2022 Signature Triple Crown and Ladies Only LEG 3

Although there were fourteen teams that participated in the third and final leg of the 2022 Ladies Only Tournament, only twelve teams were eligible for cash prizes and trophies. Fish Tank, a 65′ FTC captained by Ben Horning, ended up winning the Ladies Only Series with 7,400 points, 2,000 points ahead of the closest runner up, Eight Eights. Making this win even more impressive is the fact that Laura Jessen, the boat owner along with her husband Chris Jessen, was the sole angler and caught and released all the fish herself over the three events, including 1 sailfish and 4 marlin in Leg 3 alone.

Eight Eights, a 72′ Viking Captained by David “Coop” Cooper, finished the Ladies Only Series with 5,400 points achieved by anglers Jill Yates, Michelle Keeney, Jacqlyn Tenuto, Susan McCart, and Dawn Samuels. And finally, it was Billfisher, a 64′ Duffie Boatworks captained by Billy Gerlach and with angler Judy Duffie who was accompanied during Leg 2 by Pam Morris Hanckel, that completed the leaderboard for the Series with 4,900 points. Billfisher won third place on time over Max Bet, who finished also with 4,900 points just under an hour later. It’s only right to shine a light on the teams that excelled during the third and final leg of the Ladies Only Tournament. Rum Runner took first for the Leg with 2,400 points after releasing 4 sails and 4 marlin.

Fish Tank took second with 2,100 points on time after releasing 1 sail and 4 marlin, and Eight Eights ended in third, also with 2,100 points but having released 6 sails and 3 marlin.

One hundred and seventy five anglers comprising 35 teams participated in all three legs of the 2022 Signature Triple Crown, presented jointly by Chantilly Air and Los Sueños Resort and Marina. The teams fished from Thursday, March 31 through Saturday, April 2, competing to see who would come out on top, not only for the third and final event, but who would be crowned Series Champion and get to take home the custom trophy designed by Sean Tuttle of Metal Ocean Tuttle Custom Designs out of Hampton Virginia, along with the grand prize check for $100,0000.

It was Billfisher that called in a double marlin hook up three minutes after lines in on DAY 1, going on to release the first just one minute later. The day bode well with 9 marlin releases by 9:00 am and an hour later that number increased to 13, along with 49 sails. It was Billfisher with an early lead and 1,600 points, followed by Vaquero with 1,300 points and Sea Fix rounding out the top three with 700 points. By noon Billfisher had already released 5 sails and 4 marlin for 2,500 points, dominating out of the gates. Vaquero was still in second, 100 points up now with 1,400 points, and Sea Fix was still in third but now with 1,300 points.

War Party released a marlin and a sail between noon and 2:00 pm to bump Sea Fix off the leaderboard and take third, but Sea Fix was having none of it and released three more sails by the end of the day to retake their third place position with 1,900 points on time, behind Vaquero who finished the day in second also with 1,900 points. Billfisher remained in top spot throughout the day, finishing with 2,800 points.

Fishing slowed a bit on DAY 2, despite a triple banger (i.e. a triple sailfish release) called in to tournament control by Team Galati at 9:24 am! By 10:00 am the fleet had a two-day tally of 278 sails and 29 marlin, with Billfisher seemingly crazy glued to the top spot with 3,100 points, followed by Team Galati, always a silent contender coming up from behind in second on time with 2,500 points over Miss AC with 2,200 points.

The same three teams were in the same three positions come noon on DAY 2, despite the overall fish count increasing to 322 sails and 33 marlin; however, there was a little upset in the afternoon when Miss AC bumped Team Galati to third with 5 sailfish releases between noon and 2:00 pm, putting them in second with 2,800 points. Billfisher had increased to 3,400 points, and Team Galati was then at 2,700 points.

Max Bet, showing their colors, released 3 sails and a marlin between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, catapulting them to second place on time for Leg 3 (and giving them the daily with 1,900 points after 9 sailfish and 2 marlin releases) with 3,400 points, and tied with Billfisher no longer sitting so comfortably in first, also with 3,400 points. Team Galati rounded out the leaderboard at the end of the second day with 2,900 points. The teams had released a two-day combined total of 404 sails and 46 marlin. The stakes are high every year going into DAY 3 of the third leg; it is make or break for the top teams, as they know anyone in the top 10 has the ability to take them out.

All it takes is a little bit of luck, a few marlin, and a lot of skill which all the teams participating in the Signature Triple Crown have in spades. Fish Tank released the first fish of the day, a sail, at 8:05 am. By the 10:00 am update Team Galati had moved to first with 3,600 points, followed by Billfisher with 3,500 points and Max Bet in third with 3,400 points.

Not one to be left behind, Miss AC showed that they were in the hunt, moving up to first by noon with 3,900 points, followed by Rum Runner in second, also battling for top spot with 3,800 points, and Team Galati rounding out the top three with 3,700 points. Fishing had certainly picked up! By 2:00 pm the leaderboard had changed yet again, with Team Galati now in first with 4,300 points, followed by Max Bet once again on the board in second with 4,200 points, and Miss AC in third with 3,900 points.

The fleet had a three-day combined total of 563 sails and 71 marlin with two hours left on the clock. Over 60 billfish were released between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm alone. At the end of the day though, it was Max Bet in first for the leg with a pretty lead after releasing 27 sails and 6 marlin for 5,700 points, followed by Team Galati in second on time with 33 sailfish and 2 marlin releases for 4,300 points, and Fish Tank in third also with 4,300 points after releasing 28 sails and 3 marlin. Although not on the leaderboard for Leg 3, it was Tarheel that excelled on the third and final day of the third and final leg of the 2022 Triple Crown, releasing 21 sails and 1 marlin for 2,600 points giving them the daily.