THE RIVIERA 3350 HOOKS A PRIZE CATCH AT THE BILLFISH COMPETITION
10 Apr 2012
Just 35 minutes after the start of the SADSAA Columbia Billfish competition, Riviera owner Anton Viljoen had already caught and released a Black Marlin of around 120 – 150kg. The excited crew on board were even more delighted when teammate Neil Mclellan caught another Black Marlin of about the same size three hours later.
These two beauties were caught using Freedom Grandslammer Purple and Black and Dorado-coloured Rick’s Fancy lures respectively - securing team Mischief 11’s final rating of 3rd place overall with a stunning cash prize of R30 000 - in this very popular tournament held in Richards Bay each year.
The weather was on their side that morning as they raced out beyond the ships to the 200m mark, with a light wind of around 10 - 15knots and 2 – 3m swells at 10 second intervals.
Also on board were Phillip Carver and Deon Boucher who has hooked an amazing 49 Marlin this season. They were competing against over 300 other anglers who tagged and released a total of 34 Billfish over the five days – despite losing a couple of days to bad weather. This included 5 Sailfish, 7 Black Marlin, 4 Striped Marlin and 18 Blue Marlin.
While Anton lives in Cape Town for six months of the year (and six months in America), he normally keeps his Riviera 3350 moored at Durban Marina until mid October when he moves her up to Richards Bay for the competitions which take place along KZN’s north coast. He and his crew will be taking part in the Richards Bay Gamefish tournament over the Easter weekend.
This Riviera-lover will soon be heading off back to the USA where he will fish off his Riviera 43 in the Bermuda Triple Crown – a series of five tournaments which take place in the Bahamas. Not for the faint-hearted - anglers fish 700-miles offshore travelling through the famous Bermuda Triangle – but this is no deterrent when there is $1.5-million at stake! This is also one of the qualifiers for the IGFA World Championships.
Anton’s 10.75m Riviera 3350 with a beautiful Cherrywood finish, is currently for sale at R1 695 000 (inc Vat). This complete fishing craft is fitted with 2 x 315HP Cummins, Lowrance fishfinder, autopilot, plenty of space in the large cockpit, rocket launchers, outriggers and live bait well to mention a few of the many features.
Easily sleeping four, a fishing party can overnight for a whole weekend or longer (there are 2 x double berths and a shower – or guests can sleep in the saloon) and the 950-litre diesel tank with algae filtration system guarantees hours at sea. She has 350-litres of fresh water storage.
The galley features a gas four-burner cook-top and oven, fridge, basin and preparation counter.
For more information contact Boating World - Zane Dresner at (031) 301 1115 or 083 324 4630.
