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Strong Competition for 2020 Captain of the Year Title

The leaderboard is stacked and heavy with notables. Yet a busy weekend has left us with a major shakeup in the Captain of the Year Cup leaderboard presented by Hatteras. Following a first place showing in the release division of the White Marlin Open, Capt. Russell Sinclair and crew aboard Wave Paver were most recently awarded high point boat in the MidAtlantic. Untitled 1 36 Lighting up the leaderboard with 22 white marlin releases, Capt. Sinclair now sits atop the AIRMAR East Coast division with only two events remaining and is in the perfect position to secure his third Captain of the Year Cup, though several marquee names are still in the mix. Capt. Bull Tolson had a strong showing at the 17th Annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, posting nine releases on day one, followed by four more billfish releases on Friday.

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Photo courtesy Teddy Hoogs

Sea Toy efforts earned them a first-place finish, which along with third place points in the Dare County Boat Builders Tournament and Pirate Cove Billfish Tournament rocketed them to second place in the standings. Within the Release Ruler Hawaii division, the recent completion of the Big Island Tournament saw Captain Shane O’Brien, Wild Hooker, dominating the first place (release) finish and further solidifying his strong lead. The Big Island wrapped up with Capt. Tracy Epstein, Last Chance, in second (release) and Capt. Marlin Parker, Marlin Magic, in third (release). Last Chance had the biggest fish, which weighed in at 589 pounds. Amid a loaded field of competitive crews, the 2020 Captain of the Year Cup is headed for a memorable finish.