skipjack Tuna, i caught a few a couple of years ago while on an albacore trip on the west coast.
Yes, I completely forgot about that. What's skipjack tuna in Maltese?
Palamit
Palamit are in!!
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
Good Morning,
As I see it if the plamti, kubrit and bft are added in this competition its better prepare a boat near the tuna fish farm and an ambulance. This means that all the competitors are going to be around the tuna fish farm. This also means more accidents and the sens of this competition will be lost. For me as I see it one should try to find the fish and not the opposite. Regarding the points their should be no increasing in points, a fish is a fish and thats all. Time to start fishing should be not later than 5:30 because the traveling time is quit long. To avoid problems during start I suggest that a number should be given to the owner of the boat and on a interval of 1 minute 10 boats leave the start point. This means that in 10 minutes a 100 boats are left to fish without any problems. Remember that this competition is to have some fun and not fighting. Regarding the VHF, their should be 2 lines available, one for emergency and the other for owner's boat comments.
Above suggestions heeded and noted, some applied, other sugestions were developed on
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #49 on: January 07, 2011, 11:38:36 CET »
I`d include lampuki too, quite a few monsters have been caught during that time of the year. Might as well leave kubrit and plamti especially for the benefit of those slower boats who troll from start to finish. If need be put a minimum size. If a kubrita is hooked up on the way out it is usually bigger than the alungi.
lampuki Included!!
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My First Tuna....
Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #57 on: January 07, 2011, 18:14:20 CET »
Joe Don't forget that 'if' there is only 1 starting point ( B'bugia ) I think we can ask the local council may be they can 'reserve ' an area for parking the trailers . ( kemm jien pastaz u! ) ' ? As those who decided to drive down to B'Bugia would have to leave quite early to find a decent parking space in Summer. And we have to keep in mind boats moored at Gnejn/Bugibba/Qawra St.Paul's and so on.
parking space applied for and provided
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Re: This year's annual Alongi Competition
« Reply #60 on: January 08, 2011, 01:29:33 CET »
I suggest that a boat should be left near tuna cage during the competition and for the prizes their should be at least up to 6 place and at least who come at 6 place will gate something to remember these event.
Suggestion taken up. A boat will patrol the tuna cages and take photos of all vessels fishing near tuna cages. Framerc, we improved on your suggestion for prizes, we are awarding prizes up to 10th place, including biggest fish and biggest alonga!!
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For want of not taking up to much space, I have posted some of the discussions that took place in the 1st 2 days that I put up the idea of holding a National Tournament. Most of the suggestions put forward by VIP and Premium members were taken up. This is not my tournament, Its our tournament, you all shaped it as it is today.
Thank you all of you.
I think if you found the lucky booklet in your bag it means you are a WINNER! I believe you get the Jnr version of the ORIS watch lol !!!
Thanks to everyone involved in yesterday's briefing, those judges, officials, organisers and sponsors who came earlier to set up and lend a hand.
I appreciate that these briefing take a long time, but for the future I want to stress that those wanting to take part need to understand that the mandatory briefing doesn't mean turning up for 30mins, wanting to pay and then leaving due to other commitments.
Yesterday we had a few disappointed people who we had to turn away as they were unable to attend the whole briefing that included a general safety briefing and an overview of both the rules and start/inspection procedures. When someone signs up to participate they are commiting themselves to attending the full duration of the mandatory briefing and ensuring they are available on the main tournament day and the backup days.
I know sometimes these situations are unavoidable but as we mentioned online, so long as at least one member of the crew was present, representing the skipper, this would have been sufficient.
And thanks to all those participants who waited patiently to complete the registration process, have their T-Shirts, Flags and tournament packs allocated.
hey I dont mind that skip when do I collect LOl
ust got back from the briefing. Again it was nice to meet old friends from different parts of the island.
The presenters were concise and to the point, and all went smooth right up to the registration of the boats. Well done.
Good thing than GOGO is a doctor cause he needs to prescribe something for his throat as we were a bit noisy at the end.
All in all well done to all for the effort and hard work done.
Now all we need is for the fish to behave and bite the lures.
Good luck to all
P.S. I was given a booklet of the watch is that an indication that I am going to win?!?!?!?!
(I moved this post here this morning)
Good morning all.
I didnt want to post this yesterday as I wanted to have a clear mind. I think the gimmick of BTF permit was a helium filled balloon. BTF should never have been included in the list of permissible catch or at least not included in the weigh in since there is a limit in the catch permit.
300Kg between 100 boats thats 3kg per boat LOL.
A permissible tuna is 30kg. So there can only be a max of 10 boats that can catch a tuna. I consider this as ridiculous. my 4 Euro (inflation)
Shanook, when we didn't have BFT people moaned and were upset. Now that we do with a limited quota, we still have upset people. If we managed to get 500kgs instead of 300, people would have still been complaining that....ONLY 500kgs, even 800kgs etc etc.
Until recreational fishing is given importance we will continue to be a minority when compared to commercial fishing interests and we have to make do with what we get, whilst continuing to lobby in order to get more.
Last year we didn't even have Catch and Release for Rec fishers but we managed to sort that out, there wasn't a quota made available to Rec fishers as it was used up in a few days by the Commercial Fishermen.
This year they issued 18 permits at 100kgs each, although I was not at all happy with the system they used. And next year we are adivising that the quota for Rec fishermen is held generically, each interested person applies for a permit and then reports as they catch. Not a fixed allocation per individual.
As to the 300kgs for the tournament, well may the best fishermen get there first. It's basically on a first come, first served basis guys. At the end of the day if you catch a BFT it counts as 1 fish within your overall catch, and yes you do stand a better chance with a BFT of getting the biggest fish prize vs another species.
However we are all starting at the same time, so it's a level playing field....skill and luck are the key factors.
Quote from: shanook on June 22, 2011, 08:21:12 CET
hey I dont mind that skip when do I collect LOl
Ask Antoine :p
To continue with what Skip was explaining further up, it would be beneficial to note that:
Here in Malta we do not enjoy the luxury of having a fishing inspector present on each participating boat throughout the tournament. So the Tournament committee needs to organise things in such a way that boat inspections need to be done on the day the tournament is held. We had suggested a later start time, but a number of you did object to this. Also, in international tournaments notice of registration takes place days before the actual tournament, with participating teams turning up a day before and completing the registration then.
The sheer number of participating boats warrants also some attention to detail, and I can only commend Dr. Joe and Nick for coming up with such a plan to minimise as much as possible the risks associated with having a number of boats all leaving at the same time.
As for the permissible catch to include a limited quota of BFT, it really depends from which angle you look at it. This is a competition after all, and an element of competitiveness plays the part with the limited quota. True enough, 300Kgs is not that much, but we could have ended up with nothing, which simply means not having BFT included in the permissible catch. Thats one option. We could have just included BFT on a catch and release basis, but the controls of such an option outweight the benefits of including catch and release. The way I see it, and as Shanook quite rightly explained, the first 10 boats (I really doubt this) that land a BFT are elligible to include these in the total catch. Again, an element of competitiveness!
Skip / Gaffer,
First of all thanks for yesterday's meeting and well done to all the organizing committee!
I have some doubts on the BFT issue.
If we are lucky enough to catch a BFT greater than 115cm I think we should have an adequate scale to weigh it.
Otherwise how can we report the weight to the organisers?
Having an adequate weighing scale should be obligatory since the quota is in weight.
Suggestion maybe for next year: The quota should read "Maximum of 10 BFTs greater than 115cm".
The APPROXIMATE quota would be between 200 kg to 400 kg.
Thanks.
What most of us are not aware of or not realizing is that the quota is not something that the Tournament organizers decided on but as far as I know is stipulated by the fisheries take it or leave it. Have no doubt that the organizers tried to gamble for more. It is up to the fisheries to allocate BFT quota in relation to the quota allowed to local commercial fishing community.
Quote from: skip on June 22, 2011, 09:48:43 CET
Shanook, when we didn't have BFT people moaned and were upset. Now that we do with a limited quota, we still have upset people. If we managed to get 500kgs instead of 300, people would have still been complaining that....ONLY 500kgs, even 800kgs etc etc.
Until recreational fishing is given importance we will continue to be a minority when compared to commercial fishing interests and we have to make do with what we get, whilst continuing to lobby in order to get more.
Last year we didn't even have Catch and Release for Rec fishers but we managed to sort that out, there wasn't a quota made available to Rec fishers as it was used up in a few days by the Commercial Fishermen.
This year they issued 18 permits at 100kgs each, although I was not at all happy with the system they used. And next year we are adivising that the quota for Rec fishermen is held generically, each interested person applies for a permit and then reports as they catch. Not a fixed allocation per individual.
As to the 300kgs for the tournament, well may the best fishermen get there first. It's basically on a first come, first served basis guys. At the end of the day if you catch a BFT it counts as 1 fish within your overall catch, and yes you do stand a better chance with a BFT of getting the biggest fish prize vs another species.
However we are all starting at the same time, so it's a level playing field....skill and luck are the key factors.
Skip at least you got a small quota... We having an MFA couldnt even catch 1 so consider yourselves lucky guys!
Hi Skars,
We have discussed your issue with Fisheries and as no scale is accurate on the water to the extent that on the water it could read 30.01kgs and be valid, yet on land it weighs 29.99 kgs given the motion on the water, and therefore you would be in breach of EU regulations and subject to a fine.
Given that the regulations call for 115cm/30kgs it has been interpreted that providing the fish measure 115cm or greater, then that is fine, and we will be working on a basis of the first 10 valid BFTs caught. I'm sure that Fisheries have a contingency quota that they hold back in case, due to a stroke of luck, all the 10 BFTs landed are much heavier than 30kgs.
Quote from: fisheye on June 22, 2011, 11:25:20 CET
What most of us are not aware of or not realizing is that the quota is not something that the Tournament organizers decided on but as far as I know is stipulated by the fisheries take it or leave it. Have no doubt that the organizers tried to gamble for more. It is up to the fisheries to allocate BFT quota in relation to the quota allowed to local commercial fishing community.
You hit the nail on the head, this is what we were given by Fisheries Control. Actually it was less than 300kgs initially!
And no one has commented positively on all the hard work that went into getting the official landing site at M'Xlokk for Swordfish moved to St. Georges Jetty with special permission for the day of our tournament!
I'm usually one of the silent majority [a tree-hugging fan of Gaffer's afticles especially]; but wish to congratulate the 'team' who put all this act together. In today's day and age, few people work voluntarily as time is money and rarely is the case when such volunteers do a very good job as was done in this case. My heartfelt thanks for giving it your best shot and for giving us this opportunity.
As a member of the Oris Tournament committee I thank everyone for the positive comments that are being posted. Thanks to all.
As to BFT quota, at first there was no permit however with some adequate arguments and somebody pledging to be responsible for the running of this permit, The Director General of Fisheries conceded a 200 kgs and later pushed to 300 kgs quota. The landing site had to be at M'Xlokk for BFT and Swordfish but was changed to Buga jetty provided the responsible person is in continous contact with the fisheries officer during all the fishing period and once a tuna is caught will be reported to the FCD officer.
So considering that for the first time ever a permit has been issued under these conditions, please make treasure of this opportunity and follow all the regulation s and instruction that may be imparted during the Tournament and help who is responsible for BFT permit. Remember that years to come who is responsible today will not be present so gain your honour and reliabily so that in the future the Fisheries Department will have not problem to issue similar ,possibly better conditioned permits.
A big thanks has to be forwarded towards the Fisheries Director General and Fisheries control Director.
Hope for good weather and very hungry Alonghi, BFT so on so forth.
Good Luck
Prosit guys and the organizing comittee for the well planned fishing tournament and the very well planned regestration, very well done . Could someone now please explain again how one is called for inspection when i am already in the sea and when do i get to know my colour to follow ? sorry for asking for a repeat i know it was explained , and most probely its written somewhere but can you explain once again, tks .
John, your designated colour is indicated on the ID card, the laminated card which is clipped to your registration form. you will be called via VHF ch 67 to approach the pier for inspection, or you may be inspected at your designated holding point.
John,
Support Boat Puttinu 3 Group No 3
Support mob 77773474 Colur White
Coordinates N 35-49-822 E014-32-066
Start Course 185 degrees Insp. Time 02:45
Here is a sample from one of the reference cards. This boat is assigned to Support Vessel Puttinu 3, Group 3. There is the contact mobile number of the Support boat skipper and the ID colour of the support boat. In this case White (which will be a flashing white strobe above the radar arch). The GPS co-ordinates where the support boat will be anchored for inspections, the latest time the whole group can come and wait for inspection (on the jetty, slipway and at sea) - in other words they must be present in the holding area by then, and the starting course this group will be following.
Very well done organisation Guys. Briefing was very clearly and very pro.
Fantastic job from all the comitee members. I was impressed with organisation at and thanks for giving it to your best and for giving us this opportunity.
PROSET GUYS
Table No 1 didnt have the ID tags and GOGO sent me one by email. The problem is that I dont have the inspection time on it. I am moored at B'Bugia.
Hi Shanook,
Your official time is 3.15 am. latest. All Group one competitors are due latest 3.15 a.m. Since you are berthed at Buga I suggest that once you are on board your boat call me on mobile and as soon as the Pier is free I will call you. Still the earlier the better.
GoGo if you send me the email addresses of everyone in Group 1, I will email them the ID sheet with the inspection times, eg. the final version as you don't have that as it was the version I printed with the times.
Ok thanks
Better make sure that all the others in group 1 have this information as I didnt know there was a time specified, i realized because Skip posted an explanation of the ticket.
Thanks for the fast reply.
We will be there before that time.......
Gogo / Nick - I know some guys from Group 1 / Table 1 - Can you give me the colour of the support boat that they have been asked to line up behind.
All coloured lights and full process details have been meted out to the other 3 large support boats this morning. Imperative to advise all participants delegated to these "mother - ships" NOT to get close to ALL support vessels to avoid any damage.
TO ALL PARTICIPANTS: Kindly be notified that since I shall have the camera man on board filming the process/rolling start I shall have to roam around to cover as many boats as possible. Moreover I would have to be really forward of the whole group x 5 during the start. Therefore please there is NO need for any shouting on CH67 advising the Directors that "there is a boat ahead of everybody". Thanks Colin
@Colin
This is the information I got on the card u are welcome to use it ;)PP
Support Boat
Puttinu 1
Group No1
Support mob 99829877
Colour: Blue
Coordinates: N 35 -49-822 E 014-32-066
Start Course: 175 degree
PS thanks you reminded me to charge the camcorder batteries......
Thanks Tony for the info, appreciate your quick response..the mobile no is mine cos we were not sure if the large Princess was joining us. You are then behind Puttinu 1, the 50 ft one, quite a nice boat, a great jovial owner as Gaffer can testify....hope Gianni (skipper/owner) does not have too much too drink the night before at B'Bugia!! He has invited Gaffer on board so that's good for most of the participants, forsi jibqa rieqed!
@Gaffer would appreciate if you can post a thanks for that great donation we got this morning, which was separate from the Princess advert of course.
The Gauci family (Princess agents) this morning donated the handsome sum of €750 towards the Puttinu fund. Colin and myself were to say the least very pleasantly surprised and we could not stop ourself thanking Charles Gauci forthis generous donation.
@Colin: Do we keep the same mob number or we need to have a new.
Wow well done other money for the Tilly........well done Gauci family. well done Colin and Joe for adding more monies for the Kids
thanks to all for the excellent professional organisation - Great job!
Can we kindly get to know which weather forecasts are going to be monitored? Also, when will we be given a confirmation whether the competition should be held or otherwise? Thanks guys
if im not mistaken, go or not will be given tomorrow at 11am. It is being given at this time due to logistics, police, parking, barriers, mobile toilet and drinks etc.
The Gauci family are well reputed for being very charitable. They are better known as "Tal Big Ben", really generous people. FYI the "BLUE" support boat x 50ft is named " BRUNKURT 11". Puttinu 5 x 54ft "RED" is named EL-CARO.
@Shanook - Its ok my mobile can be used if anybody needs some help but Ch67 is the medium that one has to contact any official, but PLEASE (all) keep this channel as free as possible unless really neccessary.
@ Benri -Thanks you so much for your kind words..we are getting close to the "climax" of the whole journey....its been a long & difficult one too but when you get a donation of 750Euro plus so much support from so many people, the launching of the magazine, the hard work & dedication of all the members...we then feel satisfied that we decided to embark on this mission!
Hi guys,
What time will the event be updated if it's a go or not?
A decision will be taken by the safety officer, nick and Gogo by 11.00am this morning.
Good luck to all participants for tomorrow's big event. May the weather and fish provide an exciting day to all. Tight lines everyone.
We had a wonderful day fishing despite the slightly unfriendly weather. Looking forward to the results! When are they going to be published?
Yesterday was a day full of adventures.
The start of the comp. (although it took a bit long and there were some complaints) was fantastic.
The sea was a bit rough and caused some nausea to me and crew, I was better after some time, but one of the crew ::)
I had also some probs with (number 2) ;D very dificult to do in a bucket in sea with all that swell.
There was many action at sea.
We saw many turles, alungi, tuna that swam by my rib, dolphins, pastardella jumping in front of my rib, etc....
Later the sea got calmer, and got 1 alunga finally. We did not go far, since that the surface action took us inshore. Out of many comment that i've received, I got a 7 kilos alunga on a jigging rod ;D
This short write up is for those who were not there, I am sure that there will be a more detailed write up later on.
Went down to B'Bugia at 2am and there were lots of boats already inspected and waiting by their Support boat. Called TD (tournament director) and was told to go by the pier for inspection. As soon as I got close there were inspectors ready and one boarded the boat (he was very polite and professional, sorry didnt catch his name. He was with our Robby). He took off his shoes and asked (not demanded) when he needed to check something.
We took off to find our support vessel (which unfortunately was not on the set coordinates) and as soon as we turned the pier we were met by a spectacle of lights all boats waiting near their support vessels had their navigation lights on and one could see boats all over the place. We finally we found our support vessel, in the meantime we chatted with other boats and waited. I took the opportunity to have a light snack.(Damn I wish i had brought coffee grrrrrr).
At about 5.30 am the support vessels started to make headway for the starting point outside B'Bugia harbour. One could see the boats following their designated boat in a very orderly manner. The harbour master was very kind to keep us informed as there was a vessel about to leave the harbour.(another good point to the organisers).
We congregated outside the harbour and at about 6am we got the go ahead and the Oris Competition was on its way. All boats sped out to their favourite fishing zones. Most of the boats headed towards filfla some further west and some took a South East direction,as a matter of fact 'Mister' crossed my path and he was very cautious and correct in his manouver.
The sea did not cooperate at all and the Organising committee should make a formal complaint about this (the only problem is to who to send it to). There was a very large swell sometimes in the 3mtr range. there were cross currents and the boats were being rocked very hard. There were some who got sick which is quite normal under the circumstance, but at least all went well there were no serious accidents.
Unfortunately I had to retire from the competition very early, I was heading back to port at 7am, sea sick crew member, well these things happen.
All in all it was a magnificent event and look forward to next years. Well done to the organisers, a big thank you to the helpers on the ground, to the Captain and crew of the Support Vessels, and to all those who took part.
Results will be published on the forum home page once they are reviewed and checked.
The organisation team and support boats did a fantastic job on Saturday and Sunday, well done to all, a lot of personal sacrifices were made for the greater good of the tournament.
The start was delayed due to Commercial Traffic exiting the Freeport at 04:45 who left a bit late and right during our intended departure time to the start area and traffic was scheduled to enter at 06:00
We therefore had the first group leave at 05:10 and the last group started heading out at 05:35 allowing them to clear the incoming tanker ship.
M'Xlokk Port Control kept us informed on our working channel 67 which was very kind of them. We did have rather a long wait (1hr) as we were ready from checking the boat by around 4AM, although we still had some last minute paperwork checks to do.
Overall everybody followed instructions perfectly, sadly there was a boat that we had to disqualify prior to the start for failing to follow instructions. This boat broke away from his group, overtook 2 others and decided to drive off in completely the wrong direction despite around 10 attemps on the VHF to get through to him. One cannot control such a large group without a VHF, hence we highlighted the need to have a fully working VHF on board. However in case a competitor had a VHF issue/failure prior to the start he should have called the Tournament Director or Support Skipper on the mobile number provided on each tournament reference card.
Our 2nd Camera Man came on-scene at 06:05 in the skies above us just in time to film the start, whilst the main Camera Crew on board Seafox was filming all vessels and the start from the water. Indeed whilst the wind remained as forecast and within tournament regulation levels, with no wave monitoring stations deployed around Malta, we got hit with a nasty swell due to the weather the day before.
Will post my report later on.....
Very well done to the organizers for the competition. The vessels inspection and lining up was very well ordered and startup was spectacular.
The only problem was the large swell. Windfinder superforcast was showing a wave hieght of 0.7m but infact there were waves over 2m - I guess 1m was the average so it was quite accurate. From my experience this waveheight forcast is very accurate and should be relied on.
So I suggest that next year we do not take only the wind force to decide on postphoning the competition but also the forcasted wave height.
On my boat we had no problems at all and kept fishing until 2pm but did not get a single strike :(- I should stick to bottom fishing I guess :)
we got two stirkes and related two landings. Funnily enough both my crew where sleeping when this happened meaning the old saying "min jorqod ma jaqbadx hut" is not very reliable.
Well organised tournament well done!
Very Well done toxituna hope you and your crew had fun , we had no strikes no hits nothing just some serious weather out there we returned to port by 11.00am with a seasick crew member :( Any news of other catches? I heard on the VHF about a yellow fin that was caught but so far nothing official.
Tournament day: The usually quaint St. Georges bay was scene to a buzz of activity at 1.30am yesterday when tournament officials starting gathering on the jetty, preparing for what was the first Oris National Big Game Fishing tournament.
Everything went according to plan - boats were inspected, all boats went to their designated holding positions as instructed, and waited in a very orderly fashion.
The real spectacle began when all boats followed their support vessel out to the open sea from the freeport area. I was witness to a scene which proved beyond doubt that when we really want to, we are able to manifest discipline and abide by rules. All skippers were engaged in the minimum chit chat required on the VHF Ch67, doing the necessary radio checks, confirming positions, and making last minute detail enquires.
All vessels then lined up to the start position, and rolled off at 5knts. Again, this phase went off well, with all vessels maintaining speed, Ch67 silent except for the Tournament Saftey officers voice which periodically broke radio silence to announce all vessels to increase speed to 10knts, then to 15knts, then to the support vessels to break away to starboard and port, and finally Tournament START>
What a spectacle. Well done to all.
No yellow fin were caught, One vessel reported a catch of BFT at 126cm long.
It was a very well organised event with very minor hiccups which can always be expected. A very big thank you to all the organisers and support boats.
I had a bit of a nightmare at the start since on the start command there was a rush towards filfla and even though licences are issued, nobody seems to know or bother who had the right of way. I was hardly left any space to manouver and literally stopped and waited until everybody cleared. This has nothing to do with the organisation but some ignorant people who consider that cause they have a bigger vessel, they can proceed as they wish.
On our end we had 4 strikes but only one hook up which we also didn't manage to land since it broke free just next to the boat.
The trailer parking was also excellently organised! Well everything was very well organised from beginning to literally the end!
A great day fishing and listening to Radio Colin :)
We had 5 strikes, and managed to land 4 alongi. My wife was very sick from the start, and at one point we seriously also considered retiring, gathered our lines in, and headed back to port. She simply did not stop being sick from 7.00am to 2.00pm. At around 11.00am we came in close to the 1st ridge, my wife said she was feeling much better, actually the colour had returned to her face, so I redeployed the lines, and managed to hook up 3. But as soon as we slowed down to reel in the catch, she would be sick again.
All in all, a great day, many reported catches, one confirmed BFT catch at 126cm. The support vessels did a fantastic job, especially Puttinu3 (Skip) who actually towed in a stranded boat from 9Nmiles out at sea.
That was me and a great job he did too just minutes after calling for help, he was speeding towards my boat with the co-ordinates i gave over the VHF, The skipper and the Crew of Puttinu Skip were simply fantastic very professional tied my boat with a tow rope i had ready and within one hour and fifteen minutes we were inside the port, on my Mazzra.
For anybody interested to know I had a new Autopilot installed in my boat REELAX and while fishing we saw fish activity on our left and forgetting my new autopilot i turned the steering manually and tore the hydraulic seal at the steering letting out all the fluid out tried to steer manually but to no avail, a boat (Rib) passed close to us and after asking for help he refused saying that he was fishing this guy know to all either too it as a joke or he does not understand the basics of seamanship, he literally left us there. going round and round, with no other options (due to the high swell) we decided to call for help and after getting Skip on the VhF he sped to our rescue and towed us in. Also a big thanks to his crew and the organizing committee who left no stone unturned to organize this fishing competition. Another word of praise must go to Norbert of Okuma who gave me a lesson in remaining clam and focused.
Thanks to all
Looks as if the tournament was fantastic. If this will happen again next year i would definitely make it with my new boat. I also read that many people got sick and i was very surprised that people that feel sick didn't consider buying then nausea pills.. I have never taking these pills as sea never made me sick [once even been in a huge storm heading to Greece with a 32 ft boat and i enjoyed every second of it while others were throwing up :D] but i heard that these pills do work..
Pity John. I tried calling you repeatedly on the radio as I was very far off but you weren't answering! Then I heard Skip responding to your call and put my mind at rest! Seems like many people were not hearing me yesterday.... Shanook, Baghira, Fortuna and you! Can't figure out as I was hearing everybody well
We called u many times benri. We thought that u had a secret fishing ground LOL. I heard u in the morning calling TD because of the support vessel but from then on I lost you completely. I was calling you because Alungi had been caught at 7am from postion point B3 so I advised baghira to go there. Visa was already aware of it as his brother had made the catch. Well since u were hearing us it is a problem with TX either in the volume switch, PTT or the unit itself.
A big 5* to the comitte for all the organisation. The tournament start was the highlight of the day to see all those boats lined up and accelerating gradually for the take off. As skip communicated that the tournament can begin I thought that it was the p1 evolution class start, with all those boats speed off for their favourite fishing grounds. Well done again.
Guys: We seem to take a lot for granted, and expect that everything is in place and organised. But behind every tightly organised event, there is always a team of hard working and dedicated individuals making sure everything goes according to plan.
You all remember how one fine day on the 5th of January this year, I put up a post of a dream I had having the MFF organise the first ever National Big Game Tournament in Malta. Encouraged by the response, I quickly set up a team which would hopefully get us to where we are today. Colin, who partnered me in all we did, Antoine, the main sponsor, and Robby, the finance guy!. I just could not bring myself to ask Nick, as he was facing a stiffer challenge on the home front, Nick's father was facing some major medical challenges and I personally pledged to Nick that I would look after the ship and that he sould dedicate all his time to the family matter.
Then we roped in the charitable cause, Puttinu Cares, and things got off to a big start. We started to approach sponsors for prizes, and we recieved a very healthy and promising response from all the people we approached. Colin and myself dedicated most of our free time to gathering sponors for the event, and we also started working on the magazine. We needed advertisers, sponsors, donations, etc. We needed a printer, and a designer. Anotine got in touch with Guttenberg, and they offered to do the printing at cost. I got in touch with Creative partners, and they did the layout design and creation of the magazine for free. We also had Kevin (Malvizzu) doing a number of designs and advert layouts for free. Colin, Antoine myself and later on Nick used our influence with a number of business contacts and managed to secure enough advertisers for the magazine. I took over the content side too. Some of you I got in touch with and asked if you'd be willing to prepare an article to feature in the magazine. I needed to write outt a few myself, and we managed to do all this while we're trying to run our families, holding onto our jobs, and managing emergencies life has a habit of throwing at us when we usually get into these sort of things. We quickly realised that we needed more help, and asked the Federation to join us in the organisation. That was my first encounter with Dr. Carabott, affectionately referred to as Gogo. I did not actively involve myself directly in the tournament logistics, as I was taking part. I needed somebody to look after the tournament logistics, the actual event, and the weigh in activities at the end. I needed a person of integrity, experience and above all respected by all the fishing community. In the absence of Nick (skip - was facing some serious personal challenges of his own), I nominated Dr. Joe Carabott D'Amato because I saw in him the right attributes to drive this forward. Dr. Carabott whole heartedly took over the as Tournament Director, sat in the driver's seat and comfortably lead this tournament to the success that it was. Behind every success, there is a dedicated team of individuals who supported the Tournament Director. Nick gradually got back into gear (we all know Nick lost his father at a crucial moment when the Tournament logistics were being set up) and helped Dr. Carabott with the finner details on planning and logistics.
Dr Carabott was also influencial in a number of other activities and matters. He successfully brought in a number of donations for the event, presses the FCD when the tuna limited quota permit seemed to have been lost and managed to turn around the decision. Provided reality to my plans to have a free parking space available for boat trailers, the tournament jetty, the finner details of all tournament logistics, including inspection procedures, boat rollout to starting positions, and the actual start process. Dr. Carabott and Nick also organised the full pre tournament brifing activity. In many of these items, Nick ably assisted Dr. carabott in his efforts. Colin was also there to provide the necessary backup required in all matters.
I cannot forget to mention also the whole team of inspectors, judges and helpers who helped and contributed to this success, these were lead by Frank Abela, President of the Federation. Also Robby, who had to go to the fish market at 5.00am to pick up the weighing scales and then spent a whole day down in B'Buga
Another mention is the Gauci family (Tal-princess) Ghedida (Curmi and Partners) and Garath for their support and help as support vessels. Nigel (Fin) the tournament safety officer who looked after the safety aspect of this Tournament.
A special mention must go to Mark Crabott, Dr. Joe's son, who was always there alongside his father, offering help and support, and especially technical support, during this whole event. To all of you, I say thank you, you have made this possible.
Joe the Gaffer
Chairman, Tournament organising committee
P.S. If I did leave anyone out, please accept my apologies, as I'm still very very tired, and trying to accept the fact that we as a Maltese people, are also able to organise large scale events, with minimum funds available, and a lot of dedication and support from genuine individuals.
well done it was a very well organised event
I know this will send shivers down the spines of a few individuals, notably Gogo, Colin and Nick but I am a forward looking person:
Next year's event will be even better!!!!!!!!
I promised myself a year off from Competition Organisation/Assistance, I would like to take part in one at least once!
That being said, I think if we do another National Tournament, it should be a region Tournament concept.......West Side (people from Gnejna/Gozo), North (people from Xemxija, Bugibba, Mellieha), Central (Sliema, Gzira, M'xett, Ta'Xbiex, Grand Harbour) and South (M'Scala, B'Bugia, M'xlokk) all taking part in the same National Event but spread around Malta.
I think we had enough Tournament Officials and Support boats to make this possible, start and finish points would be local to each region and I think we would have even more than 100 boats collectively if we do it this way.
We had support officials from Gnejna Club, Bugibba, Gzira, B'Bugia etc so I'm sure they would love to organise the inspection/finish point in their home area, whilst it still being the same National Event.
I think this National event is now pretty much inserted into the yearly calander of events. Nick's idea of having regional start/finish points is interesting. I agree it would definitely push up the participating level. Logistically it would present a tiring challenge, but then we're not ones to shy away from challenges. @Nick - You can still be part of the organising team and participate, its something we need to work out. I have some ideas.
On the home front, great success, some sponsors have already confirmed for next year, while other new ones are eager to come on board.
I guess for next year we will also rope in a charitable institution, whether or not it will again be Puttinu Cares is a decision yet to be taken. We need to think of other needy organisations that do alot of good in our local community.
I have to say thanks to all those that made yesterday's possible.
The start was a dream at sunrise.
A small comment: we should invest in a proper calibratable scale, the scale that was used to wiegh the fish, was a bit !!!!!!!!
P.S. Visa, is it me you are referring to! Come on please, I followed your discussion with Nick, whom I know was comming for help as he was one of the support vessels. When you went past me I did not know that you was in trouble, you were on autopilot. You know I always help when I can.
baghira is a guy that helps everyone, im sure if it was urgent he would have helped. And afterall it was a competition and given that the case wasn't urgent and was withinreach of a support vessel there was nothing wrong.
I head to read your comment again visa, since that i could not understand it well, due to some spelling mistake. This guy known to all, i am sure its me..
Please, did I ever say no??
And when you went past me, you said you was on autopilot, and you was going straight not in circles, and if I remember well you was still trolling since that i went to port side due to our lures not to get entagled. Then you said about your problem after some time on VHF, and I really took it as a joke since that:
1 I was in a competition
2 There were 5 support vessels to call for help,
3 You was not in danger, since that the sea was much better at 11:30am.
4 I told you that on my way back, i would have called you to see if you was still in difficulty.
I had one sick person on board and we still continued our competition till the end.
Now I do not want to start an argument, especially with a great guy like you are, and apologies from my side if I ever did something wrong.
VISA I did not participate in the event but rest assured that Baghira is not one who leaves someone in need without giving his utmost help.
And the winner of our little garage competition is Baghira with an alonga caught by the tail while trolling with a jigging rod on 30lbs line. and in no particular order the losers were Visa, Benri and last comes Shanook as he only stayed an hour in the competition................ Ur bloomer is in the fridge u can claim it when u want to Baghira
yes bloody hell he's the lucky one! first he's always coming for lessons pretending he knows nothing, then he beats us all!
thanks to all the organisers, participants etc. it was great and a wonderful expierence. Was very tiered in the end, slept only for 30min on the boat and thats it. we got 2 strikes and 2 on board. still under the sleep nausea .
As a member of the organizing committee first of all I wish to thank all the participants who made the event such a success. Despite our 5 months of dedicated hard work without you all we could not made it a "day to remember". Above everything admiration must go to all the participants for their excellent behavior, following the TD's instructions and regulations without any "tgergier". Given the size of the gathering we did expect an element of confusion before the start, one being that the colored light displayed by the Princesses could not be seen, probably cos of the bridge height which resulted in a few boats searching in circles for these majestic boats.
Being one of the support vessels and having taken a good overview of proceedings plus above posts allow me to forward my comments.
@Baghira/Visa - Definitely we all know Silvio well, he would go out of his way to assist anyone. However I wish to correct Baghira – It is right to state that there were 5 support vessels.....what many did not notice or know is that Puttinu 1 & Puttinu 6 (the 2 Princesses) sped off to Gozo once the start got under way. Puttinu 4 had a mechanical problem and the skipper was unwell so they made to port pretty early.
Puttinu 2, Ghedida, had flat batteries having left all his lights on not realizing the generator was not charging his batteries. Neville, who was so excellent in organizing his "group", was very disappointed to leave port at 10.00am; he was so enthusiastic to "mother" his group out to the start line. So that left Nick and myself as support. Nick, as a true mariner, had to tow Visa to port so I was practically on my own.
@Benri/All – yes I did spend some time on CH67- apart from this I went tru 2 mobile batteries. What also most do not know is that for "politeness sake" there was my mobile no on the ID cards of those boats directed behind the 2 Princesses. Consequently I was receiving calls from 1.00am. I had several calls during the day, but since reception was weak at times I asked to be called on CH67. Additionally having forced my son to take part with a friend of his on a small boat I was, as a father, concerned for his well being. They had a small VHF and to make matters worse he was also terribly sick as did many others including an experienced Tug boat captain (Boat name MaryannG)!
In order to keep in touch I had to go tru 3rd parties. It is natural that once on air one deviates from official matters, cracks a joke or asks about "the catch". Additionally being known to many of the participants they all had to call and have a small chat....imma xtghamel.
While Skip was towing Visa I had a call from Chris of Petecraft who broke down.A few minutes before I had a mobile call from somebody who if I understood correctly requested assistance, I asked to be cntd on CH67 but never got the reply.....my concern was for this chap being in danger with nobody around to assist. Chris with his new boat and engine was drifting 18 miles out bearing 170. I was 7 miles from him, so seeing Lady Olga closer to Chris I requested Olga, (while steaming on the same bearing) to assist Chris which Edmond gladly accepted.., an example why I was spending such time on the VHF.
Luckily Chris got his engine going and made it home thus keeping in touch with him every so often. I have explained all this cos I know that some have passed remarks about my use of CH67, however despite having only Nick and myself available we are really happy that all went well and without any major incident. Prosit to all those who sacrificed so much.
I was only joking Colin :D
I could vouch for your dedication to assist everybody and I would have done the same if my daughter was out there!
Prosit guys...well done for the competition its was well organised and luckly enough everything went well. As colin said the light on the Princess (Puttino 5) was very dim and there where another 80 red lights around, so it took me a while going around to find the boat. I had only 2 strikes and managed to land one fish on board imma xtghamel thats fishing. Even thou there where 80 boats fishing out there I only saw 2 boats throught all the day....i guess I was fishing in the wrong spots:)
Insomma prosit once again, this year I was not able to help, but next year I would gladly help out, expecially logisticly as i have some experience in that field.
steve
I sure know Benri that you were just pulling my leg..so thanks cos I took the advantage of your comment to highlight a few issues that most participants would not have known. Honestly I was surprized how many "boaters" got so sea sick.... not to mention Shanook having to retire early due to his unlucky accident. That swell was the cause of all the hardship suffered by these guys. In time I am sure Skip will let us have a very detailed report regarding the activity.
a very well organized event thanks to the core organizers + additional helpers
any event happening at sea will have the elements who make it fun or a little less fun; it was not easy for the committee to set the day for sunday but from the forecasts it seemed it was going to be fine or at least it would get better by time but the w'ly swell was quite strong + that bit of surface wind made the situation confused as it was,
i happened to be a crew member on visa's boat ( thanks again john) and after we had steering problems the help was immediate (thanks to skip)
the gathering of all the boats outside M'xlokk breakwater was a very wonderful scene with the sun rising behind them
well done to those who managed to land fish
i can imagine how anxious all the committee was until it was over and all boats made it to harbour safely
once again thank you for your hard work
Dear all, I am a new member in this forum, first of all thanks to all the organizers for such a wonderful job. Last year we placed second this year we had four strikes but only landed 2 alungi, but that's fishing, and decided not to weigh fish but to go straight to Kalkar creek.
Typical Maltese gemgen is of no good, if some one has to criticize please just do it and better in a positive way.
Here are my suggestions:
A) start was too complicated and we lost the best minutes for fishing, so please consider making 3 groups of start lines depending on boat size Eg 13-17feet, 18-22 ands 23+ boats, with 5 minute intervals so that would mean that the small boats would be 1.5nm away ( Cursing between18-20Kts) when the second group stars, this would prevent (as happened to me with the Gaffer) that a large boat overtakes and goes straight in front of you( although he clearly showed my crew his intensions) and your small boat find its self in his large wakkle.
B) These group could also use 3 different VHF Channels and if you instruct participants to use dual watch, any emergency could be called on the designated channels and channel 16 while the support boats can relay the message on the other channels. Like that VHF work load is distributed on three channels.
Where can I read the results as it was my decision not to weigh in as I thought that we had no chance to price with only 2 fish
Thanks to all of you for the wonderful job and an enormous improvement from last year, well done again and keep it up .
Kevin
:)
Thanks for the suggestions Kevin. I remember the episode well. We were heading 1&5 degrees and accelerating. I needed to take a bearing heading 200 so I made my intentions clear while throttling up. I had also in mind the wake my boat causes when coming up on plane. I signalled to you my intention and knew my boat could still accelerate in the adverse sea conditions we were facing. When I saw you give way I continued to accelerate to 20knts and settled on to course 200 degrees.
I know its not the time for suggestions as the euphoria is still high. But my suggestion is the contrary of what has so far been indicated. I would still go for a localised spectacular departure as we had, Alungi are mostly caught on the south side. My suggestion is to have a later departure say at 8am and have a late arrival. Any decent fisherman knows that the best time is at sunrise which we will definitely miss with such a large number of boats. Dont forget this is a competition so whatever the committee decides we will all be in the same soup. Also those who have fished for Alungi know that they can hit at anytime of the day. Its not that first time that we never had a hit at sunrise even though we are 15 miles out and then they hit at around 10am and even later. I also experienced late afternoon fishing and got good strikes later in the evening around 6pm.
this set up of leaving late say 8am and arriving around 5pm has a lot of advantages.I dont think there is need to state them as everyone knows what i am talking about.
We have plenty of time for these discussion.
Oh we met GOGO this evening and he still has a smile on his face which even I could not wipe off :)PP..........
I was amazed to hear that someone did not follow all instructions given and actually might have jeopardized the integrity of a committee member as well as the whole organization itself.
out of topic...probabbly so many people felt sea sick because of the little available time to rest, then the swell added to the probblem
Hi All, I would like to say that it was a very very well done orgonized competition and this is on the behalf of my whole crew as well. My crew were foreigners (south africans) and for them it wasn't the first competitihon that they competed in and they noticed the professional orgonized event.
It was a pitty for us becuse we only caught just one alunga and we had another bite but it didn't land on our boat but any way that's what you call fishing :)
We are looking forwerd to cometing again next year (it was fun experience!)
BIG THANKS AGAIN!!!!
it seems it was really a nice experience. well done to all shame i couldn't assist in anything but at the moment I am in prauge busy with business meetings, meetings that hopefully will land me the boat of my dream :)
for a next year definately, even for assistence only (i'm not much in alungi fishing)
Hi all
l would like to give my comments on the competition, first of all if every body gave there true comments and what they really felt we could learn more from the mistakes that are done and we could make next years event even better ,it took me an hour running and asking who the putinu 5 red was and every body l asked said l don't know and that themselves were looking for a colour then at last after going twice to the princess with the very small red light that was in the designated place someone at last woke up and politely l asked him are you red and he said yes ,the best boat with lights was the one with the flashing lights you could see him from a mile away as for the others there light was too small and every body was asleep on the boats come on over 90 boats with how many people came at 2.30 with not sleeping at all ,at least they could have had the common decency for someone to stay awake ,l know that the people on the putino boats were volunteers but if you volunteer for something you should at least follow it through and do your job this is supposed to be a team effort not for some to do all the work it is not fair for all to get the complaints after for some mistakes ,even so it was a great competition as what Kevin said about the larger boats taking off with the smaller boats (was wrong) and that he was right, l think that the boats were put together depending on there speed and that is not good from what we went through ,even so l would like to congratulate all that made this competition possible in any way ,THANKYOU From my Heart
Joe (Farfett)
Was that your boat fishman!!! With all the rods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OOOOHHHHHHHH
I wish to thank also Mr. Shanook, and Mr. Seafox for providing me with some magic lures, and my crew, Mr. Seahunter who proved to be a real sailor, and Mr. Freediver whom although being sick, did not give up.
Thanks also to all those who made it possible with their efforts.
Eh Colin we have to learn (difficult at our age). We give him the lures, he catches and we stay without a fish.............
@fishman....nice set up.those reels on the rocket launcher we a spectacle in themselves.......very nice.
@Benri..did u see the outriggers of Lady OLga, u have to have those man....those would spread ur lures quite nicely eh
4 snin ohra ghad jibda jidhol bxi 20 alonga il baghira ;D
hahahaahahahahahahah:-)
Benri bilhaq kif mort b'dik il lure li xtrajt ;D ;D ;D ;D
Ahjar iddubbajt wahda bla ghajnejn minghand is shanook...........
Benri how did it go with the lure u bought ;D ;D ;D ;D
it would have been better to borrow an eyeless lure from shanook.............
lol. missewha ta.... u gibduha gibda tajba imma mort intella u ma sibt xejn :(
u tghidx kemm ......
lol. I had a very big strike on the new lure but when I went to reel in there was nothing :(
which made me .........
Today I passed on the results to be checked and later posted.
Now that my work is over I wish to thank all members of the organizing committee namely Mr. Joe Baldacchino, Mr & Mrs. Nicholas Palmer Morewood, Mr. Antoine Debono , Mr. Colin Borg Cardona and Capt Nigel Dunkerley for the support and help they gave me through out the event.
However another group of person who many a times worked in the shadow of us Organizers must be given the credit for the ultimate success for the Briefing and running of the Tournament. These persons as judges, inspectors and helpers were the back bone of the organization.
Permit me to mention these voluntiers. If I miss someone please forgive me. All merit an equal BIG FANTASTIC THANK YOU.
Order of mention is not on merit but as they come to my mind.
Mr.Frank Abela , Mr. Crispino Borg, Mr.Renzo Cilia, Mr Emanuel Rotin; Mr Reno Falzon,Mr Tony Schembri, Mr. Jesmond Gatt; Mr Robert Attard, Mr. Quattrocchi, Mr. Marco (Medic), Mr Frans Mercieca, Mr. Gareth, Capt Richard Gabriele and Mr. Mathew Gabriele. I am sure that there are others who gave their help on support boats.
Forgive me but I must include my son Mark who prepared the display for the briefing and mastered my boat (Yellow Flashing Light) during the inspection and start of event.
It was a pleasure to have at one's side such hard working and dedicated persons.
Thanks Again
Joe
Any chance of watching some footage of the competition?
A number of you have been in touch with me asking when the final result will be out. As posted earlier by Dr.Joe, the results are finalised and have been sent to others for cross checking. They should be up on the forum board by this evening.
Robby is also preparing the financial statements for this event, and will be posted here on the forum for all to see.
On a different note, we are now underway to organise the awards ceremony. This will be held at Angolina Resturant, same place as the pre tournament briefing. Most probably it will be held on a week day. The awards ceremony will kick off with a BBQ, €10 per person, including free wine.
We'll put up a post advertising the awards ceremony details, and hope to see you all there. Remember, the culmination of all this activity will be the presentation of a cheque to the Puttinu Cares Foundation.
May I congratulate the organizers for all the work and effort. It's not easy to organize ca. 100 boats.
The only suggestion is that we could meet a bit later than 2.15 AM. We later spent more than an hour idling on the boat. An extra hour's sleep would be welcome. At the end of the day everyone was running on empty. The other thing is the start. At a certain point it looked dangerous. I was worried about the smaller open boats even though I was on a larger boat (Seabiscuit). For some, it took the form of a race, which is not the case.
All in all we really enjoyed it and we have to congratulate the organisers for their sterling work.
Where could we watch the results online?
@ Malvizzu - according to Mr. Fish, who was officially appointed to film the whole event, 2 full programmes on "Mr. Fisherman", 2 sessions of approx 45 mins each., would be aired within 3 months time.
@ Shanook - veru ta , we give Baghira the lures for "free", plus some lessons the week before then he hooks a huge Alonga, u ahna baqjna bit toma.. ..heq..I suppose we do have to pass on our experience to the younger guys..Baghira may win the competition next year if he goes for it!..and Tony why is he calling us all "Mr."...what wrong with this guy?
@ Oblada Melanura I know the feeling I was on one of those small open boats. I was expecting such thing so seeing that due to the rough sea I was not going to be able to plane properly and speed up with the others I decided to stay back until the big once planed their boats and headed out of sight. Still was a bit of a choppy ride until all cleared but better than being caught in the middle without any space to properly manoeuvre into that choppy sea. Maybe if the the sea was calm I would have been among those in front since my boat takes much less time to plane and pick up speed than most of the big once. Better luck next time but yes If I may I would suggest that boats start in groups according to their size especially in rough sea conditions. But even if we caught no fish, had to head in by 11.00 because of a seasick crew and a flat tire on the trailer we still had fun and enjoyed every moment of it. BIG Well done to all organisers and Thank you
I dont know Colin maybe he is a gentleman now that he has caught his 1st Alunga. He has gone up a step in the ladder mmmmmmmmmnext thing u know we have to call him 'my lord'.......
The ORIS National Big Game Tournament Results
1st Place - MFC6797 Mr. Joseph Cassar - 10 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 80.38kgs
2nd Place - MFC6798 Mr. Edwin Cilia - 6 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 48.44kgs
3rd Place - S11838 Mr. Alfred Cassar - 6 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 41.22kgs
4th Place - ON1233 Mr. Michael Albanozzo - 6 Fish, Total Cumlative Weight 35.88kgs
5th Place - MFB1762 Mr. Alexander Fenech - 4 Fish, Total Cumlative Weight 45.66kgs
6th Place - MFC1485 Mr. Emanual Arpa - 4 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 31.30kgs
7th Place - ON13336 Mr. Christian Aquilina - 4 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 30.26kgs
8th Place - ON16762 Mr. Adrian Cutajar - 4 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 29.40kgs
9th Place - MFC5769 Mr. Joe Baldacchino - 4 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 24.22kgs
10th Place - MFC5421 Mr. Janis Desira - 3 Fish, Total Cumulative Weight 40.34kgs
Biggest Fish - MFC5421 Mr. Janes Desira - Bluefin Tuna 120cm / 26.22kgs
Biggest Alonga - MFB 1762 Mr. Alexander Fenech - 16.68kgs
FINAL PRIZE LINE UP
1st Oris Prodiver marine watch + €100 voucher + 3 Trophies (Jos. Debono Jewellers) €2000 + €100 voucher
2nd Raymarine A70 Digital chartplotter inc maps + €75 voucher + 3 trophies (RLR) €1750 + €75 voucher
3rd Okuma Makaira 30 WII reel + €50 Voucher + 3 trophies (Buona Pesca Trading) €650 + €50 voucher
4th Grauvell Big Game rod and reel combo (Misterfish) €500
5th Maguires Polishes Hamper €170
6th Boat Care Products Hamper €150
7th Humminbird Fish Finder Piranha MAX105 (Camilleri Marine) €105
8th €100 voucher Buona Pesca trading
9th €75 voucher Buona Pesca Trading
10th €50 voucher buona Pesca trading
Special Awards
Biggest Alonga caught Lineaeffe Big Game reel and rod €600
biggest Fish caught Lowrance HDS-7 Combo FF&GPS incl transducer €1650
;D
dawk ix xjuh tieghi.... (colin u seafox) ;D ;D ;D
Pitty you don't have a young daughter my age, so that after a while insead of Mr. I would call you DAD :-*
P.S. Shanook this was my 3rd alonga.....
I have caught 2 back some years ago........
Probably witht he increase in fuel prices, these will remain my only 3.....
No no no no..... That wasn't my boat. Sorry for all those who thought that it was my boat, my boat is sh..! compare to that boat as you notice it is a professional fishing boat for just an 18 foot boat. That boat belongs to my friend his name is Johan.
Congratulations for all of those who won in this competion. Prosit guys!!!
And for the others (including me) better luck next year. :)
Well done to all participants and especially to the winners. Another big well done to the organisers, as from comments read further up, organisation went all smoothly (apart from the sea :) )
A big prosit to the organisers, sponsors and other entities that made this event happen and congratulations to the winners of this tournament. Although the conditions were tough it is encouraging to see such nice results at the weighing station. I myself only caught one about 6.4kg proceeded to the weighing station knowing i did not stand a chance of winning anything but this was a competition and the one of the highlights being boats returning with fish to the weighing in station. Also i believe it would be nice to publish all the catches, and not just only the top ten, this being for the sake of a confirmed catch report for competition day.
Mike, we'll have them up tomorrow, just waiting for a small confirmation on one point.
Great ;D
really great
As Tournament Director I wish to congratulate all the winners of this Tournament and all the participants.
Your massive participation and exemplary discipline rendered one big winner, the Oris National Big Game Fishing Tournament.
As secretary of the Federazzjoni Sajjieda Dilettanti Malta I wish to thank the Clubs that participated in the organization of the Tournament and their members that actively took part in the Tournament itself.
All three first prize winners and another three in the top ten are members of the Federation Clubs.
Thanks to all wishing you a prosperous fishing season.
Results of all boats that weighed
in are attached, completed with rankings.
Results can be disputed in case of errors until Saturday
this was posted by a friend of mine on my wall in facebook. "Shawn Aquilina
PRAYER CHAIN NEEDED.. PRAYERS NEEDED TO GO OUT FOR FB FRIEND AUDRIA KING AND HER FAMILY. HER TWO YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS JUST DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE 4 CANCER.. IF YOU SEE THIS POST, EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW HER, GOD KNOWS HER... PLEASE POST THIS TO YOUR PROFILE FOR ONE HOUR AND SAY A PRAYER FOR THIS LITTLE GIRL, and all others with cancer... THE POWER OF PRAYER SPEAKS VOLUMES...PLEASE REPOST"This proves how valuable this competition was.Those that have helped in anyway should be very proud indeed!
Prosit Silvio -26th x 1 fish out of 80 is excellant. You made such a hit that even Skip had to point this out..insomma, a few more lessons and you will beat the Farfett..oh, how many of my lures did you lose to land this 7 kg "beast"?
@ Caldaland - Yes we do have to pray hard to ensure that this little girl recovers from cancer, its very sad to read your post. When Gaffer and I saw some of these unfortunate children at the Rainbow Ward way back in February we just had to get the magazine/event going in a big scale, with the help of Antoine (AD) and many others we just wanted to fill our kitty to the brim.
To everybody involved in the Tournament... thanks for your wonderful & valuable support, be proud as Caldaland states in having taken part.
We knew its not easy to participate in such an activity due to the expenses involved but you did it in a big way, rest assured that the "Man" up there wont forget your good deeds.
We trust that a good part of the funds collected would go towards the expenses involved in treating little Audria King.
Amen to that Seafox............to all others I say remember who supported this just cause as the competition was an excuse to raise monies to those in need.
yes, I fully agree with Caldaland. We should all be proud. Each and everyone who contributed in his own way, the organisers, the helpers, the support teams, and the participants. Even the authorities who extended their cooperation and support contributed to this success story.
Now we wil lstart planning the awards ceremony, which will be held in the same place as we did the pre tournament briefing. most probably it will be a mid-week event, but we'll let you all know soon enough.
I leave on the 17th mate so PLEASE do it before that time as I would hate to miss that as well.........
No worries, we will!!
A very WELL DONE to all organisers for such a great competition in all aspects. Keep it up guys!!
Quote from: Gogo on June 29, 2011, 08:03:17 CET
As Tournament Director I wish to congratulate all the winners of this Tournament and all the participants.
Your massive participation and exemplary discipline rendered one big winner, the Oris National Big Game Fishing Tournament.
As secretary of the Federazzjoni Sajjieda Dilettanti Malta I wish to thank the Clubs that participated in the organization of the Tournament and their members that actively took part in the Tournament itself.
All three first prize winners and another three in the top ten are members of the Federation Clubs.
Thanks to all wishing you a prosperous fishing season.
I also see most of the winners as members of the Malta Fishing Forum :P
Yes it seems we have members of the MFF as members of the other clubs as well. I guess it all depends on which club they chose to represent on their application forms.
Skip - my comment above was meant at pulling Gogo's leg!. But yes, there are alot of MFF members who are also club members as well.
:) lol actually i was trying to figure out how we sort the winners of the little MFF competition we had, because I saw some forms of active forum guys who are also members of say the Bugibba club etc
If we can work out how many actual MFF members participated, irrispective of whether they are members in other clubs, then we can figure out a plan. My suggestion is to give something to all, especially the crew members. there is enough for everyone I think. That way, with the MFF, everyone is a winner.
I chose the Bugibba club so that we will have some representatives from that area. I am sorry that I didnt contribute much. I also had the MFF flag Hoisted.
So the B'Bugia club knows me, I represented Bugibba and had an MFF flag.......gees make up ur mind Tony...
Tony - Soon we shall have our own recognised MFF club.
When will the ceremony be pls????
Is it on the 14th!
We've penciled in Thursday 14th July, however we are just waiting for final confirmation of some details concerning the venue so that we can post officially. Tentatively this is going to be the date.
Better decide early, since that if we will have 100 boats, and families and friends attend, we might have 200 people or more attending, and the caterer must know in advance to the the preparation.
Quote from: baghira on July 05, 2011, 21:37:01 CET
Better decide early, since that if we will have 100 boats, and families and friends attend, we might have 200 people or more attending, and the caterer must know in advance to the the preparation.
Wishful thinking about the numbers! although it would be nice!
is anyone still catching alongi? was thinking of going behind fifla tomorrow but i am not sure if it's worth ... fuel is too expensive to go their for leisure
Yes alongi are being caught. Some big ones too I hear.
There was quite a lot of activity today out there toxictuna and they are hungry ;)....as Gaffer said all of a nice size +10 kgs easy, so make sure you wear some good gloves when handling the leader.
Good luck
decided to give it a shot... loads of alongi could be seen but not catches. I had different setups and the lures passing right in the action... rapalas, yellow feather, red feathers, weighted, not wieghted, close to boat, away from boat.... not even a bite. What have i done wrong? two weeks ago i got two in a different weather however (that was the competetion day btw)
We were there today also had a great fun lot of alongi jumping out of the water, dolphins, swordfish and also tuna we had 3 hits landed 2 alongi and a nice hit of a blue fin tuna which have snaped the leader near the boat was lucky to take all the action on a video of the tuna.
Can concur as well, was out with Joe The Gaffer, up to around 5nm offshore as far as the eye could see there were Alongi jumping and feeding on 1 inch lacci so they weren't interested in anyone's lures. Bottom line you either had to be lucky (we got 1 nice one of 10kgs) or stop the boat and chum/chunk or use fresh/live bait (small) rather than trolling.
We did however get a nice 6ft Pastardella that was between 15-20kgs, not sure of the exact weight as the scale we had was a drag scale and only went up to 25lbs :(
Video will be uploaded shortly on the Malta Fishing Forum Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/maltafishingforum
You are not alone buddy, me, shanook, fortuna and etienne were out today for a whole 6 hours.
Saw some surface activity, but no strikes at all...
And we had a goo assortment of lures and teasers..... Imagine tony's and renals' alltogether...
Bad fishing day huh
Bad Day Fishing Offshore, but inshore up to say 6nm there were Alongi jumping EVERYWHERE! The hard part was getting them to go for the lures!
http://youtu.be/OCMNwbGRCoc
Went yesterday, trolled for 2 hours, albacore jumping everywhere but no strikes, i guess they were spawning and not in a feeding mood. Did some bottom fishing instead and had fun.
http://youtu.be/OCMNwbGRCoc
Change your name Gaffer ;) ;)
A pasterdella sometimes can be a bit difficult to Gaff
xi hlew ta video......
Nice video
Great video guys, was out today heaps of surface activity but guess same as yesterday. We only got one early strike otherwise zilg! Its been a frustrating season so far!!
I agree with mark on this one gaffer :P but seriously be a little more aggresive with that gaff heh..I think a longer gaff can help
thanks so much for your kind remarks :P :P
The thing is, the pastardella got very agressive once it caught sight of the boat, and was barely hooked up....it was literally hooked by the skin of its bill ::) ::)
Anyways, I was trying to Gaff it just below the gills, which on the second attempt, I did :o :o
Been quite a while since we hooked into a pastardella!!!
no Joe the fish got spooked once u tried to hook it and missed, then it went aggressive(cant blame the fish eh)....One thing for sure U WERE LUCKY TO LAND IT.... I have seen them throwing the hook with a few jerks of the head.
I think a review of the angle of the gaff hook is a good thing to look at.
ALL in all a fantastic video, so give us more. The bigger the fish the better. They come out nice from the flybridge. Well done.
We didnt catch anything so we didnt have to gaff any fish LOL.........
the gaffer really made a gaffe with his gaff!
@Shanook: Actually I did gaff it the first time, but watch the video closely, and you can see the fish swimming up towards the bathing platform and releases itself from the gaff hook, that's when it went really balistic.
@Freedive: Didn't see you around on that day, but I guess you know better :P ......no seriously, I could see the hook just embedded in the upper bill, only just...so when the fish tried to shake off the hook, I had the leader in hand a shook the same way with it, which cushioned most of the shaking.
Quote from: caldaland on July 11, 2011, 13:06:00 CET
the gaffer really made a gaffe with his gaff!
Tajba Caldaland. I like the analogy!!!
Actually The gaffer is a nick_name. Its old scottish speak for the gang leader!!. Even to this day, most scottish football teams call the head coach or manager the gaffer. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Man United manager (scottish of course, how else could he remain for 21 yrs managing the most successful team in the world) is commonly referred to as the Gaffer by most of the 1st team players!!. Even King Kenny (Kenny Dalglish - another scot manager -of course, obviously - but this time for Liverpool ) is also referred to as the gaffer.
Nice catch!
What lure was that you got it on.
Not to be critical, but lots of fish are lost in the final stages. I think if the angler took a few steps back the gaff man would have been able to control the fish on the leader better.
Well done boys!
Thanks Joe. the lure was a Williamson swallowtail 9 inches. The 'Angler' was a Swed who has never handled a rod in his life!!
Nick & all
Josef of Mr. Fish phoned me this morning and advised that a whole hour is being screened with regards to the Big Game Tournament on NET television. This can be viewed on Mr. Fishermen at 8.30pm THIS THURSDAY coming.. I guess that Josef also called you in this regard. Maybe you should post this info on the MFF.
Colin
Thanks! And yes we are aware lol
That's why it's up on the main home page of the forum :)
For your attention please
We shall shortly be issueing a full statement of accounts, including money that was collected in support of the event. We shall provide details on a situation that developed shortly after the tournament presentation, as well as information on all sponsors, money collected, and money still to be collected. Yes, you read right, there are still some advertisers who following the publication of the magazine, have as yet still not paid up their donation. We shall provide full details, including documentation and emails supporting the evidence provided.
A large number of you here have asked me or Nick whether there will be a national tournament next year, in support of a good cause. My answer to that question is very simple.
It all depends on you ;)
Joe how about collecting some aftermoney either for the forum or to add to the Puttinu care. If the forum had to sell a copy of the event (video coverage) for a small fee that would mean at least multplied by 80 participants not counting the crews.
i missed it again yesterday, so far I have never seen anything regarding the competition........
That's a very good idea Tony. We have full copyright of the raw video, although we share copyright on the edited video as aired by Mr. Fisherman. Lets discuss here with Nick which would be the best way.
We're due to pick up the raw unedited footage from Josef and then we'll see what we can put together. Unfortunately we don't have any photo's as a photographer was on another boat and I have not seen these.
It's true that after the event the best memory aside from the direct experience is from photo's and video's and I would encourage participants to take their own photo's / video's during such events as if that footage/photo's were then passed on, we could put together a really great DVD of video and photo's from lots of different boats and therefore perspectives.
If we do the event next year, funds will need to be put aside for greater coverage of the event on the actual day, and this can only be done by having more photographers/videographers and also if participants allow them to come on their boat for the day.
At this stage I wouldn't like to commit to a fee for a DVD as we still need to see the raw footage.
was'nt the new committee going to take care of this competition?
taboo?
Issue over a new committee has been discussed elsewhere and is unlikely to happen at this stage. Nothing taboo!
thanks,i was just wondering.