Pre Tournament Press Statement from the
Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament 2011

Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament

GRAND SLAM GRENADA  23rd - 27th January 2011

The most popular and productive fishing tournament in the Southern Caribbean just moved up another notch with the induction of a prestigious title sponsor - BUDGET MARINE - the leading chandlery in the Caribbean!!

Having recently signed a three-year contract, the event will now be known as the “Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament”, starting with the 42nd tournament January 23rd - 27th 2011. Budget Marine have stated their desire to help SIBT raise its status even further to become a truly world class event. Strategies to achieve this will commence with the marketing of the event through their outlets Caribbean wide. Tournament chairman, Richard McIntyre, commented that this is the first time since the events inception in 1964 that it has had a title sponsor and he considers this a big step forward in the development of the event.

Generally acknowledged as the premier Billfish Tournament in the Southern Caribbean - SIBT attracted a record 51 boats in 2010 carrying 244 anglers who released 68 billfish. The anglers came from Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Ireland, Martinique, St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and the United Kingdom. With Budget Marine’s help it is anticipated that even more boats will be attending in 2011.

Unlike every other tournament in the region, the Budget Marine Spice Islasnd Billfish Tournament has pegged its entry fee for 2011 at US$185 per angler - boats that register early online (before December 20th 2010) will receive a further discount sponsored by Rebecca Riley of “Anything on the Water” a Florida based yacht broker. Mr McIntyre expressed his gratitude to all the loyal sponsors without whom the event could not continue. He also thanked the Grenada Yacht Club, long time home of the event, for the continued use of their facilities.

The 2011 tournament will also see the raising of the minimum weight for a blue marlin to be brought to the scale from 400lb to 500lb. This reflects the events commitment to supporting billfish conservation whilst still allowing anglers a chance to beat the current tournament record blue marlin of 669 lb caught by Adrien Johnson on the boat “Legacy” in 2006.

SIBT remains a qualifying tournament in the IGFA Offshore championship (the winning team in Grenada is invited to fish a tournament of champions held in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico). It is also the first event in the Southern Caribbean Billfish Circuit (SCBC) which organises the tournaments of Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago (2), Barbados, St Lucia and Martinique into a championship with prizes for the overall winner based on their best 3 scores from the individual tournaments.

Anglers from UK, Ireland and Trinidad & Tobago have already registered online at www.sibtgrenada.com. Registration day is Sunday 23rd January at the Grenada Yacht Club.

Call Kira Francis on (473) 435 3842 or (473) 533 8454 for more information.

Gary Clifford www.chartersfishinggrenada.com SIBT Committee -31st of Jan 2011

Gary Clifford - SIBT Committee