2022 Standings:
Capt. Chris Kaulen // Marlin Darlin // 800 pts.
- White Marlin Roundup, 1st Place, 500 pts.
- The Shootout, Production vs. Custom, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. Joe Crawford // Sea Angel on Rum Runner // 750 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 2, 1st Place, 500 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown Champion, 250 pts.
Capt. Lance Hightower // Vaquero // 600 pts.
- Pelagic Rockstar Offshore, 1st Place, 500 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 2, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
Capt. Austin Robins // Max Bet // 600 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 1, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 3, 1st Place, 500 pts.
Capt. Tony Carrizosa // Team Galati // 600 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 1, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 3, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. Rob Mahoney // Miss AC // 500 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 1, 1st Place, 500 pts.
Capt. Keith Greenburg // Krazy Salts // 500 pts.
- Chub Cay Invitational, 1st Place, 500 pts.
Capt. Brent Gaskill // Builder’s Choice // 500 pts.
The Shootout, Production vs. Custom, 1st Place, 500 pts.
Capt. Eddie Wheeler // Cabana // 300 pts.
- Pelagic Rockstar Offshore // 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. Billy Gerlach // Billfisher // 300 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 2, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. Ronnie Fields // Big Stick // 300 pts.
- Chub Cay Invitational, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. Cory Gillespie // Lunatico // 300 pts.
- White Marlin Roundup, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
Capt. John Brennan // Game Plan // 100 pts.
- Pelagic Rockstar Offshore, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
Capt. Ben Horning // Fish Tank // 100 pts.
- Los Suenos Triple Crown, Leg 3, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
Capt. Kyle Liane // Bree // 100 pts.
- Chub Cay Invitational, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
Capt. Greg Eklund // Cloud Nine // 100 pts.
- White Marlin Roundup, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
Capt. Paul Alderman // El Cazador // 100 pts.
- The Shootout, Production vs. Custom, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
2021 International Division Captain of the Year
Capt. Tony Carrizosa
Team Galati // 750 pts.
Los Sueños, Leg 3
1st Place – 500 pts.
Los Sueños Series
Overall Champions – 250 pts.
“I grew up in Miami,” says Florida native and current Costa Rica resident Tony Carrizosa. “Obviously, we’re surrounded by water, so I took to the water.”
Carrizosa, the recipient of the coveted title of 2021 Captain of the Year, Release Marine International Division, and is a man of many talents, having a multifaceted career to show for it. In addition to enjoying the illustrious status of sportfishing captain, Carrizosa specializes in the marketing of sport yachts to a variety of customers, among whom include his colleagues and competitors.
He works as a salesman for Galati Yachts, and is good friends with founder Carmine Galati, Sr., who joins Carrizosa as a regular member of his fishing crew.
“We started fishing as a team together in 2009,” Carrizosa says, speaking of himself and his crew. Other crew members of his include engineers and salesmen from both Galati Yachts and Viking Yachts. “The president of Viking Yachts, the president of Galati Yachts, and I are a team. They build the boats, we sell them, and we fish together.”
In addition to his manager, Galati, Carrizosa’s crew during the 2021 fishing season boasted a prestigious team of experienced anglers, among whom were John LaGrone, brothers Drew and Erik McDowell and Viking Yachts CEO and president, Pat Healey.
Carrizosa emphasizes that his role as captain entails more than just winning tournaments. As a representative of Galati Yachts, part of his job is to sell his company’s image.
“We always have a different boat, because we’re boat builders,” he says. “Every year we have a new boat that we’re promoting, fishing on and selling at the same time.”
This year’s model is named the Team Galati and is a brand-new 2021 Viking 58 Convertible, powered by a set of MTU M96L 10-cylinder engines.
“I myself am not a boat builder,” emphasizes Carrizosa. “I’m a salesman, but I’ve been a boat captain since I was 18 and have held a captain’s position since 2002.”
He was not yet a team member of Galati Yachts and spent much of his early career working from a variety of different boats, including a custom 63-foot American Yacht called the Stephanie Lee, which he worked on for eight years.
“I started traveling on other boats around the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and Venezuela,” he says. “In early 2001, I made the trip across the Panama Canal, and I’ve been on the Pacific ever since.”
After becoming a permanent resident of Costa Rica, Carrizosa would be one step closer to winning a title in the COTY International Division. Since the inception of his competitive fishing career in the mid-90s, he has focused his exertions as captain on the Signature Triple Crown tournament, which debuted that same year, and is based out of Costa Rica’s Los Sueños Resort and Marina.
The tournament is divided up into three episodes, called legs, which take place between January and March, and are spaced apart by intervals of about three weeks. For the 2021 season, Leg I took place from January 20 to 23, Leg II ran from February 24 to 27, and Leg III began on March 17 and concluded March 20.
“Normally, we start fishing about five days before the tournament,” says Carrizosa. “We need to get in rhythm with how the fish are moving, where they’re at, etc. Our anglers practice getting bites to get familiar with fishing again.”
Carrizosa and his team claimed victory for the third leg as well as the overall tournament, winning, as a result, the Release Marine lnternational Division, Captain of the Year award. Because the Signature Triple Crown’s 2020 season was abruptly cut short by the COVID-19 lockdown in March, before the conclusion of the season’s third leg, Carrizosa’s 2021 win counted toward both this year and last year’s prizes. Overall, Carrizosa and his team managed to accumulate a total of $316,000 in prize money over a single fishing season.
Past Winners:
- 2021 Capt. Tony Carrizosa // Team Galati // 750 pts.
- 2020 Capt. Edward “Cookie” Murray // Auspicious // 1,350 pts.
- 2019 Capt. Jason Parker // Reel Steel // 1,550 pts.
- 2018 Capt. Greg DiStefano // El Suertudo // 900 pts.
- 2017 Capt. Russell Sinclair // Wave Paver // 2,150 pts.
- 2016 Capt. Victor Julio Lopez // Tranquilo // 2,100 pts.
- 2015 Capt. Russell Sinclair // Wave Paver // 1,950 pts.
- 2014 Capt. Rob Moore // Fa-La-Me // 1,650 pts.
Sanctioned Events:
- Pelagic Rockstar Offshore Tournament
- Los Suenos Signature Billfish Series, Leg 1
- Los Suenos Signature Billfish Series, Leg 2
- Los Suenos Signature Billfish Series, Leg 3
- Los Suenos Series
- Quepos Billfish Cup
- The Masters Tournament
- Marina Casa de Campo Open
- White Marlin Roundup
- Custom Shootout
- Casa de Campo International Blue Marlin Classic
- Production vs. Custom Shootout
- International Cap Cana Billfish Shootout
- Baker’s Bay Invitational
- Pelagic Triple Crown Fishing Tournament
- Bermuda Billfish Blast
- World Cup
- Bermuda Billfish Release Cup
- Bermuda Big Game Classic
- Sea Horse Angler’s Billfish Tournament
- Bermuda Triple Crown
- Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore Tournament
- Scrub Island Invitational
- San Juan International Billfish Tournament
- Los Cabos Billfish Tournament
- Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore Tournament
- Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Jackpot Tournament
- Chub Cay Invitational
- Walker’s Cay Invitational
