
- MTU powers the season-long championship across 83 sanctioned tournaments
- Celebrating the sport’s top-performing tournament captains
- Winners honored at the Marlin Awards, Palm Beach International Boat Show (PBIBS)
June 26, 2026 —Stuart, FL — InTheBite is excited to announce MTU, a Rolls-Royce Solutions business and one of the marine industry’s most respected propulsion brands, as the Presenting Sponsor of the InTheBite Captain of the Year championship program.
The partnership brings together two brands committed to recognizing excellence in professional sportfishing. For decades, MTU engines have powered many of the world’s premier tournament boats, earning the confidence of owners and captains who demand performance and reliability at the highest level of competition.
The InTheBite Captain of the Year Presented by MTU honors the sport’s top-performing captains through a season-long championship spanning 83 sanctioned tournaments across five regional divisions. Rather than rewarding a single tournament victory, the program recognizes the consistency, leadership, preparation, and execution required to compete throughout an entire season.
The partnership culminates at the annual Marlin Awards ceremony, where the InTheBite Captain of the Year Awards Presented by MTU will be presented to the season’s winning captains. Captains, owners, crews and industry leaders will gather March 17 at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores, Florida, during the Palm Beach International Boat Show to recognize the year’s championship performances.
“The qualities that define championship captains—preparation, consistency, and reliability—are the same qualities that have defined the MTU brand for generations,” said Dale Wills, Publisher of InTheBite. “We’re proud to welcome MTU as the presenting sponsor of the InTheBite Captain of the Year.”
For more information about the InTheBite Captain of the Year Presented by MTU, visit www.inthebite.com.
About The Marlin Group
The Marlin Group is the world’s largest big-game fishing network reaching more than one million captains, anglers, mates and boat owners annually across a variety of touchpoints. The group publishes Marlin, the industry’s No. 1 source since 1981, and InTheBite, the market leading magazine for sportfishing captains for more than 20 years. The Marlin Group operates the Offshore World Championship in Costa Rica; Los Cabos Billfish Tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Scrub Island Billfish Series in the British Virgin Islands; Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series; the Bermuda Triple Crown; and the Marlin Global Challenge, making it the worldwide leader for international billfishing tournaments. Marlin Expeditions has led anglers on educational excursions to the globe’s top big-game fishing destinations for more than 20 years. The Marlin Group is a core division of the US-based outdoor adventure company Bonnier LLC.
Learn more at marlinmag.com , inthebite.com, and bonniercorp.com.
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The 2026 Captain of the Year presented by MTU season is officially underway with points stacking up across the Gulf Coast, International, East Coast, Florida, and Hawaii divisions as teams battle through the world’s top billfish tournaments.
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Learn More About Captain of the Year
See rules, divisions, scoring structure, and the history behind professional sportfishing’s top performance award.
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